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I'm a 53 year old truck broker...I find loads for trucks and trucks for loads all over the country.  It has been a wonderful, prosperous career for me until approximately 2003 when my company was bought out by an "investment" company and all of us were thrown out of work.  At the time Bush came into office I was making 100K a year...now that's a lot of money, but especially for someone who had spent most of her life in 20K clerical jobs.  But I was lucky to have a huge customer that shipped frozen vegetables all over the country.  After my company went under, I had several other jobs and managed to do pretty well thru some rough spots. But as the Bush presidency continued, unabated in its goal of destroying the middle class and stealing this country's treasury, I saw a downturn in business every year until finally, 2008 was my breaking point.  I tried to keep my office going on my own, but with paying utilities, quarterly taxes, and other related expenses as my income slid, I ended up with many thousands of dollars on my credit cards.  For the 1st time in a decade, I can no longer pay my bills on time.  I'm physically and emotional devastated.  I've gone to work for a trucking company here in San Antonio, driving to work everyday, and making 1/2 of what I made while working on my own, in my own home.  Every payday I think it's going to be my last.  I specialize in transportation of food products...dairy, produce, frozen, etc.....and I've seen my loads diminish each month, with shippers trying to get their hauling done for pennies on the dollar and other brokers and carriers undercutting the rates to the point that we're all almost out of business. The problem won't be fixed with tax breaks for new cars or new homes.  If one doesn't have a job, is underemployed, or afraid of losing the job one has, PEOPLE WILL NOT SPEND MONEY.  This is the problem.  We must create new AMERICAN jobs, and quit giving tax breaks to corporations who send American jobs overseas or import highly skilled white collar workers to do the jobs Americans used to do.  At each point in our history when we've been at war, we have created the tanks, the planes, the related defense business that gave Americans jobs.  Now, due to the neo-cons belief in "private" contractors, we're even lost that.  Many Americans like me who find ourselves in credit card debt for the 1st time in our lives don't know where to turn.  We haven't run up our cards with trips to Hawaii, designer handbags, etc., but have used our credit to keep our everyday lives on track.  But we've run out of time and money.  Just think that if all the money that's been doled out in the last 6 months to the credit card companies, banks, and Wall Street had been given directly to the Americans who are working to eliminate or lower their direct debt, we would be back on our feet in no time.  But when one litereally lives from paycheck to paycheck, it's a black hole of despair and grief.  I have been the sole support of my husband and me for the last few years. He is unable to work due to health issues and can get no disability.  He worked for me and helped me run my business, as well as taking care of the house and everything I didn't have time to do.  Now he's at home watching me leave every morning with a heavy heart and much guilt that he's not the one on the road everyday.  I have some pretty substantial health issues myself...injuries from car accidents 20 years ago that left me with broken arms, broken back, etc....and severe arthritis, but I just keep working.  What's the alternative?  We've never been on any kind of government assistance, etc., and we certainly don't expect any now.  But we are truly the forgottten middle class, those who've worked, paid taxes, and tried to do the right thing.  Now there's nothing for us to look forward to but a lower standard of living.  BRING BACK AMERICAN JOBS AND TAKE AWAY THESE IMMORAL AND RIDICULOUS TAX CUTS FOR THE WEALTHY AND BIG BUSINESS!  The middle class is the true hub of the economic wheel and until we come back strong, this country will never turn around.  I worked so hard for Hillary and when things turned out like they did, I took it personally.  I couldn't help it.  To me, it was just another example of how women have to prove themselves so much more than men do.  And I think it was an example to the world as a whole that "any man but a wo'man" can do the job.  My husband (who's Hispanic and knows a little bit about prejudice) and I both were devastated at the way the media turned against Hillary, but neither of us were really surprised. I work with a bunch of guys who STILL think that this is not Bush's fault.  It never ceases to amaze me how ordinary workers always seem to vote against their own interests, but I see it day after day.  After working on my own for so long, working out of my home office, you can't imagine how hard it is to come in here everyday and listen to the absolute ignorance of most of the people I work with.  Not only do I have the physical hardship of getting up at 5 am, fighting the traffic, and feeling the daily pain of my arthritis and injuries, but I have the emotional impact of having to deal with people on a daily basis who have such different beliefs and opinions.  My lower lip is sore from biting it to keep my opinions to myself!!  If you have any questions regarding the impact of this economy on trucking, etc., please call me.  I would love to take part in any discussion regarding my job, my health, and my life that's been so terribly affected by 8 years of the fascist Bush regime.  Economically, things are just too tough to send you any money right now, but I would be glad to help write letters, make phone calls, whatever I can do to advance the cause.  I look forward to hearing from you in a positive manner very soon.  Thanks! 

Marie Martinez   210 269 7843  cel    home  210 649 3208   e-mail   Martinezmarie@sbcglobal.net