Thank You Congress - A Very Un-Merry Christmas

This will indeed be a very un-merry Christmas for me.

First let me say thank you to the members of congress who so diligently worked to ensure that their paychecks would still be flowing at the beginning of the new year. While they sit at home with their families admiring the large stacks of expensive presents under their trees, or perhaps for some, new cars in the driveway, I will be making my own list but not for presents. I will be making a list of what few things I will be able to save out of my house before I have to turn the keys over to the bank and the rest of my belongings to friends or charities.

Next let me say I appreciate how concered the members of congress are for the millions of unemployed Americans. Yes, in an economy where unemployment is in the double digits it IS possible to get a job that pays a liveable wage within 6 months. It must be MY fault that I have no job.

Thirdly, I would like to thank congress for making me financially dependent on my 77 (to be 78 in February) year old mother in a very cold climate. I am sure she pictured the last years of her life as the sole provider for her 55 year old daughter.

Fourth, and final, I would like to thank congress for allowing a diabetic with bad arthritis and no health insurance to go live in that cold climate where within a few years I will be crippled and living in a wheelchair.

I am sorry, members of congress, that I brought this upon myself. My bachelor's degree and 35 years of work experience just aren't enough.

Please enjoy your warm homes and the food you will eat. From the beginning of 2012 and until she passes away, mine will be provided by my mother. You have created no jobs which will allow me to take care of myself. You have provided no extension of unemployment benefits which would have given me more than the 6 months California gave me to keep looking for a job.

Oh, one final thank you to congress. Because your politics were more important I cannot stay in my house long enough to find out if I will have the job I interviewed for in mid-November which needs to do an extensive background check which takes probably 2 months. I cannot wait out until you pass an extension in, what, say February? Or perhaps that will be how long before I could possibly have word on that job. By the time they try to call and offer me the job I will be gone because I cannot live on $0.

Thank you for a very un-merry Christmas members of congress. I know God will provide for me as well as my family. At least I can count on them for POSITIVE support. My thanks to you will be reflected in my voting in November. I'm sure you won't care, though. You'll still have your homes, your cars, your money in the bank and good credit ratings. You'll still have insider information to use to make even more money. And you'll still have the American dream which you took away from me.

Merry Christmas Congress and thank you. I always dreamt that I would spend the last years of my life mired in depression and poor health and dependent on family for food and shelter. You have made my dream come true.