Environment under attack

Currently, we are losing our environment which includes clean water, logging being allowed in protected forests, fracking just to get the last little bit of oil and gas causing contamination of water sheds, allowing pesticides and herbicides that was once illegal to be used again on our food source, allowing oil pipelines to be built that leak just after they are completed. All these items affect all of us including those who allow it to happen.

Our domestic and our international policies are going backward. The LGBT communities, religions other than Christian,  non-Caucasian, the mentally ill and any others who are perceived as not “normal” are now being attacked for no logical reason with hatred and violence . Our allies no longer truly trust the United States and reacting accordingly, we pick economic wars with our trading partners causing tariffs to be placed on items we buy that we must pay and we court other nations that are our sworn enemies for economic and political reaasons. We are losing markets for our farmers due to political reasons and then giving monies to the farmers affected to appease them.

There is serious talk of reducing or taking away both Social Securities and Medicare payments as they are considered entitlements. We have been paying in Social Security and Medicare since we started working at 17 so it is our monies and we are entitled to receive the benefits. Just too be fair let all our Senators and Representatives get the same as we get. No big pensions for little work and none of the best healthcare for them. Certain ones want to get rid of the Affordable Care Act including many who gladly receive its benefits. These individuals have had 11 years to come up with a replacement plan but have no alternate but to delete the current plan.

So the rich get richer and the poor and middle class gets poorer while social services to help the less fortunate get cut. Businesses are allowed unbelievable profits without paying taxes while the rich get large tax breaks. We are still in a growing economy that started when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. But still many people must have 2 to 3 jobs in order to survive. The job count includes full time work, temporary workers, part time workers, and unpaid family workers. If the economy is not working for you then it is not good no matter what other people’s bank accounts look like. If you want a fair tax system put a 10 percent tax on all income with no exceptions and not deductions.  If you earn $1,000 you pay $100 and if you earn $10 million, you owe $1 million. Easy, simple and fair to all.

Our public education system is under attack on many fronts. Private schools, religious schools and charter schools want vouchers to get back the school taxes paid to fund the public school system. If you want to send you child to another school other that the public school system that is fine, but you still have a social and legal responsibility to fund the public school system. This includes access to the arts for all students.

As Democrats we are called snowflakes. Snowflakes are one of Nature’s most fragile things, but just watch what they will do when they stick together. My husband, Dale, and I have worked to help those who have no voice, children, elderly, and mentally ill and the homeless. This fits us better than the discourse, hateful speech and the violent actions of others.

We all need to realize we are one nation that is very unique and diverse. This makes us powerful to our enemies and a beacon to our allies. There is no one political party, one religion, one race, one economic power or one philosophy that is in charge of this country. We the People are in charge but only if we vote. Working together we can be great, but fighting against each other will only weaken us and we will become the Rome of the 21st century.

Deloris Segress

Winchester