If I Wasn't Disabled...

...I'd get myself a tent and sleeping bag and go join the Take Over Philadelphia protestors. I am fed up and disgusted with government and big business too. As it is, I don't think I could handle being out in the elements with everything I've got going on.

I am so mad about what happened to TB yesterday. I blogged that he had a cracked tooth that he'd kept to himself for about a year because he knew we didn't have the insurance or finances to fix it. He told me about it when his jaw began to hurt relentlessly. I called the clinic in town--the one that serves those on a fixed income and who have little or no insurance--and got an appointment. I told them he'd probably need his tooth pulled because it's broken. TB went to the regular doctor meantime and got a script for an antibiotic. Tooth infections can cause all kinds of problems for the heart.

So we go for the appointment yesterday and wait for an hour before he's finally called. They took an Xray of the broken tooth and then the doctor tells him sorry, he's got to go elsewhere for either an extraction or root canal. The doctor says the clinic has stopped doing extractions and root canals. I wish someone had bothered to tell me that when I called 2 weeks ago to make the appointment! I would have called one of the recommended dental schools right off the bat.

That's where we have to go ... to a dental school in Philly or in Newark.

That's why I would join the protestors if I could. TB and I haven't had a COLA in three years but our expenses for everything keeps going up. It gets harder and harder to manage and if there's an emergency, we're screwed. The people who are protesting are basically in the same boat. They're under-employed or unemployed. Maybe they have benefits but I bet many do not. They can't meet expenses.

Meanwhile, the wealthiest Americans continue to get tax breaks. The Republicans claim if we tax the wealthy and big business, it'll kill the jobs market. What a laugh and a half. These rich businessmen have been enjoying all these tax breaks and their wealth for years--since President Bush--and they haven't generated decent jobs for anyone! Instead, they take advantage of tax breaks to send what could be decent jobs overseas.

I don't think there's any middle class anymore. I think there is getting by, skirting the line of disaster, and poor.

I also think this protest is going to continue growing. People have really had it. I know I have!