Glad to know... someone else cares about my $

Every day I come across an article or blog that leaves a bad taste in my mouth but today was not one of those days. For once during this economic hardship I was able to release a sigh of relief. "What! All of my money won't be going to the bank?", written by my classmate, Courtney Batts gave a glimpse of hope for our nation. Through Batts' blog I was informed that the Obama Administration is working to finally put a stop to excessive overdraft fees by banks. She claims that the Obama Administration's purpose is to provide aid for those who other wise would be on their own to battle financial institutions: "All in all, these new regulations are set in place to protect citizens from deceptive and unreasonable acts by financial institutions." This is great news for all who are sick and tired of being charged to use their own money.
Batts produced a well written blog that is highly informative and important. She was more than successful at taking a stand that appeals to an audience of wide variety. Batts made sure to include both sides of the story by adding how the banks will be protected as well as the customer. She went on to say that customers should not be allowed to abuse this new regulation but also should not be harshly punished for a slip up. Most importantly Batts was able to state the importance of this new regulation in one sentence: "These rules will help many Americans to stay on track in their attempts to start practicing better money management skills, and allow people to start trusting their banks again."

Free Food For The Poor...What about me?

I would consider myself to be a law abiding citizen. I follow "their" rules. I get up and go to work and school every day. I pay my taxes. I even accept water restrictions and only water my plants on days allotted. My initiative to be a productive and participating citizen has thrust me into the "I can not help you" category. During this time of economic hardship the working class has been forgotten. We have nowhere to turn for help. In order to be considered for governmental assistance we must quit our jobs and multiply our children. I could easily trade my paycheck in for panhandling on the corner of Metric and Parmer. Instead I choose to work for my money but ironically the latter would get me free dental work. Each day as I read the signs of the many panhandlers I question my intelligence: "Who's smarter?" My anger is not directed at the guy on the corner or even the many that take advantage of the government. Who could blame them? My anger is aimed at the government for not recognizing the hard work that me and every other working citizen produces. How about throwing my professors some of that stimulus money? They give the gift of knowledge every day, yet it goes unnoticed. The average working class citizen is the most deserving but least helped individual in the United States.
Welfare is government aid intended to help those with little to none income and supposedly including the working poor. According to an article in USA Today, "What recovery? Working poor struggle to pay bills" the working class has been denied:"There is a huge group of people who want to work, who are working, but it's a form of being indentured." "America has always been built on the belief that you can do better, but we have shut down the door to the middle class." I thought this was our land, it was built for you and me, by the working class. Our fore fathers would turn in their graves if they knew we were now considered the working poor. You can find on the "Too poor to vote Republican" website that the average American income has dropped $1,273 since 2000.
My family is living proof that the working class is barely staying afloat. My husband use to be considered the bread winner while I was a full time student. We have two children who use to have everything they needed and occasionally more. I now have to tell my children to wait till next payday to get what ever item is needed. My husband works on commissions which are steadily dropping due to the demise of local businesses. He was forced to drop his night classes to take a second job and I am now working a part time job as well. We no longer have health insurance since my husband's job can no longer provide it. We sought out temporary medical assistance for our children, one is on daily medication, and were denied. We were told that we make $100 too much to qualify. When we explained that we needed it just long enough for our second jobs insurance to kick in we were told,"Sorry, I can not help you."
When the working class is a paycheck away from being homeless something needs to be done. A program to help those who want to help themselves needs to be established. Why wait until we lose everything to help us? A help up is more logical that applying for unemployment in order to qualify for assistance. The working class citizen has been forgotten as well as denied assistance that was created to help those in need.