Why should I pay indeed?
by Barbara Rank, Hidden Oak court, Dubuque, Iowa, USA
Published in the Telegraph Herald, 12 May
2017
Congressman Rod Blum (Republican) in
a Dubuque town hall (Monday) night asked,
‘Why should a 62-year-old man have
to pay for maternity care?”
I ask, why should I pay for a bridge I don´t cross,
a sidewalk I don´t walk on,
a library book I don´t read?
Why should I pay for a flower I won´t smell,
a park I don´t visit,
or art I can´t appreciate?
Why should I pay the salaries of politicians I didn´t vote for,
a tax cut that doesn´t affect me,
or a loophole I don´t take advantage
of?
It´s called democracy, a civil society,
the greater good. That´s what we pay
for.
Source: http://www.telegraphherald.com/news/public_announcements/article_824b24ac-3dbf-5390-8cf3-0c4a17b76dbb.html
The American citizens who confronted
the Republican Senator in Dubuque were well-informed and truly worried about
their future and the future of their children. Some of their contributions appealed
to a sense of community and solidarity which the venue, a gym at Dubuque Senior
High School and itself a symbol of community life, mirrored. While the Senator
lost no opportunity to emphasize that he was a member of this community himself,
many constituents challenged him criticizing the new health care and education policies
and thereby exposing the emptiness of his repetitive replies and his dependence
on donors like the Koch brothers.
Ironically, in her
‘letter’ to the Telegraph Herald, which has the quality of a poem, Barbara Rank includes politicians
like him and the sometimes shady financial dealings they support, as a
collateral of the democratic civil society she speaks out for.
On www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFmqiM8PXHc
you´ll find the video of the town hall meeting.
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