Friday, August 19, 2011

Cut! It's a wrap!

So Washington is 'asking' that federal agencies submit spending cuts for the upcoming budget. I'm no politician and it hurts my head to think about the gazillion things that the government forces its involvement in. So for us normal people to relate, let's do a little exercise. Let's look at an American family. For our purposes, we'll say there is a mom and a dad, they are married without the option of divorce and have two kids to support, one boy and one girl. For the sake of the exercise, we'll say the dad is somewhat of a republican and the mom is somewhat of a democrat.

***Times are tough. Mom just got laid off from a non-profit she has been working at for the last 15 years. The non-profit, "Clothes for Hoes", provided professional wardrobes for women who couldn't afford it and needed to dress for interviews and jobs. They had to cut back due to the recession, and mom was one of five employees to be let go.

Dad now has to support his family on a modest income. Dad is a motivational speaker and is the Executive Director at "Help yourself to help yourself and help people who are wasting their life helping you", a program which is designed to get people to rely more on education and hard work to sustain a comfortable life.

They are by no means poor. Dad can't go out and get that mercedes he always wanted, but he should be grateful that he isnt below the poverty line, which for a four person household was $21,954 in 2009. He makes well over that amount, but it's still a daily struggle.

Now son and daughter have enjoyed a rather comfortable life filled with video games, dolls, sports equipment and a fasionable wardrobe. They haven't worked a day in their lives, yet whenever they ask, they receive. Sometimes, they are assigned chores to help around the house. If these chores aren't done, dad punishes the kids by taking away their favorite toys and gadgets, and in rare cases sending them to bed without supper. Mom, like most moms, is a bit of a pushover and tends to overlook the kids' laziness most of the time. Dishes clean or not, she usually gives her children all the love and attention she thinks they deserve.

When mom came home with the news that she lost her job at "clothes for hoes", dad reassured her that they would make ends meet. But where do they start? The obvious places to save money would be with certain luxuries, such as mom's spa treatments and dad's golf tournaments. "We all have to make sacrifices" mom says, and dad agrees.

So they throw out the season tickets and the weekly manicures. What's next? "We'll," says dad, "i guess the next step would be for the kids to make some sacrifices as well." Woah. This does not go over well with mom. Why should her kids make sacrifices? It is their job as parents to provide the best life for these kids, no matter what the circumstances. Dad agrees, but thinks the kids can still have a great life without certain things just being handed to them. Mom leaves in a huff, "we'll talk about this tomorrow."

And they do. They decided that dad must get rid of NFL package and mom must put a hold on remodeling plans for the bathroom. Dad sells his beloved John Deere and mom begins to walk the kids to the bus stop to save gas. Son still wears his new jordans on that walk. Daughter is too busy listening to music on her new iphone 5, unlimited data plan, to even hear mom talk about having to sell her grandmothers diamond ring.

Dad comes home tired one day, ready to watch the Denver Broncos on TV. Son is playing video games, so he tells him that its dad's turn to watch tv. "Dad, don't you remember, you don't have NFL package anymore," son says without looking away. Dad remembers a lecture he gave today for "Help yourself to help yourself and help people who are wasting their life helping you", and sighs. Dad has had enough.

Mom and Dad get into yelling war in the kitchen. Son and daughter can hear it, but pay little attention. Mom refuses to cut back on things for her kids, and dad refuses to get a second job for more income to support the unneccesarily lavish habits of his children. Mom begins to cry, and dad pulls her in and embraces her. "We'll make it work."

Dad has lost 30 lbs in the last month. The excessive stress and lack of decent meals has paid a heavy toll. Mom doesn't look so hot either, but knows that as long as she has a say in this household, the kids would come first. But mom loves dad, and mom finally decides to make some compromises.

Mom strokes dad's hair and tells him that she is cancelling son's skateboarding lessons and daughter's yoga classes. For the first time in a while, dad smiles. But mom insists certain things never be changed. They must go to the best schools, the best doctors, have the healthiest meals. Dad wants them to, but knows Dr. Benson would treat the kids just as well as Dr. Singh, who charges twice as much. "That is not up for discussion," mom says. Dad concedes.

Their marriage suffers, but mom and dad still love each other, and most of all, mom and dad love their kids. They want the best for them, but have different views on how they should be raised. Mom wants to baby them, and hold their hands through life. Dad thinks they could learn important values from making sacrifices and living within their means. Although divorce crossed their minds, they never spoke about it. They knew no matter what, they had to make it work. If not for them, for the kids.

However, dad falls into an even deeper slump. It shows at home and at work. Their friends suggest they get a counselor. So mom and dad begin to see a counselor once a week. The counselor listens and listens, and after many months decides to give mom and dad his opinion. "You've tried it mom's way for a while now, and its doing more harm than it is good. Why don't you try it dad's way, and see what happens?"

Dad looks at mom, who looks down. She knows it's a valid point, but can't get the images of son and daughter begging for money on the street out of her head.

Mom and dad have another talk at home. Mom decides to do it dad's way, but not entirely. Mom thinks the kids should have a say in what goes on around the house if they are also going to be making sacrifices. "But they're just kids," says Dad. "They don't know any better." Mom thinks that if they're old enough to start mowing lawns and shoveling snow, then they are old enough to help make decisions about which sacrifices the family makes, and which ones they don't.

Dad just can't win. ***

If i kept on going, you would see that when they try it dad's way, things still didnt get much better. So im not some republican trying to convince you that democrats are dumb. I think the whole system is screwed up. I don't know how to fix it but right now, for most of the American people, it's a lose lose situation in the white house, no matter who's in office.

4 comments:

  1. I can't believe Clothes For Hoes had to let the mother go; you would think such an organization would thrive!

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  2. A huge step backwards for Hoes everywhere!!

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  3. Nice post, I know how to fix it...Tax the wealthy people the Right way. If I'm not mistaking the tax bracket stops at $250,000.00. So if someone makes $1 Mil, their not paying the right amount of tax.

    Quick story, when my girl got pregnant. I worked every overtime I could get so we can stack money, cause we planned for her to take a year off. Everything was good that year I made 52g. When I filled my taxes the overtime, put me in the next bracket. I was over buy $1000. Me refund was a whopping $400 ....I was bullshit.

    So tax them mutherfuckas!

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  4. Taxes will always be controversial...since early England days the average man got taxed more than the nobles. Crazy how little things have changed although we swear we've progressed so much!

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