Leaving on a Jet Plane

Trey Smith

Affluent business flyers inconvenienced by delays = national emergency that Congress immediately fixes. Cancer clinics closing = Congress does squat, goes home. This is just one more story of our corrupt times.

Last week the sequester cuts kicked in at airports and caused affluent business fliers to experience some delays, so Congress acted immediately to fix it. The same sequester has been forcing cancer clinics to send away patients so they can’t receive the chemotherapy that they hope will keep them alive. Is Congress rushing to the rescue like they did for affluent business travelers who faced some flight delays? Not so much. They do have their priorities, after all.
~ from Sequester Closes Cancer Clinic Doors, Congress Does Nothing by Dave Johnson ~

It would be nice if there was a way to sugarcoat this obvious disparity -- to offer some sort of reasonable explanation -- but there isn't. When legislation impacts members of Congress and their class, then it becomes imperative that it be fixed. When legislation merely impacts the rest of us, tough shit. Our woes are just part of the shared sacrifice.

But, of course, that's the whole problem with this "shared sacrifice" gambit. It isn't being shared. The top 1 percent are not only NOT sacrificing much of anything, they are riding high right now. Times are good and they are enjoying the ride. The sacrifices that supposedly we all must "share" are being borne by the rest of us. Times for us are not so good right now.

As Johnson repeats several times in his column, this isn't about a difference in ideology; it's about corruption. Congress doesn't represent those of us being forced to sacrifice. No, members of Congress from BOTH corporate parties represent those who are benefiting from the economic downturn and, because of this, don't expect the downturn to end anytime soon.

My hope is that you voters out there remember this come the next Election Day.