The Class in Politics...

"The people who are out of touch are doing most of the talking.", said Whoopi Goldberg on 

WOW o WOW, a new website designed for women over 40. She is so dead on. 

This comment was made during an online discussion about elitism, Barack Obama, and politicians, most of which, are upper middle class or rich Americans.  

I've always thought the English have it right..... The House of Lords, and The House of Commons. One chamber for the landed gentry, one for the regular folk. The Senate and The House of Representatives were modeled after the old English institutions, but in this day and age most all of the people who are in Washington are of the landed gentry, in some way. Maybe some of them have been poor or working class at some point in their lives, but I doubt it that they are at present, or when they ran for office. I would suppose that in Great Britain it is quite the same. The poor and working class are not going to be walking into either chamber in the Capitol wearing scruffy jeans and a Harley-Davidson t-shirt to sit and vote like the guys in suits. I doubt they sell PBR in the Senate dining room. 

All of us of the have nots, have put our faith in the haves.... but do they have any idea, besides what is written in position papers and those thick volumes churned out by government and called "studies", of what the average joe or jane goes through to stay afloat in this country on a daily basis? I think not. 

Every member of Congress makes at least a six figure income. Every member of Congress has a paid staff. The members do not have to write checks for their salaries. We, as the taxed, pay them too. Every member of Congress will be wined, and dined, and maybe even get laid at the expense of big business in the form of a lobbyist who wants a vote from them. Every member Congress can eat in the dining rooms, and get their shoes shined, and get a haircut in the Capitol. They have it good, and that makes them less able, in my opinion, to have any idea of what it is like to try and make ends meet on a salary of $12,000 a year. 

That is what I made last year. And, besides the fact that I could not afford vacations until I inherited some money late in the year, I made do. I don't drive a fancy car, in fact I ride my bike and take the bus and I am 52 years old. I bought 98% of the furnishings in my house from garage and estate sales and my clothes on clearance. I dinedat home most of the year. I did not have cable, and I did not have internet access. Can the guys who go to work in the United States Capitol say the same? 

I wondered if my life would change much now that I have a bit of money in the bank. So far, there have only been slight changes. I now have internet access and a computer and a new cell phone that does more than ring. I helped out some of those closest to me. I took tow vacations early this year, something I have not done in almost a decade. I finally bought a shirt that wasn't on clearance and paid more than $15 for a watch. I still don't have cable and I still have used furniture, and I still don't eat out much. So, do the people on the hill have any idea how to represent people like me? Probably not, but I don't see things changing any time soon. 

A true democracy is what we need, but the country has too many folks, and the laws are too complex for some regular guys and gals to understand. Maybe the answer is to make all of the members of congress spend a week living like the poorest people they represent. It could be that if they actually walk a mile or so in a regular person's shoes, folks in power, and their spouses, would have a better understanding of what the masses have to deal with everyday, and they wouldn't be talking about how they can't survive on half a million dollars a year, which is what Michelle Obama said at a function last week. 

I could do more that survive.... I could give half of it away every year and still live "high on the hog". Creepy how they think, isn't it?