Pardon My Politics
Politics From The Left, The Right & Somewhere in BetweenThe ‘Bitter’ White Middle Class
Are we bitter? You bet we are!
Why? It’s not what Obama thinks.
Causes? Many many many.
Any solution? Probably not.
There has been much ado about Obama’s “bitter” comments. I consider myself a middle-class worker who lived and worked in the Midwest most of my life. I think lots of people get bitter, but not for the reasons Mr. Obama seems to think.Â
You see when you work hard, put in long hours to get that promotion/pay raise, you get a real sense of accomplishment when you achieve it. But then you look around and see perfectly able-bodied men and women who have no intention of working for a living, receive their checks from the government, their food stamps, free health care and the many other “benefits” of not working, you’re absolutely right that I get bitter. Oh and then the stimulus package comes out and “hey, you make too much money to get one!” Of course I do.
Obama is right - there is a great deal of bitterness within the middle class. He has got it wrong on the causes. We are bitter that working hard and getting ahead is penalized at every turn. The more you make the higher percentage of taxes you pay. And now that is going up too. Does anyone care that 10% of the population is paying 90% of the tax burden? Does anyone care that over 40% of the population pays NO taxes at all? How fair is that?
We are bitter that when you do make more money and try to save for retirement, you are penalized by paying atrociously high capital gains taxes. Yep and that’ll go up too when one of the current slate of presidential candidates gets elected. Cause for more bitterness, you bet!
We are bitter about the possibility of the estate taxes being re-instated. Is it fair for the government to “take” over 60% of assets we have saved for our children? I’m a farmer’s daughter and if the current estate tax laws were not in place when my parents passed away we would have had to sell the property just to pay the taxes. That is not fair and another reason to be very bitter.
We are bitter that no matter what the every day citizens of this country wants and votes on, the elitist politicians always know what is really best for us. We cannot possibly know how to take care of ourselves and our families. When did we as a society decide that it is the government’s job to “take care of” us? We didn’t. Our representatives and I use that term loosely, apparently only care and work toward getting re-elected. How can they get the most votes, whether that be what’s best or fair, is never in the equation. And lots of people jump on that bandwagon when it benefits them. You promise someone they won’t have to pay any taxes or promise free health car or free anything, they’ll vote that way. Problem is that nothing is free. Somebody is footing the bill. And unfortunately, the portion of workers that are paying is swiftly dwindling. We are already at 40% paying no taxes. What happens when that number goes to 50% or more? Who is there left to pay the bill. We are fast approaching a socialist state where the government provides all, and make no mistake about it; they will control every aspect of life also.
We are bitter that “illegal” immigrants (NOT legally here immigrants) come here and get free schooling, free health care and pay no taxes! I am not a racist but I am furious that our government constantly talks about the need for more taxes when they give away those taxes to people who do not contribute. And this is not only true of illegal immigrants. There are programs in place now to give tax refunds to citizens who pay no taxes. What’s up with that? Just craziness but hey who am I? Just another bitter, white, middle class, Midwestern, gun-totin’, bible thumpin’ racist.
About the author: Catherine Marzullo is currently living in sunny southern California but she is originally from not-so-sunny southern Illinois. She is retired and has a vacation home (cabin) in the Missouri Ozarks near Branson. Collecting Metlox cookie jars is one of her hobbies and she has quite a few in her collection.
Courtesy: EzineArticles
