Why the Democrats will lose

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I am putting this here because it is important only to me.

In 2017, I was working full time and my wife stayed at home with our two children. But then he was diagnosed with ALS. Since she was not working, she was not eligible for any assistance, no disability, no Medicare. By the fall, it was obvious that she would need full time support. I was fortunate that I had enough years in to take early retirement, keep our health insurance, and start drawing my pension at a reduced rate. We lived of the pension and our ever dwindling savings. We managed to get by but it wad tough when we had to change our living arrangement, our vehicle, and everything else to deal with my wife’s condition.

In October 2021, I wrote a letter to my congresswoman, both senators, and the president, all democrats, outlining our present circumstances and asking for some support.

On November 7,2021, my wife passed away.

Since I wrote the letter, I received one email from one senator informing me that he voted for a bill for support for caregivers under Medicaid, which help me not at all, since my wife was not eligible for Medicaid. My other senator has sent some emails thanking me for writing him about energy policy or other topics, showing that my letter was never read. From my representative and our president, I get nothing.

Until today, six months later, I get a letter from our president touting his efforts o help those affected by Covid-19. I can seek help from programs in the American Rescue Plan. Needless to say, there was no help for me there.

Except for endless appeals for money, that is it. Not a note of sympathy, no offer to help, nothing to show the slightest understanding of our plight. I know that these are Very Important People that have many Big Important Issues to deal with but if they ignore their constituents, they should expect the same from us.

2

If you had written this during the previous administration, would the title of this thread be “Why the Republicans will lose”? Or do you think they would treat you better?

3

I’m sorry to hear about your situation and your wife’s condition and passing.

I’m not sure what you expected from letters to your senators and representative; if you talk to employees who work in Congressional offices they’ll tell you that they get hundreds or thousands of letters a day, many of them appeals for aid or to make changes to laws, which is far too many to write personal responses to each. I won’t even guess how many letters the President gets other than I know that there are actually several members of staff who do nothing but read through general correspondence and direct it as appropriate. They days in which ordinary people could go to the White House to have their issues heard and problems adjudicated personally by the President are long past. If you want a personal response you need to do more than send a letter.

That nobody should have to bear the extraordinary costs of medical issues on their own without any kind of assistance or support is a shame of the peculiarly American system that treats illness as a moral failing and sick people as lepers. This is a consequence of indifference and corporate leghugging by many members of both parties but there is at least a general desire on the part of Democrats to make some kind of reforms while the GOP is laser-focused on undermining the guaranteed access to medical insurance of the Affordable Care Act and generally telling Americans that it is their personal responsibility to not get sick or injured. Virtually the entire rest of the developed world provides some substantial measure of universally available medical care or subsidized and cost-restricted insurance assuring that people do not go bankrupt dealing with normal medical procedures and chronic health issues. This should be a priority for your and everyone elses’ Congresspeople because of what a dramatic impact it has on both peoples’ well being as well as productivity and the economy, but it has become such an intractable problem that many legislators have simply thrown up their hands in doing something even if they care about the issue.

Stranger

4

I really wrote the letter in frustration after dealing with policies that are specifically written to exclude us from assistance. But I am bothered by the responses completely missing the point. How do they attract voters if they are not listening? Your last statement is rather telling, why should I vote for someone that has decided the best course of action is to do nothing?

5

When my wife was diagnosed, Republicans had both houses of congress and the presidency. As I recall, they wanted to further restrict healthcare.

And they lost the congress and the presidency.

So, yeah, I can say that. A pox on both their houses. If those in power ignore their voters, the voters will look elsewhere.

6

I am also sorry to hear of your loss.

This reminds me of something I read in Robert Caro’s biography of Lyndon Johnson. Johnson worked hard so that carelessness with heartfelt correspondence would not happen if you had written his congressional office — and even if you were not a constituent.

7

Less than two weeks after GWB was inaugurated I had my favorite coat with my house keys in it stolen at a bar. The police did nothing and I had to change all my locks and I never could find a suitable replacement for the coat.
I quit my position as a Republican election judge and never voted Republican ever again. Tough on crime, my ass.

8

Yeah! Two weeks was plenty of time to fix that!

9

Neither party is doing anything about massive corporate influence of laws and politics, the massive quid quo pro system that affects defense, healthcare, utilities, finances, and more. Many Democrats talk a good game but behind the scenes they are bad about it too. The Republicans are overall a bit more shameless about it.