Thursday, September 29, 2011

What would you ask the President?


So, this post is a bit different from the usual format.  I entered into the "Have Dinner with President Obama" contest.  Part of one of them had a box for "What would you ask the President if you sat down with him for dinner?" As I figure I probably won't win (but would love to be surprised), I thought I would post what I wrote here (so maybe somebody would read it). 
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I don't know if I have a specific question, I recently went back to school and received my BS in Political Science and a minor in History, and I keep up with current affairs as well and so, not to be a suck up, but as I have often found myself defending Obama’s policies, and the reasons why he made the compromises he has made and reminding people of his successes and debunking some of the “Spin” (read: Lies) that has been floating around out there for the last year and a half, to both more Republican leaning and Democratic leaning friends.

But as someone that, at 33 and having never made more than $25,000 a year working FULL TIME, I would want to have a very serious discussion with him regarding the “Working Poor”, like myself.  While we are working on getting people back to work, a very important mission to be sure, let us not forget that a job that pays roughly half of the living wage, also known as the Federal Minimum Wage, is not all that much better than being unemployed, or on government assistance.
Actually, this is something that is very close to me, I literally went back to school with this goal in mind, and, if you excuse me while I brag for a moment, I did this while working virtually full time and being the primary caregiver for a disabled parent, who, frankly, was practically an invalid for several years as we tried to get a needed orthopedic surgery.

It bothers me that we even have a term “Working Poor” in our active vocabulary; if ever there was a measure of inequality it is this.  To combat this I would like to discuss three primary topics; Health Care, Education, and Minimum Wage.  It seems to me these are the areas in most need of our focus as a Nation to combat this grave injustice.  While I applaud the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and have been a supporter of it, I think even the President would agree that it is only a step in the right direction, not the final solution.

Actually, I finish writing this I have figured out a question:

What can I realistically do to help make this happen on a National level?

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