I remember being able to be a full-time mother with the luxury of caring for my family - a luxury now largely gone for American working people because at that time, before Reagan, our family was able to survive and save on my husband's income.
Reagan's anti-union, anti-worker stance soon took care of that little problem of thriving American families, and we began to see a major surge in joblessness and homelessness throughout our nation.
Honestly, I do not remember seeing very many homeless people roaming the streets before the era of Reagan.
There have always been homeless people, but the numbers were such that you could count them on the fingers of one hand if you walked on the streets of a major American city.
Now the numbers of the homeless are almost uncountable, despite the attempts of caring churches and agencies to document and care for these folks.
Roving tent communities of homeless folks are sometimes welcomed briefly into communities because of the efforts of church people who heed the teachings of Jesus, but these homeless are more often shunned and turned away by the communities who fail to listen to the words of the Lord.
Now, it is time for that super hero, the American voter, to step into the voting booth and cast off those offensive Bush garments of hatefulness toward American families, American values, American workers.
And, dear voter, when you step into that booth, don't forget to take Jesus and the values of Jesus with you when you cast that vote.
Remember that Jesus loves families and workers (after all, he was a carpenter and probably belonged to the union).
I'm not going to go so far as to say that Jesus waves the American flag and lectures about "American values," but I do strongly recommend that you read Matthew 25:35-36 and meditate upon it. It's a very un-Republican passage.
Oh, and if a fella or a gal can work for a living and really make a living, they aren't very interested in taking handouts because most Americans like to be able to pay their own way and carry their own burdens - if they are not disenfranchised and devalued by those despicable conservatives who value corporations and high profits more than they value the American people.
Karen Backman is from Federal Way, Washington
Reagan's anti-union, anti-worker stance soon took care of that little problem of thriving American families, and we began to see a major surge in joblessness and homelessness throughout our nation.
Honestly, I do not remember seeing very many homeless people roaming the streets before the era of Reagan.
There have always been homeless people, but the numbers were such that you could count them on the fingers of one hand if you walked on the streets of a major American city.
Roving tent communities of homeless folks are sometimes welcomed briefly into communities because of the efforts of church people who heed the teachings of Jesus, but these homeless are more often shunned and turned away by the communities who fail to listen to the words of the Lord.
Now, it is time for that super hero, the American voter, to step into the voting booth and cast off those offensive Bush garments of hatefulness toward American families, American values, American workers.
And, dear voter, when you step into that booth, don't forget to take Jesus and the values of Jesus with you when you cast that vote.
Remember that Jesus loves families and workers (after all, he was a carpenter and probably belonged to the union).
I'm not going to go so far as to say that Jesus waves the American flag and lectures about "American values," but I do strongly recommend that you read Matthew 25:35-36 and meditate upon it. It's a very un-Republican passage.
Oh, and if a fella or a gal can work for a living and really make a living, they aren't very interested in taking handouts because most Americans like to be able to pay their own way and carry their own burdens - if they are not disenfranchised and devalued by those despicable conservatives who value corporations and high profits more than they value the American people.
Karen Backman is from Federal Way, Washington
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