This morning on my show, we’ll look at the bittersweet feelings so many of us are experiencing at the end of the year.
The past few weeks have been an incredible whirlwind for everyone paying attention to the what our elected officials are doing in Washington. Sadly, not enough Americans do… the majority is happy to plod along, caring only about who dances or sings well, or what idiotic woman will accept a marriage proposal from a himbo on a reality show.
But I digress, again. The last three weeks have been truly historic. As President Obama said while taking his victory lap in a hastily-called press conference yesterday, this lame duck session of Congress has been the most productive in decades.
Just think, the party of no (with the exception of John McCain and a few other miserable old white men) actually voted for the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, ratification of the New START treaty, and a record number of other bills that will actually help people!
After substantial watering down, the Senate passed the 911 first responders health care bill by unanimous consent! Amazing!
We should be feeling good… very good, as we head into the last week of 2010.
We’ll feel even better this morning when I’m joined on the show by Autumn Sandeen, whom I had the pleasure of meeting this summer at the Netroots Nation gathering in Las Vegas. Autumn, who writes for Pam’s House Blend, is a transgender activist who spent 20 years in the US Navy, retiring as a First Class Petty Officer.
On Tuesday morning, Autumn received a call from Dan Choi, inviting her to head to DC to attend the DADT repeal bill signing ceremony with him. I know you’ll enjoy hearing Autumn’s account of this very historic day.
Unfortunately, there are millions of Americans who are not feeling very happy today. Collectively known as the “99ers,” they’re the people who have been hardest by this economy- unemployed, unable to find work, and who have exhausted their unemployment benefits.
Their plight is President Obama’s biggest failure. He “negotiated” a massive continued tax break for the wealthiest of Americans – putting the burden on our kids and grandchildren – but left these people, literally, out in the cold.
Today, we’ll hear from one of them. Cindy Paoletti worked for JP Morgan Chase in the operations center in Syracuse NY for 23 years! She was laid off Dec 31, 2007, as her job was offshored to India.
Cindy explained her situation to me:
I was one of the original 99ers. I and a group of other 99ers starting lobbying congress a year ago when we knew our benefits were going to run out and there were still no jobs in sight. We have become very dedicated activists but of course what we can do is limited because we are all living day to day trying to survive. I’ve been without any income for 9 months now and have used all of my savings trying not to lose my house. I am a single mom, and have a daughter who is 26 that moved back home after she lost her job.
You can contact Cindy here. And she’s not alone. Perhaps you can help out in this season of giving, as our government isn’t doing their job.