Donna Smith--Pissed Off and Defrauded

Written by Clark Newhall MD JD

Monday, 29 September 2008 12:06

My good friend Donna Smith could not have been more right on:

Pissed Off and Defrauded, One SiCKO responds
By Donna Smith, American SiCKO

CHICAGO - OK, Michael, I did it . I called - just like you asked me to. I
called my senators and told them I am fed up with the mess on Wall Street,
fed up with the bail-out of the big boys, fed up with the wealthy ruling the
rest of us. I am so angry today I can hardly contain it. Enough is enough
doesn't touch my rage.

Senator Barack Obama's office politely logged my comments and took down my
address. Sen. Dick Durbin's office did not - they argued with me about the
benefits for me of the bail-out. They argued with me - asked me if I wanted
to see more people suffer if there was no bail out. Oh my God. They argued
with me.

Four years ago, mu husband Larry and I declared bankruptcy because even with
health and disability insurance and a healthcare savings account, we went
belly up when our bills and expenses surged well past our ability to cover
them - Larry has chronic health issues; I had cancer. There was no way for
us to hang on despite our efforts to borrow and plead to stay afloat. We
lost our house and most of our furniture and most everything we worked to
achieve.

As punishment for going bankrupt in America, we will never again - never
again - own a home or have a credit card that isn't savings backed or have
any of the nods of acceptance the "good" credit bearers have in this nation.
People will look at that bankruptcy and judge us unfit - look down their
noses at us and decide we are losers from now until forever. We got sick and
we went broke and we are no longer among the valued folks in this nation.

But today, my U.S. senator's office argued with me about how Wall Street
needs this bail out to protect me. Bull shit. There is nothing in this for
me. I have lost everything. I will never have it back no matter if I work
100 hours a week or try 1,000 times harder than I did before. Nothing I can
do will erase my failure in getting sick.

Next week, though, armed with my money from the bail out, the Wall Street
leaders and the government leaders who now judge me unfit will sit fat and
happy sipping fine wine and eating pate and giggling about the next trip to
Europe or an evening at the club - their lives will remain soft and pure and
without the nasty judgments I have to endure every day. My bail out will have
funded their greed and smug disdain for people like me.

It stinks to the high heaven in America today. I understand damn well that
they've mismanaged this into a point of collapse and that without a fix from
somewhere that there are dire things waiting to unfold worldwide. But by God
no one was there to lift me up or put me back on my feet. And I will die
without a home. I will die without ever regaining what I lost. And I will
die with the bastards who I am bailing out today looking down their noses at
me like I am a piece of garbage because I cannot shop at Neiman Marcus for my
clothes or carry a Fendi bag...

I am sick to my stomach after talking with Durbin's office. I can only hope
that the polite and respectful response from Obama's staff will reflect how I
will be treated under a President Obama. Else, I am not sure staying alive
under this sort of domestic and economic terrorist assault on my humble
position in life is worth enduring.

This bail out reflects a much deeper and more difficult problem - a very
fundamental disdain for democracy. You see, anyone in government who
believes this is the way to treat the vast majority of your citizens
certainly does not believe in the common good or the value of individuals
within a democratic system. We are just depositors in their bank accounts -
they need us to foot the bill for their party. And we're not invited to any
table at all. We can pick up the trash.

Bookmark

Email This

Comments (0) add comment