[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 95 (Tuesday, June 10, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5438-S5441]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
COLLAPSE OF THE MIDDLE CLASS
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed
in the Record ``Letters from Vermont and America.''
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
The Collapse of the Middle Class
Letters from Vermont and America
Dear Friend, As gas and oil prices soared and as the nation
slipped into recession, I made a request to Vermonters on my
e-mail list. I asked them to tell me what was going on in
their lives economically. That was it. Frankly, I expected a
few dozen replies. I was amazed, therefore, when my office
received over 600 responses from all across the State, as
well as some from other states. This small booklet contains a
few of those letters.
It is one thing to read dry economic statistics which
describe the collapse of the American middle class. It is
another thing to understand, in flesh and blood terms, what
that means in the lives of ordinary Americans. Yes, since
George W. Bush has been in office 5 million Americans have
slipped into poverty, 8 million have lost their health
insurance and 3 million have lost their pensions. Yes, in the
last 7 years median household income for working-age
Americans has declined by $2,500. Yes, our country, for the
first time since the Great Depression, now has a zero
personal savings rate and, all across the Nation, emergency
food shelves are being flooded with working families whose
inadequate wages prevent them from feeding their families.
Statistics are one thing, however, and real life is
another. The responses that I received describe the decline
of the American middle class from the perspective of those
people who are living that decline. They speak about families
who, not long ago, thought they were economically secure, but
now find themselves sinking into desperation and
hopelessness.
These e-mails tell the stories of working families unable
to keep their homes warm in the winter; workers worried about
whether they'll be able to fill their gas tank to get to
their jobs; and seniors, who spent their entire lives
working, now wondering how they'll survive in old age. They
describe the pain and disappointments that parents feel as
they are unable to save money for their kids' college
education, and the dread of people who live without health
insurance.
In order to try and break through the complacency and
isolation inside the Washington Beltway, I have read some of
these stories on the floor of the Senate. It is imperative
that Congress and the corporate media understand the painful
reality facing the middle class today so that we can develop
the appropriate public policy to address this crisis. We must
expand low income home heating assistance, stop oil
profiteering and price gouging, and support programs that
address the growing crisis of hunger in America. The National
Priorities Act (S. 818) that I introduced in this session of
Congress is one example of legislation that would address the
growing crisis.
Let me conclude by thanking all of those people who have so
kindly shared their lives with me through these letters. I
know that for many of you this was not an easy thing to do.
Bernie Sanders,
United States Senator.
____
Here are letters from two mothers in Vermont. The first is
from a woman in rural area; the second is a single mother in
a small city.
We have at times had to choose between baby food and heating
fuel.
My husband and I have lived in Vermont our whole lives. We
have two small children (a baby and a toddler) and felt
fortunate to own our own house and land but due to the
increasing fuel prices we have at times had to choose between
baby food/diapers and
[[Page S5439]]
heating fuel. We've run out of heating fuel three times so
far and the baby has ended up in the hospital with pneumonia
two of the times. We try to keep the kids warm with an
electric space heater on those nights, but that just doesn't
do the trick.
My husband does what he can just to scrape enough money for
car fuel each week and we've gone from three vehicles to one
just to try and get by without going further into debt. We
were going to sell the house and rent, but the rent around
here is higher than what we pay for our monthly mortgage and
property taxes combined. Please help.
By February we ran out of wood and I burned my mother's
dining room furniture.
I am a single mother with a 9 year old boy. We lived this
past winter without any heat at all. Fortunately someone gave
me an old wood stove. I had to hook it up to an old/unused
chimney we had in the kitchen. I couldn't even afford a
chimney liner (the price of liners went up with the price of
fuel). To stay warm at night my son and I would pull off all
the pillows from the couch and pile them on the kitchen
floor. I'd hang a blanket from the kitchen doorway and we'd
sleep right there on the floor. By February we ran out of
wood and I burned my mother's dining room furniture. I have
no oil for hot water. We boil our water on the stove and pour
it in the tub. I'd like to order one of your flags and hang
it upside down at the capital building...we are certainly a
country in distress.
These two letters describe the pressures faced by
Vermonters on family life.
Not spending those 10 hours at home with my husband and son
makes a big difference for all of us . . .
As a couple with one child, earning about $55,000/year, we
have been able to eat out a bit, buy groceries and health
insurance, contribute to our retirement funds and live a
relatively comfortable life financially. We've never
accumulated a lot of savings, but our bills were always paid
on time and we never had any interest on our credit card.
Over the last year, even though we've tightened our belts
(not eating out much, watching purchases at the grocery
store, not buying ``extras'' like a new TV, repairing the
washer instead of buying a new one...), and we find ourselves
with over $7,000 of credit card debt and trying to figure out
how to pay for braces for our son.
I work 50 hours per week to help earn extra money to catch
up, but that also takes a toll on the family life--not
spending those 10 hours at home with my husband and son makes
a big difference for all of us. My husband hasn't had a raise
in 3 years, and his employer is looking to cut out any extra
benefits they can to lower their expenses, which will
increase ours.
I want to drop everything I am doing and go visit him.
My 90-year-old father in Connecticut has recently become
ill and asked me to visit him. I want to drop everything I am
doing and go visit him, however, I am finding it hard to save
enough money to add to the extra gas I'll need to get there.
I am self-employed, with my own commercial cleaning service
and money is tight, not only with gas prices, but with
everything. I make more than I did a year ago and I don't
have enough to pay my property taxes this quarter for the
first time in many years. They are due tomorrow.
These letters speak of retirement. One is from an older
Vermont couple who recently stopped working; the second is
from a woman in a small town in Vermont who is thinking about
the future she and her husband face.
We also only eat two meals a day to conserve.
My husband and I are retired and 65. We would have liked to
have worked longer but because of injuries caused at work and
the closing of our factory to go to Canada, we chose to
retire earlier.
Now with oil prices the way they are we cannot afford to
heat our home unless my husband cuts and splits wood, which
is a real hardship as he has had his back fused and should
not be working most of the day to keep up with the wood. Not
only that he has to get up two or three times each night to
keep the fire going.
We also have a 2003 car that we only get to drive to get
groceries or go to the doctor or to visit my mother in the
nursing home three miles away. It now costs us $80.00 a month
to go nowhere. We have 42,000 miles on a 5 year old car.
I have Medicare but I can't afford prescription coverage
unless I take my money out of an annuity, which is supposed
to cover the house payment when my husband's pension is gone.
We also only eat two meals a day to conserve.
My husband and I are very nervous about what will happen to
us when we are old.
Yesterday I paid for our latest home heating fuel delivery:
$1,100. I also paid my $2,000+ credit-card balance, much of
which bought gas and groceries for the month.
My husband and I are very nervous about what will happen to
us when we are old. Although we have three jobs between us
and participate in 403B retirement plans, we have not saved
enough for a realistic post-work life if we survive to our
life expectancy. As we approach the traditional retirement
age, we are slowly paying off our daughter's college tuition
loan and trying to keep our heads above water.
We have always lived frugally. We buy used cars and store
brand groceries, recycle everything, walk or carpool when
possible and plastic our windows each fall. Even so, if/when
our son decides to attend college, we will be in deep debt at
age 65.
P.S. Please don't use my name. I live in a small town, and
this is so embarrassing.
These letters speak about the emotional consequences of the
current economic situation and are from a man who lives in a
small town near the New Hampshire border, and from a woman
who lives in central Vermont.
The pennies have all but dried up . . . Today I am sad,
broken, and very discouraged.
I, too, have been struggling to overcome the increasing
costs of gas, heating oil, food, taxes, etc. I have to say
that this is the toughest year, financially, that I have ever
experienced in my 41 years on this earth. I have what used to
be considered a decent job, I work hard, pinch my pennies,
but the pennies have all but dried up. I am thankful that my
employer understands that many of us cannot afford to drive
to work 5 days a week. Instead, I work three 15-hour days. I
have taken odd jobs to try to make ends meet.
This winter, after keeping the heat just high enough to
keep my pipes from bursting (the bedrooms are not heated and
never got above 30 degrees) I began selling off my
woodworking tools, snowblower, (pennies on the dollar) and
furniture that had been handed down in my family from the
early 1800s, just to keep the heat on.
Today I am sad, broken, and very discouraged. I am thankful
that the winter cold is behind us for a while, but now gas
prices are rising yet again. I just can't keep up.
I don't go to church many Sundays, because the gasoline is
too expensive to drive there.
As a single parent, I am struggling everyday to put food on
the table. Our clothes all come from thrift stores. I have a
5-year-old car that needs work. My son is gifted and
talented. I tried to sell my house to enroll him in a school
that had curriculum available for his special needs. After 2
years on the market, my house never sold. The property taxes
have nearly doubled in 10 years and the oil to heat it is
prohibitive. To meet the needs of my son, I have left the
house sit and moved into an apartment near his high school. I
don't go to church many Sundays, because the gasoline is too
expensive to drive there. Every thought of an activity is
dependent on the cost. I can only purchase food from dented
can stores . . . I am stretched to the breaking point with no
help in sight.
More descriptions of what it feels like to be caught in the
American economy of the early years of the 21st century.
These letters are from a man in north central Vermont and
from a man in rural Pennsylvania.
At the rate we are going we will be destitute in just a few
years.
Due to illness my ability to work has been severely
limited. I am making $10 an hour and if I am lucky I get 35
hours a week of work. At this time I am only getting 20 hours
as it is ``off season'' in Stowe. It does not take a
mathematician to do the figures. How are my wife and I
supposed to live on a monthly take-home income of less than
$800? We do it by spending our hard earned retirement
savings. I am 50 and my wife is 49. At the rate we are going
we will be destitute in just a few years. The situation is so
dire that it is all I can think about.
Soon I will have to start walking to work, an 8-mile round
trip because the price of energy is so high it is that or go
without heat.
As bad as our situation is, I know many in worse shape. We
try to donate food when we do our weekly shopping but now we
are not able to even afford to help our neighbors eat. What
has this country come to?
I am just tired . . . I work 12 to 14 hours daily and it just
doesn't help.
I am 55 years old and worse off than my adult children. I
have worked since age 16. I don't live from paycheck to
paycheck, I live day to day. I can only afford to fill my gas
tank on my payday thereafter, I put $5, $10 whatever that I
can. I cannot afford to buy the food items that I would. I am
riding around daily to and from work with a quarter of a tank
of gas. This is very scary as I can see myself working until
the day that I die. I do not have a savings, no credit cards
and my only resources are thru my employment. I have to drive
to work as there are no buses from my residence to work. I
don't know how much longer I can do this. . . . I am
concerned as gas prices climb daily. I am just tired, the
harder that I work the harder it gets, I work 12 to 14 hours
daily and it just doesn't help.
Two women, the first from the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont,
the second from a small city in Vermont, write about their
situation and their fears.
Now we find that instead of a feeling of comfort, we have a
feeling of dread.
I live in the beautiful Northeast Kingdom. There are only a
handful of decent jobs available, and the wages everywhere
else are not very good. My husband and I have done what we
had to in order to survive and to make a decent life for our
two children, aged 7 and 4. He has worked steadily at a local
plant for 15 years, and I have worked part-time in order to
pay the bills without having to rely on daycare. We live a
modest life and do not live beyond our means. We have no
flat-screen TV, no cell phones, no iPods, and have only one
vehicle payment. We thought that finally, maybe, we would be
able to get ahead.
[[Page S5440]]
Now we find that instead of a feeling of comfort, we have a
feeling of dread. It seems like every time we do the right
thing and try to move ahead for our family, something out of
our control happens in order to slap us back down. I have
always been a big pusher of ``if you can do something to
change your situation, do it.'' Now, even though we are doing
everything right, my husband and I find ourselves extremely
worried about this winter. I have no answers as to how to
make the oil prices lower.
My husband and I have tried, again, to do the right things
by limiting our driving and by setting the heat at 68 degrees
all winter. We even had our home made as energy efficient as
possible, yet we now find ourselves unsure if we will be able
to pay for both the mortgage and our oil next winter.
Some nights we eat cereal and toast for dinner because that's
all I have.
I am a working mother of two young children. I currently
pay on average around $80.00 a week for gas so that I can go
to work. I see the effects of the gas increase at the grocery
stores and at the department stores. On average I spend
around $150.00 per week at the grocery store and trust me
when I say I don't buy prime rib--I buy just enough to get us
through the week and I can't afford to make sure we have
seven wholesome meals to eat every night of the week--some
nights we eat cereal and toast for dinner because that's all
I have. My family has had to cancel our annual trip to the
zoo, and we make less trips to see our families in another
town due to the increase of gas. The price of gas has created
a hardship for most average Americans. We have less money to
pay to living expenses which have also increased. It seems as
if it's just a rippling effect. I am really scared of what
the future holds for me and my kids because I just simply
cannot afford to live from day to day. I am getting further
and further in credit card debt just trying to stay afloat.
Some letters are from people who work in health care and
report on what is happening in their towns. The first of
these is from a small town in north-central Vermont; the
second is from a small town in the state of Washington.
Insurance costs continue to rise causing some to forgo
insurance to pay for gasoline, heating fuel and
groceries.
As the chief of a small ambulance service, I have seen the
impact of rising costs.
As a service made up of primarily volunteers, we have seen
our numbers decline. When soliciting for volunteers from the
community, we have been told that they are unable to put the
time in due to the need to work more just to pay their bills.
Our costs associated with running an ambulance have also
risen in the last few years. When discussing with our
suppliers, fuel prices play a large part in the increase--
both to manufacture and to transport.
We are hearing from more and more Vermonters that insurance
costs continue to rise causing some to forgo insurance to pay
for gasoline, heating fuel and groceries.
In speaking with other ambulance services both volunteer
and paid, most including ours, are delaying purchases on
major equipment such as ambulance replacements, due to
limited funding. This means we have older equipment, and
higher maintenance costs.
Dentistry is expensive and people are opting not to come to
the dentist.
I live in Washington. I drive about 10 miles to work every
day. I drive an eight-year-old car that gets about 25 miles
per gallon. My husband is a contractor and drives a small
pickup truck that gets very poor mileage. Together I have
estimated that we spend about $300 a month on gas. This has a
tremendous effect on our budget. We are watching every penny
we spend.
I work in a dental clinic that is also seeing a slowdown.
Dentistry is expensive and people are opting not to come to
the dentist or not getting the optimal dentistry they need. I
spoke to the medical doctor across the hall from our office.
He was telling us that they too have seen a slowdown in their
practice. People are forgoing a trip to the doctor to save
money. One of my patients told me a story yesterday about a
food bank in town that is finding it difficult to keep its
shelves full. They had a realtor who was a regular
contributor. Now she was coming to get food for herself. The
cost of food is rising at a tremendous rate.
Rising gas prices have an effect on medical care as well,
as this letter from an oncology social worker in a Vermont
city reveals.
I cannot describe how devastating it has been for these folks
who need to travel great distances to get to/from their
cancer treatment.
My story involves my capacity as an oncology social worker
working with cancer patients in an outpatient clinic. I also
run an emergency fund through the Cancer Patient Support
Program which provides funds to cancer patients in need
during their cancer journey, including initial diagnosis,
surgery, and treatment period in which they experience a
significant decrease in income during a medical leave.
I cannot describe how devastating it has been for these
folks who need to travel great distances to get to/from their
cancer treatment and followup care with the way gas prices
have been!
Many of these folks need to travel on a daily basis to
radiation therapy for several weeks while others come from
surrounding counties every one to two weeks for chemotherapy.
It [the high price of gas] has had a tremendous impact on our
ability to provide the financial assistance through our
emergency fund to all those in need.
Someone with cancer who has to get treatment has no choice
in how many times they need to travel great distances. They
have to have reliable transportation, and thus need access to
gas for their cars, or another family member's car, to get to
their treatment and followup care.
This is becoming increasingly difficult as gas prices
continue to rise and our emergency fund cannot meet all the
financial needs of these patients.
This is the story of a woman who lives in a suburban
community near Burlington, Vermont. Following it is a short
letter from a senior citizen in a very small town in the
mountains of central Vermont.
I feel as though I am between a rock and a hard place no
matter how hard I try to adjust my budget for the month.
First of all, I am a single mother of a 16 year old
daughter. I own a condominium. I have worked at the hospital
for 16 years and make a very good salary, in the high $40,000
range.
I own a 2005 Honda Civic. I filled up my gas tank
yesterday, April 1, and it cost me almost $43. That was at
$3.22 per gallon. If prices stay at that level, it will cost
me $160 per month to fill up my gas tank. A year ago it cost
me under $20 to fill up my tank. Which would have amounted to
approximately $80 per month. I now have to decide what
errands I really need to run and what things I can do over
the phone or on the Internet. But the other issue is if I use
my cell phone too much during the month my bill will increase
and that will cost me more money.
I feel as though I am between a rock and a hard place no
matter how hard I try to adjust my budget for the month. I am
watching my purchases in the grocery store and department
stores more closely because of increased prices. I am not
sure that I can afford to take a summer vacation this year. I
usually take a day off during my daughter's spring vacation
so we can go shopping in New Hampshire somewhere. I have
already cancelled those plans for this year. I am hoping that
I can take a few days off this summer to go to Maine. We will
see how the gas prices are this summer but I hear it is going
to get worse. Not much hope for someone on a tight budget.
I have been forced to go back to work.
I am a 71 year old man and have been retired since 2000.
With the price of fuel oil I have been forced to go back to
work just to heat my home and pay my property taxes.
These two women who live in small towns in central Vermont
write about their sense that their families are sinking,
economically.
We would like to not have to worry about where our next meal
will come from.
I am a registered school nurse in Vermont, and my husband
is a self-employed bread baker. We are in our mid 30's and
have two young children. We always thought that if we went to
college, earned 4-year degrees, and worked hard, that we
would be able to live a decent life. We have no desire to be
wealthy, but would like to not have to worry about where our
next meal will come from.
As you know, wheat prices are soaring. Over the last year,
he has seen his price per 50-pound bag of flour increase
about $10 or more (last week alone, price per bag went up
$2.75). We are feeling distraught that we may never ``get
ahead'' but will always be pedaling to just keep up . . .
Employed in Vermont since 1997, I will be paying back my
nursing loans for a long time--longer now that we just can't
keep up with the rising costs of oil and wheat.
My husband and I both work very, very hard to provide
needed services to our Vermont communities. Yet we scratch
our heads when trying to budget our income. How can it be
that two college-educated individuals with respectable
careers are in such a financial bind?
My husband and I followed all the rules . . . Slowly, though,
we have sunk back to the `poor' days.
My husband and I followed all the rules. He grew up in
urban projects and went into the military with Vietnam
service so he could get GI Bill benefits and go to college. I
grew up picking strawberries as a migrant worker, but had a
mother who so pressed education that I was able to go to
college on scholarship and by working full time nights in a
mental hospital. My husband and I worked hard to buy a home,
maintain good credit, even taking government jobs because we
truly wanted to help others. I became disabled and unable to
work, but we managed to live a middle-class life on one
salary.
Slowly, though, we have sunk back to the `poor' days. Our
heating oil bill, gas prices, food prices--well, you know the
story. Even a pizza is a splurge now. The interest on our
meager savings doesn't seem worth keeping the money in the
bank. We're so much more fortunate than many others, since we
can still meet our bills, but we're scared that we'll drop
beneath that level soon. It doesn't seem right that after
working hard and following all the rules for our lives, now,
at 60, we're tumbling down.
These two letters, one from a man in a Chicago suburb, and
one from a teacher in Vermont's Connecticut River Valley,
also speak of the sense of falling behind in the 21st century
American economy.
[[Page S5441]]
It costs me so much money in gas that my wife and I live on
$6 per day to eat.
My job was transferred to China 8 years ago. No jobs were
available in my field. I tried to do everything I possibly
could do in finding another job outside of my field but
failed. My unemployment ran out. I lost everything: House,
cars and the will to live. My wife and I moved into my in-
law's basement after this catastrophe. I regained my never-
give-up outlook on life. I went back to school. I spent
$13,000 on my education to become a residential home
inspector. That market is in turmoil, and I can't make any
money in it these days. I am still self-employed now
performing various inspections on the commercial side within
the northern half of Illinois. I drive on average 250 miles
per day. It costs me so much money in gas that my wife and I
live on $6 per day to eat. I can't afford health insurance
for my wife and I because that money is in the gas tank every
week. The irony of it is my wife is a nurse. She's expecting
the doctor she works with to close his office any day now
because he's behind in his malpractice insurance. His
premiums are too high and he's 120 days past due on his
office lease payments because he's trying to keep the
malpractice insurance in effect. He stopped offering health
insurance to his employees 2 years ago with his increasing
costs. I still live in a basement. Do you need any more
evidence that our country and our leaders have failed me?
How much more of a hit can people take? The future looks
extremely bleak to me.
Bernie, I am so frightened for next year, as I struggle
daily this year. I drive past the gas stations and see the
price go up. Those prices are going up even 10 cents a gallon
in one day.
What about heating fuel next year? I spent this winter with
my heat turned down to 53 degrees, varying it only for a few
hours after I returned home from work. I have my master's
degree and am a teacher. I am struggling so hard in my new
home. It's a double wide and I've waited 50 years to get my
own home. Now, I am worried I won't be able to keep it as
everything else is going up, except my salary, which next
year will only go up slightly more than 1 percent.
The middle class is no longer the middle class...I've
slipped into the lower class after a winter of double heating
costs and now these new economic hits. How much more of a hit
can people take? The future looks extremely bleak to me. I
worry constantly about how I am going to pay my bills.
The first letter is from a young person in a small, rural,
college town in Vermont. The second was written by a woman
who lives in a city on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
I am now living out of my car.
As a student and a part time employee working for just
above minimum wage I have found it more and more difficult to
survive under these conditions. The drive to school and work
require me to use roughly 30 percent of my paycheck just to
go where I need to, to make it through my day.
When school is in session I am lucky to get about 170
dollars a week and with gas prices at their current all time
high I am continually finding myself under hardships because
of it. Recently I had to vacate my apartment because I could
not afford to pay rent and I am now living out of my car.
This too seems like it may not be able to last that much
longer because I am encountering difficulties in making my
car payment.
I can remember when gas prices were a little over a dollar
and I dream about life taking that turn once more. Because of
the gas prices I have found nothing but an extremely low
budget for food, I was forced out of my home and now I might
lose the one thing that is allowing me to continue my
schooling and keep going to work--my car.
I am struggling to understand why prices continue to rise
and I see no end in sight.
Our life style has drastically changed in the past 12 months.
I travel over 30 miles one way (60 miles roundtrip). My car
requires high test which is now $3.95/gal. I have approached
my company about doing a survey of its employees to see how
many co-workers travel over 20 miles one way, and suggested
that we start to work on a commuter policy. I suggested four
10-hour work days, telecommuting, setting up car pools,
setting up incentives for car poolers. I was turned down. I
was able to find another person who was interested in car
pooling & we have started to do that. I take breakfast,
coffee, lunch, and snacks to work daily. I do not go to the
hair dresser or nail salon as I used to. We stopped taking
weekend trips and plan to see our children in NJ only once
this year. Between the 30 percent credit card interest rates,
fuel cost, and food increases our life style has drastically
changed in the past 12 months.
Two women from Vermont write about what the economy is
doing to them and their families.
My mortgage is behind, we are at risk for foreclosure, and I
can't keep up with my car payments.
I am a 31 year old wife, mother of two. How has this
affected me? My husband drives 35 miles to work, that is a
one-way trip. He is putting an average of $80 a week into his
gas tank. No, he doesn't drive an SUV or a half-ton work
truck. It's a small pickup truck that he needs as he builds
houses. The kicker is that he never puts more than half a
tank in, because we can't afford to fill it. I drive 15 miles
one way, and put about $40 a week into my 30-miles-to-the-
gallon car. Again, I never fill the tank--ever. We have even
contemplated having my husband quit his job because he isn't
making much more money weekly than he spends on gas. We could
move to an area that is closer to our jobs, but because of
the market, we cannot sell our house fast enough, or for a
fair price.
Meanwhile, my mortgage is behind, we are at risk for
foreclosure, and I can't keep up with my car payments. My
parents, both in their 60's, are back to work so that they
can make ends meet, and struggle to come up with enough gas
money so they can get to doctor's appointments. They are
opting to close their house up for the winter, and stay with
my uncle so they don't have to put oil in their furnace. I
can't tell you how many times we had to fill our little gas
tanks with kerosene or diesel because we ran out of oil and
couldn't afford the $380 it would cost us to put a mere 100
gallons in. Needless to say, we are way behind on all of our
bills, we are still playing catch up with our winter
expenses. People that I know that have never struggled with
money, are now frequenting our local food shelf so they can
feed their families staple foods. Please listen to our pleas
and put ethics first.
We are barely staying afloat.
My family has been hit so hard by this economy, we are
barely staying afloat. We have remortgaged the house 4 times
in the last three years to pay credit card debt. Now we are
trying to tap into our annuity to pay more credit card debt.
The debts on the credit cards are all for bills. Mostly
grocery, oil and the mere cost of living.
My husband is a union carpenter and they just changed our
fantastic insurance plan to a terrible one with barely any
coverage. I have none of my doctors on it and I suffer from
painful nerve damage. I am not eligible for social security
disability and I am unable to work.
We had a dream to own our own home, and that dream came
true seven years ago. I am afraid our dream is slipping
through our fingers and it won't be long before we lose our
home, the way things are going.
A young couple in Burlington, Vermont writes of their
situation and their concerns.
I wonder some times if we should try to follow our dreams--
decide to have children?
Even after we bought our house, there was a time when I
could save a little here and there and feel secure and
hopeful for the future.
Recently, I have been trying to stretch out time between
grocery trips and have chosen to postpone necessary repairs
to our house simply because we just don't have the money to
do so.
We are frugal people with simple spending habits, mainly
food and our house expenses. We ride bicycles, buy bulk foods
and used clothing, repair and mend before buying new, and we
love this life.
But if we can't fix our roof, or become malnourished from
food choices on a family income of $50,000 yr, then what does
the future hold for the next generation?
I wonder some times if we should try to follow our dreams--
decide to have children? Try to buy a farm? All of these
thoughts lead me to another emotion--sadness.
These letters, the first from a single mother in Vermont,
the second from a retired couple also in Vermont, ask
questions that we as a Nation should listen to.
People say, `Cut back.'
I am a single mother, owning a home, preparing to send a
son to college, and working two jobs most of the time. While
I am managing to keep my house (I think I'm upside down given
the slump in market value), I am falling behind on my bills
and have to use my credit card more often for necessities.
People say, `Cut back.'
When I look at my bank and credit card statements, I see;
gas, groceries, gas, fuel oil, gas, groceries, school-related
activities, car maintenance, gas, electricity. Cut back on
what? The occasional pizza between jobs and athletic events?
The trip to college to seek financial aid? Clothes for work
and school?
Does anybody have a solution? Does anybody in Washington
care?
Thanks for your invitation to talk with you. We are
retired, 70 and 65 and living on Social Security and some
savings.
Like most Vermonters we use wood to offset the price of
being warm. Our last oil fill up was nearly $700. How can we
continue to make ends meet? My gasoline cost $239 last month.
Food and everything else we buy is going up every week
because of gouging from oil companies. We are worried about
the national debt and the trade deficit. What can be done to
bring them down? Does anybody have a solution? Does anybody
in Washington care?
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