Homeless Bound

Last Month Congress passed stricter laws governing how and who will be able to file bankruptcy. It all seems quite natural when you consider that the both the House and Senate on run by a Republican majority and their loyalties are to those that pay for their holidays. What congress seems unable and unwilling to address is the drastic jump in the cost of living and the less than adequate income levels of a larger percentage of the US population. A recent study done by the laborer’s union my husband belongs to showed that to match the lifestyle of those in the Union in the 70’s (own a home, spouse home with the kids, and savings in the bank) today’s workers would have to make double what they make now. The compromise for us is that I work full time out of the home. I’m definitely counted as one of the lucky, my mother in law lives with us and so she is able to watch our children, but this isn’t always going to be an option, and again the choice will have to be made about how to juggle the bills, keep a roof over our heads and struggle to come to terms with the fact that I see less of my children than daycare does.

As I said, I’m one of the lucky ones, for now. But so many American’s are just one small slip away from going under in the sea of debt. In today’s Seattle PI there is a piece today on how home ownership is slipping out of the hands of so many, as they struggle to keep even the most meager roof over there heads. In King County (Seattle) the average cost of a single family home in 2005 is $424,499.00 that has more than doubled in 10 years. The annual income needed to be able to afford a $245K home is $76, 360, which prices out of the market school teachers, police officers, nurses and of course retail sales workers. (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/horsey/viewbydate.asp?id=1208 )

In the Western Washington region 20% of the population is surviving on less than $38K a year for a family of four. While the definition for poverty has not changed since the 1960s when American’s were spending nearly 1/3 of their income on food; now the cost of healthcare, child care and transportation consume far more than the cost of food but politicians do not want to see the number of people below the poverty line double under their watch so the definition remains unchanged. Before you stop and are thankful you don’t live in Washington, this problem is not isolated to this region. Nationally in 2000 30% of the US population lived at or below double the federal poverty level.

What is going to be the answer? When are we going to stop allowing our government to send us to war in order for them to ignore what is happening right here at home. Mr. President, your citizens are starving, do something. Stop trying to line the fat pockets of your base through Social Security privatization and bankruptcy protection to the credit card companies. Mr. Bush, it is time you turned your attention home, this land of greatness is slipping, our children need more, our poor need more and our middle class need the help to insure they do not slip further. America is starving for success that we once saw within our grasp and under your reign as quickly evaporated.

(For the complete series of articles from the Seattle PI http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/specials/workingpoor/ )