After kicking 700,000 off food stamps, can Scrooge change?

Dear Editor,

Here at the Christmas season, we take time to reflect on how blessed we are and embrace the spirit of giving more than at any other time of the year. I always enjoy Dickens' wonderful story, 'A Christmas Carol,' which tells of a sad, lonely, greedy, wealthy man, Scrooge, who learns that it is better to give than to receive, and that we owe each other a measure of kindness.

This philosophy is also the cornerstone of the entire Christian religion, which, of course, is the "reason for the season."

We have a wonderful opportunity to use the lesson in 'A Christmas Carol' and the tenets of Christianity to become a better country. We can reject heartless government acts like giving massive tax cuts to the morbidly rich, (for which they typically pay no or very little tax and who will only hoard that money instead of spending that would help the economy), while kicking almost 700,000 people at or below the poverty level off of food stamps, an ugly act that will certainly cause people to go hungry in our country, the richest country in the world.

The argument goes that these poor folks are lazy and don't want to work. And certainly some (but not most) are. Yet that just doesn't pass the smell test because it does not account for the children who are affected, children who are our future. It does not account for so many folks who suffer from mental illness for whom getting a job is just not a viable option. It doesn't account for people who lack education or job training. It doesn't account for people who have young children and cannot afford daycare. I am sure I have left out many other people in disadvantaged situations.

But I guess we can be like old Scrooge and say these people are not our problem. We can turn a blind eye to the 40% of our fellow Americans who lack the money to get through a $400 emergency. Wait, what? If the economy is doing so well, how come 40% of us have almost no savings?

The answer is clear: Most of our republican elected officials are working to take from the poor and middle class in order to benefit the donor class, the richest in America. If we allow this through their reelection, we ensure the standard of living of most Americans will plummet while the richest people get more and more. I hate that. The unreformed Scrooge would have loved it.

But Scrooge changed and learned to go in love and help those less fortunate than he. It is not too late for our country to change, just like Scrooge did.

Sincerely,

Pat Holder

Wauneta, Nebraska