9.21.10 – Taking it all back

Recently I saw a bumper sticker that said, Taking Back the Country. At first I was a bit confused about what that was about until I noticed all the Republican candidate stickers sharing space on the oversized SUV. Paul Krugman in the New York Times recently wrote about "the Angry Rich." Just before I began this blog entry, I received an email from Bold Progressives, quoting Senator Mitch McConnell, who is unfortunately my senator, that millionaires and those making a yearly income of $250,000 or more are the ones "who've been hit hardest by this recession." Gosh, let me cry a river for them.

I worked for a long time as a non-profit fundraiser and had to hear "the rich man's plight" many a time. I knew one donor who constantly complained about the cost of upkeep for his 10,000 rose bushes. By the end of my tenure, I was at the point of telling him to pull them out if they're too expensive.

Everyday I see more and more people on the street begging for money and standing in line outside churches for food. I just can't understand how a person in this country -- their country -- can be so isolated to what's happening, and so callous. If you're already a billionaire, or even a millionaire, can you really not afford to pay an additional 1-2% in taxes? Can't you do what the rest of us are doing and put off buying a private island until next year?