A Political Rant...Be Prepared

I had intended to write a totally different blog entry but the things that have been happening in Wisconsin of late are so amazingly bizarre and tragic that I can’t help myself. My anger and frustration with the whole attack by the right wing on the middle class, and more specifically, the public servants in our country has boiled completely over the top and I can’t help myself. If I don’t sound off I think I will just explode.

What is it about the conservative mindset that they can’t seem to understand that government employees are no different than any other employee and that they deserve to be treated equally? Are they really that brainwashed by their talk machine that they have truly come to believe that just because someone works for the government they are stupid or lazy or getting a handout? Clearly they don’t have a grip on reality.

I worked for the State of Washington for almost 30 years and I am proud of having served the citizens of my state. Every state employee I ever met was grateful to have a steady job with a steady income and no one was ever deluded into thinking they would retire a millionaire. Contrary to what the right wing would like to believe, the pay scale is below the private sector by quite a bit. In addition, everyone pays a substantial monthly premium for their medical coverage as well as paying a mandatory contribution to their pension. And we pay the same taxes as everyone else. Working for the government is not a free ride any more than working for any other employer is.

In my office, everyone worked through breaks and lunches without compensation. Everyone came into work early and went home late on a regular basis without compensation. All because there was too much work and not enough employees and the people who would suffer if it didn’t get done were the poor and the infirm. We had a slush fund that came from employee donations for use in special circumstances when clients needed help and slipped through the cracks of the “system”. We raised money…out of our own pockets…to buy school supplies for children whose families didn’t have enough income for that. We raised money…out of our own pockets…to buy medicines for elderly people who couldn’t afford that and food both. We raised money…out of our own pockets…to provide Christmas gifts for many, many needy families who wouldn’t have a Christmas without that help. We kept a cupboard in the office stocked with food items, toiletries, diapers and other necessities…with money from our own pockets…for people who were in desperate need and had no means. We contributed food to the food banks and warm clothing and blankets to the homeless shelters and people living on the streets. Most of us kept a few dollars in change in our desks for people who didn’t have bus fare to get home. In a word…we all took our “jobs” and our obligation to the needy and the underprivileged very, very seriously.

I don’t know anyone who works for the government who doesn’t work their butt off day after day for the public good. What do they get in return? If they are lucky they get a living wage (and I don’t mean six figures). In addition, they are verbally abused by the press and the private sector in this vicious “us vs them” war that is being waged. Is it any wonder that government employees are reluctant to tell people what they do for a living?

This horrendous “What’s mine is mine and to hell with the rest of you.” attitude is truly what will ruin our country faster than anything else.