Congress: My Wife And I Need A Bailout
Stan Grimes
October 01, 2008
I was sitting on my back steps this evening enjoying one of the last nice evenings weīll have in Indiana for a season and I began thinking about the economic crisis in our country. You know the one. Itīs the crisis that many are protesting against like itīs not really going to happen, except our stock markets are demonstrating otherwise.
Letīs face it no one wants to be strapped with a seven hundred billion dollar salvage of the American economic system. All kinds of finger pointing are going on between conservatives, ultra conservatives, liberals, and far left-wingers. Itīs hard for us simple folks to figure out. Personally, I can only relate to my familyīs status as it relates to this entire mess.
I am sixty-two years old, just lost my job, spent thousands on a degree (obtained late in life), and I made good money now I am on the unemployment roles receiving nothing compared to what I used to make. My wife, a nurse, makes good money, but out income has nearly been cut in half because of my layoff. Weīre in the pinch, the crunch time in our lives. I am living what many people are living, on the precipice of disaster.
What to do? Now hereīs the interesting part. Even though I am sixty-two, I am apparently still very naïve. When I was laid off I said to myself, "Cool, now maybe I can write and start selling some of my stories and books." Naiveté doesnīt run in my family, just me. My family is a "meat and potatoes" kind of family. They would work at a fast-food joint before collecting unemployment. Well, no one is buying my books because of possibly three reasons: 1. Iīm a lousy writer, 2. I have no money to spend on marketing my books, or 3. I donīt have an agent to help me. Or, maybe all three and more, heck I donīt know. What makes the difference? Let's face it "Gone With The Wind" isn't in my future.
The fact is my wife and I need a bailout of our own. The fact is thatīs not going to happen. Even if the government votes on "rescuing" Wall Street, the trickle down effect of that bailout will not help anyone for several weeks, maybe months. So what happens during this period of time? I could draw an early retirement and get a part time job at which I would have to work until they find me dead, stiff at the steering wheel of a Papa Johnīs delivery vehicle (my own). Or, I could draw unemployment for a year and lose our house and the new kitchen we just built. We could try to sell our house for half of what itīs worth. Unfortunately, we are not one of those families that need to worry about the stock market. My wife has a 401k and itīs FDIC secured, but we canīt touch that until she retires. So, someday we might pull out of this, but we need a quick and easy bailout like Wall Street.
So, if any of you Republican or Democrats just happen to be reading the American Chronicle when and if this article is published, could you help my wife and I out? Iīd say we could use about a $250,000 bailout, but donīt worry weīll pay you back in the same manner that Wall Street firms will return their money. I would like to ad this request to the next agenda after the holidays of course. We certainly wouldnīt interrupt your holidays, because as we all know you are god-fearing men and women.
Letīs face it no one wants to be strapped with a seven hundred billion dollar salvage of the American economic system. All kinds of finger pointing are going on between conservatives, ultra conservatives, liberals, and far left-wingers. Itīs hard for us simple folks to figure out. Personally, I can only relate to my familyīs status as it relates to this entire mess.
I am sixty-two years old, just lost my job, spent thousands on a degree (obtained late in life), and I made good money now I am on the unemployment roles receiving nothing compared to what I used to make. My wife, a nurse, makes good money, but out income has nearly been cut in half because of my layoff. Weīre in the pinch, the crunch time in our lives. I am living what many people are living, on the precipice of disaster.
What to do? Now hereīs the interesting part. Even though I am sixty-two, I am apparently still very naïve. When I was laid off I said to myself, "Cool, now maybe I can write and start selling some of my stories and books." Naiveté doesnīt run in my family, just me. My family is a "meat and potatoes" kind of family. They would work at a fast-food joint before collecting unemployment. Well, no one is buying my books because of possibly three reasons: 1. Iīm a lousy writer, 2. I have no money to spend on marketing my books, or 3. I donīt have an agent to help me. Or, maybe all three and more, heck I donīt know. What makes the difference? Let's face it "Gone With The Wind" isn't in my future.
The fact is my wife and I need a bailout of our own. The fact is thatīs not going to happen. Even if the government votes on "rescuing" Wall Street, the trickle down effect of that bailout will not help anyone for several weeks, maybe months. So what happens during this period of time? I could draw an early retirement and get a part time job at which I would have to work until they find me dead, stiff at the steering wheel of a Papa Johnīs delivery vehicle (my own). Or, I could draw unemployment for a year and lose our house and the new kitchen we just built. We could try to sell our house for half of what itīs worth. Unfortunately, we are not one of those families that need to worry about the stock market. My wife has a 401k and itīs FDIC secured, but we canīt touch that until she retires. So, someday we might pull out of this, but we need a quick and easy bailout like Wall Street.
So, if any of you Republican or Democrats just happen to be reading the American Chronicle when and if this article is published, could you help my wife and I out? Iīd say we could use about a $250,000 bailout, but donīt worry weīll pay you back in the same manner that Wall Street firms will return their money. I would like to ad this request to the next agenda after the holidays of course. We certainly wouldnīt interrupt your holidays, because as we all know you are god-fearing men and women.
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