The Hurt of America

It's the night before the election, and the nation is stirring with tension. We wait for the 2020 outcome with bated breath, praying, and hoping our [Democrat] candidates win. After 2016, I find that the polls don't mean much. After all, didn't they predict a landslide win for Hillary? And look at what happened.

If you are like me, you are ready for the election to be over. When the dust settles, I hope our newly elected representatives will pay attention to some of the following issues:

Pay Inequity

The Trump/Republican tax cuts did not trickle down to hardworking folks like you and me. I lost my job of 13 years because a hedge fund bought a majority stake in my companies stock and did what they all do: laid people off. Over the past three years, I have yet to find a full-time, permanent position with benefits. I work in high tech, and I've lost a boatload of money since my layoff. I'm not trying to get sympathy because I know many people in this country don't even make half of what I've lost. However, financial loss still hurts my family. For my last contract job, I worked for a major telecommunications company. I accepted the position at a specified pay rate without benefits. Even though it wasn't an ideal situation, I needed a job to support my family. After posting record profits, the company decided to reduce my salary even further and then insulted me more by sending my job to India (and having me train my replacement).

Why did this happen? I believe it is because of the Republican tax cuts enacted in 2017. Companies that received the tax breaks were expected to help their employees with higher salaries or better benefits. The opposite happened. Companies bought back their stocks without assisting employees. This 2018 Vox article discusses where companies are putting the gains from their tax cuts. Most of the profits are not going to employees: "An analysis from Just Capital of 145 publicly traded companies found that 6 percent of tax-related savings was going to workers, while 56 percent was going to shareholders."

The tax cuts favored the rich, not middle- or lower-class workers. The bottom line? American companies will do what they can to preserve their bottom line, regardless of how many Americans are financially hurt in the process. That means you and me.

The Pandemic

In addition to the tax cuts that don't work for Americans, the President's incompetent response to the pandemic is further hurting people. Tens of millions of Americans are unemployed and struggling to make ends meet, including yours truly. My hope and prayer are that new leadership in Washington, meaning ousting Trump, McConnell, and Graham, can bring the pandemic under control. That includes providing the resources our frontline healthcare workers need to stay safe and take care of patients. It means reinstating our country in the World Health Organization after Trump angrily left because he didn't like what they said. It means listening to science instead of a narcissistic buffoon who proves over and over again that Americans are not his first priority. It means letting the researchers and scientists have the money they need to create an effective COVID-19 vaccine so we can all work at getting back to normal.

As of this writing (11/2/2020), there are over 231,000 dead from COVID-19. Dr. Fauci says it is going to get worse. And Trump wants to fire him after the election is over. Go figure that non-logical thinking.

Preventing Voting

The Republicans are doing their level best to prevent people from voting. I don't think I've ever seen such blatant attempts to stop the vote. These include:

• Trump attempts at dismantling the post office to prevent the delivery of absentee ballots.

• Over 300 lawsuits nationally to prevent higher voter turnout.

• Republicans are stacking the courts with conservative judges.

• Gerrymandering to ensure Republicans win, no matter what. Two great books by David Daley, "RATF**CKED" and "Unrigged" discuss Republican redistricting attempts.

All of these attempts to silence American voices have one thing in common: they are led by Republican partisans to retain power. I don't know about you, but I don't want them in control anymore. They don't do a thing for you or me.

These are three issues out of many that I hope a new presidential administration tackles. On this election eve, it is imperative that the Biden/Harris ticket wins and that Donald Trump will gracefully concede. I know the latter is a pipe dream. We are in for a fight for the next couple of weeks over the election results. Let's all keep our minds straight and focus on the end goal. The bigger hope is that we can start to heal the hurt in America with a new administration.