A Letter To Representative Shuler
Dear Representative Shuler,
Ever since I earned the right to vote, I have checked off the box next to your name when you wind up on a ballot because I know that you fight to protect the goals and dreams of us. We are not just the "common American," we are more than North Carolinians. We are the people of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and we thank you kindly for keeping us in mind as we enter the Battle for the Budget.
I think that many people agree that President Obama's budget proposal was well thought out and well executed - for a political move. It is part of a long and elaborate chess game that most of us cannot hope to comprehend, but we understand the important parts. The fact of the matter is, neither his proposal nor the Republican House counter proposal has a solid ounce of "investing in our future."
When I was in high school, our teachers bemoaned the fact that they could not afford to hand out worksheets because of budget cuts. That was nearly a decade ago, back before all of this financial nonsense really exploded. Today, we are faced with overpopulated schools, understaffed by underpaid teachers. We have perhaps the highest national rate of high school drop outs in history (although North Carolina is doing well in comparison). Here in the mountains, we have students in middle school and sometimes high school who don't know how to read, we have college students who don't know how to spell.
Even if a child makes it through the grueling years of sub par public education, and the young adult emerges victorious from the jaws of university, there is no light at the end of their tunnel. Did you know that the unemployment rates for recent college graduates are the highest they've ever been? Last time things got this bad, President Franklin Roosevelt designed a little program called the Civilian Conservation Corps; perhaps you've heard of it. These days we have a similar program called AmeriCorps, but it is more than a mere employment opportunity. Based on a program designed by President George H. W. Bush, signed into being by President Bill Clinton, and expanded by President George W. Bush, it is the chance for people of all ages and from all backgrounds to come together, embracing their diversity to better serve their country. Beyond placing their volunteers into communities to help with everything from disaster relief to environmental stewardship to urban development, they also foster important education programs. Jumpstart, a program that helps low-income preschoolers become ready to read by the time they enter "real" school, is an AmeriCorps program, while Teach for America, which helps fill teaching positions with some of the top college graduates, arguably could not have continued without AmeriCorps support.
There's a fight within the home to save our children, too. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting ensures that every person with a TV box or a radio has access to free quality programming. The Public Broadcasting Service has given us Sesame Street and a hundred other TV shows designed to keep children's attention and teach them such important things as tying their shoes, saying please, and counting to ten. National Public Radio keeps their parents informed on their commute to work, and PBS gives them real, local news rather than the infotainment available on the commercial networks. PBS also has well thought out shows that the whole family can relax and bond around, an important activity that has been shown to greatly influence children's ability in school and in social settings.
These programs and others like them are being put under the budget knife. We need these programs, desperately. These are the programs that have been put in place to shore up where the wall has crumbled, where the federal budget falls short, where the government fears to tread. Cutting these programs is not the way to financial stability or sustainability. Cutting the programs that invest in our youth, in our elderly, in the power of our citizens is not "investing in our future."
We have programs out there that are doing no one any good, except for the businesses backing them. We have leftover administration that needs to be sorted through. We have programs that are bloated beyond all belief or control. We have unfair laws in effect that need to be reexamined.
There are a thousand ways to start the process of balancing our budget; don't let pride, prejudice, or simple ignorance get in the way of protecting our today and our future.
We're all counting on you.
Ever since I earned the right to vote, I have checked off the box next to your name when you wind up on a ballot because I know that you fight to protect the goals and dreams of us. We are not just the "common American," we are more than North Carolinians. We are the people of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and we thank you kindly for keeping us in mind as we enter the Battle for the Budget.
I think that many people agree that President Obama's budget proposal was well thought out and well executed - for a political move. It is part of a long and elaborate chess game that most of us cannot hope to comprehend, but we understand the important parts. The fact of the matter is, neither his proposal nor the Republican House counter proposal has a solid ounce of "investing in our future."
When I was in high school, our teachers bemoaned the fact that they could not afford to hand out worksheets because of budget cuts. That was nearly a decade ago, back before all of this financial nonsense really exploded. Today, we are faced with overpopulated schools, understaffed by underpaid teachers. We have perhaps the highest national rate of high school drop outs in history (although North Carolina is doing well in comparison). Here in the mountains, we have students in middle school and sometimes high school who don't know how to read, we have college students who don't know how to spell.
Even if a child makes it through the grueling years of sub par public education, and the young adult emerges victorious from the jaws of university, there is no light at the end of their tunnel. Did you know that the unemployment rates for recent college graduates are the highest they've ever been? Last time things got this bad, President Franklin Roosevelt designed a little program called the Civilian Conservation Corps; perhaps you've heard of it. These days we have a similar program called AmeriCorps, but it is more than a mere employment opportunity. Based on a program designed by President George H. W. Bush, signed into being by President Bill Clinton, and expanded by President George W. Bush, it is the chance for people of all ages and from all backgrounds to come together, embracing their diversity to better serve their country. Beyond placing their volunteers into communities to help with everything from disaster relief to environmental stewardship to urban development, they also foster important education programs. Jumpstart, a program that helps low-income preschoolers become ready to read by the time they enter "real" school, is an AmeriCorps program, while Teach for America, which helps fill teaching positions with some of the top college graduates, arguably could not have continued without AmeriCorps support.
There's a fight within the home to save our children, too. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting ensures that every person with a TV box or a radio has access to free quality programming. The Public Broadcasting Service has given us Sesame Street and a hundred other TV shows designed to keep children's attention and teach them such important things as tying their shoes, saying please, and counting to ten. National Public Radio keeps their parents informed on their commute to work, and PBS gives them real, local news rather than the infotainment available on the commercial networks. PBS also has well thought out shows that the whole family can relax and bond around, an important activity that has been shown to greatly influence children's ability in school and in social settings.
These programs and others like them are being put under the budget knife. We need these programs, desperately. These are the programs that have been put in place to shore up where the wall has crumbled, where the federal budget falls short, where the government fears to tread. Cutting these programs is not the way to financial stability or sustainability. Cutting the programs that invest in our youth, in our elderly, in the power of our citizens is not "investing in our future."
We have programs out there that are doing no one any good, except for the businesses backing them. We have leftover administration that needs to be sorted through. We have programs that are bloated beyond all belief or control. We have unfair laws in effect that need to be reexamined.
There are a thousand ways to start the process of balancing our budget; don't let pride, prejudice, or simple ignorance get in the way of protecting our today and our future.
We're all counting on you.