The Un-Civil War

This has been one of the most contentious years in American politics since the Civil War.  Back then our country was split into Northerners who believed that no man should be enslaved, and Southerners who saw no problem with slavery and the denial of fundamental human rights, as long as you made a profit. Back then, it was the Democrats who were the racists, and Republicans like Lincoln who believed in abolition.  It is ironic that one hundred and fifty years later, we have a Black president, and the parties have reversed. The predominantly Republican South and Mid-West are pitted against the mostly Democratic coastal states and former rust belt, areas most affected by unemployment today. 

Today's conflict is more than Democrat versus Republican. It is a conflict between the American worker and Big Business. Big Business wants to make a profit whatever it costs.  Big Business will pollute the atmosphere because it’s cheaper for them to do so. Big Business will go where it is cheapest to produce their product, even if it means American jobs lost.  We contribute to that.  We have been buying German, Japanese and South Korean cars for years. We abandoned our own auto industry for imports and we paid the price.  I recently drove a new Ford Fusion and was pleasantly surprised.  I have not owned a Ford since the Seventies, but I would consider buying this car.  I think all of us should take our own impact on the economy into consideration when we start shopping again.

Back to this election:  The campaign here in California has been particularly brutal.  We have Republicans and former business titans Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorino, running for Governor and Senator against Democrats Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer. Whitman and Fiorino's commercials blame Boxer and Brown for the unemployment and real estate problems that they helped create. Whitman and Fiorino personally sent over 50,000 US jobs overseas, as CEOs of EBay and Hewlett Packard respectively. They and the entire Republican Party are running a campaign that they will be the saviors of our jobs, while everything they have done or stand for has shown that they have done the opposite.

What really bothers me is that these two businesswomen have personally injected over $150,000,000 of their own money into their campaigns-- money received from corporations who made their profits by laying us off. Since when is it right to buy an election?

Over 5 billion dollars has been spent on the 2010 election so far, with one week of relentless commercials left to go. Count the zeroes, folks.  That's $5,000,000,000 that could have actually have gone to improving the lives of millions of Americans, by conforming to US regulations and removing harmful toxins from the air, or paying their fair share of taxes, instead of on a massive media blitz of lies and distortion. Big Business is pouring billions into cutting back on auto and factory emissions, preventing the development of solar and wind energy, and paying taxes.  Their minions want power and will agree to anything to get those dollars, instead of standing up to their insatiable corporate greed.

We need to protect the American people and get our country working again. For the last two years, I have watched the party that lost the election prevent the winning party from making many changes. They stood there with their self-righteous expressions and their arms crossed and prevented anything good from happening. The few successes the Democrats were able to push through, like health care, are threatened by the current election.  Republicans are campaigning that they will undo the health care act which is currently helping millions of us stay insured.

Do not forget that people with pre-existing medical conditions like cancer or diabetes, would again be bankrupted by a medical system that charges more for indigent patients, than for those on insurance, and where death panels actually exist at the insurance companies to save money.

Do not forget that the economic collapse of the real estate industry was caused by fraud and lack of government control, not by too much government.

Do not forget that the next Supreme Court judge could determine whether or not a woman has control of her own body--How is it "less government" when you try to control my womb?

Do not forget the thousands of lives lost in Iraq & Afghanistan to fight a war over oil, because as soon as the Republicans control the House, it will just be more of the same.

Stop blaming the unions and illegal immigrants for all our problems and recognize how each of us has been voting with our pocketbooks for years.

The system that caused our current crisis, needs to be fixed, and the only way that can be done is when we start being more civil to each other. We must also understand that the needs and wants of the South and Midwest are different than those of the two coasts, but unless we want another Civil War we will have to find a way to work it out together for the good of all Americans, not just ourselves.  Let's start talking to each other again with a little more civility, whoever wins this year.

The Mad Hatter Republican Tea Party

I've always been a fan of "Alice in Wonderland" from the time I was a child.  I even performed in an Open Theater style troupe production of "Alice" after college.  But lately I feel like I have fallen through the rabbit hole again. Everything seems upside down and inside out.  I feel like I am at the Mad Hatter's Republican Tea Party. I am combining the supposedly disparate Republicans and Tea Party activists, as they really are one and the same. They both call for the overthrow of the Democrats, Liberals and Intellectuals who they blame for everything wrong in this country.

 

Why is it that they find being intellectual a problem, being liberal as something to sneer at?  Wanting less government intervention is a good thing, right?  That’s what all the Republican Tea Party candidates keep exclaiming.

But: Bush wasn’t an intellectual. Look where we are now.

Why is it that the so-called “Ivy League elite” care more for the general population and the Tea Party Republicans only look after their big donor corporations?

Why is it that the very lack of government control was the reason the banks and Wall Street screwed the American people, then they got bailed out?  What about us?

Why is it okay to gamble with our retirement funds and bankrupt people for being sick?  What is so damn important about repealing a health care act that protects the American people for the very first time, against unscrupulous corporations whose executives are made millionaires, while they deny our citizens basic medical coverage? 

I can’t believe that all Republicans Tea Party activists are really such sheep as to be deceived into thinking that the very people who were laid off because corporations shifted their jobs overseas, should be called lazy and blamed for their unemployment.

I can’t believe that a modern society really thinks it is okay to strip a person of their job, their home, their identity and then flog them in public as if it is their own fault. When the real culprits, the greed mongers, the war machine and the very people who created the problems we are currently suffering from get off scot free and even run their current campaigns on saving us from this mess that they created.

What I really can’t believe is that the current Republican mantra “Greed is Good”, has to come from stepping on the backs of the poor and middle class.  Why can’t we ALL do better?  

And finally, why is the Republican Tea Party so white? Look at Congress when they are seated during the State of the Union. Almost everyone on the Republican side of the aisle is white and male. Even if the Chairman of the RNC Michael Steele is a black man.  Believe me that was more for symbolism than to show true acceptance, because the people who are complaining the loudest and getting the most help are the wealthiest. The people with multiple homes and millions of US dollars  in investments hidden in offshore accounts so that they don’t have to pay taxes. They are the real Americans, right? The rest of us hard working blue and white collar Americans, don’t really count. 

Let Them Eat Cake

As one of the millions of underemployed people who have not been able to get a full time job for over one year, shame on you Tom Corbett, Republican candidate for governor in Pennsylvania. I definitely do not prefer sitting around collecting unemployment to actually working. And guess what? I don't even collect unemployment, despite the fact that when I do work, a portion of every paycheck is automatically paid to the state disability insurance (SDI).  At the moment, I am earning about third of what I used to earn, through freelance jobs and part time work. It's about the same amount as unemployment. I am telling you, it's not enough to make ends meet.

You have no idea what it is like out here in the real world. How hard we all struggle to find jobs that no longer exist. Every company I know has laid off workers. Every family I know has at least one unemployed person. I am currently living with my sister and nephew and none of us have a job. But we try every day. My sister's unemployment insurance will end in a few weeks. She's been out of work for six months. I know she appreciates the extra $25 a week, she receives from the Federal government's stimulus funds, but what would really be nice, is if she could continue to collect unemployment until she finds a job.  Like most of us, she has considered changing careers, accepting a less challenging job with greatly reduced pay, or moving to another city altogether to find work.  She gave up her apartment, moved in with me, reduced all her non-essential spending and she still needs $2,000 more a month than she receives from unemployment just to cover rent, health insurance, car insurance, food, phone and general living expenses.

My nephew, who is only twenty, and willing to work for minimum wage, has been in California for a little over a month.  He's a cook, and has applied to every restaurant along Ventura Boulevard from the 405 to Universal Studios. He doesn't drive, so he is limited to jobs in areas where he can get to by public transportation.  He has pounded the pavement and inquired at over one hundred places to no avail.  You try pounding the pavement in Los Angeles when it is 100 degrees and having door after door shut in your face.  Don't tell me we're not trying.

I've got one better. You try living on the equivalent of unemployment insurance for one month.  That would be $1900/month in California. I don't know how much that would be in Pennsylvania. Can you survive for one month and pay all your rent or mortgage, car payments, insurance costs, utilities, medical costs and food on that amount?  I know I can't.  That doesn't even begin to cover my mortgage and property tax. You probably spend more than that on eating out each month.

You and all the uninformed in Congress think you know what is best for the people, but the truth is you don't care about the people of your state. You only care about the rich 1% who fund your campaign.  What should the unemployed do when their money runs out?  Live on the streets or in their cars if they still have them? Send their children out to beg on street corners like in some third world country? The people in power have no clue how hard it is out there for the American people. Those of you with jobs and who are beholden to big business and special interests for those jobs, better think twice before you kick another person to the curb. It reminds me of Maria Antoinette's response when told that the poor had no more bread to eat and she said "Let them eat cake."  You remember what happened to her?

And shame on Congress for not extending unemployment benefits again. They bailed out the banks, they bailed out Wall Street (the only legalized form of gambling acceptable in all 50 states).  What about us?  We are America! Not those corporations that influence you with their soft tax dollars. Helping us, helps the country. Helping corporations is just another way of helping yourselves.

All Packed Up & No Place To Go

Another sign of the times, a producer called to see if I was available to take over a show and go on the road in two days. I was so eager to work again on a union show, that I didn't care if it was four weeks on the road, moving from location to location. In fact, I welcomed the change. I said I would drop everything and be ready to leave by Saturday. Being pro-active, I began packing.  I figured one suitcase for my office equipment & supplies, and one suitcase for clothes.

Last year, I had impulsively purchased two silver multi-directional light weight carbonite cases for my next location job. The suitcases are ultralight and perfect for packing everything I need to handle accounting on a show. I planned to carry my laptop on the plane, and pack everything else. So into the case went a printer, calculator, label printer, electronic postage scale, alphabetizers, stampers, staplers in various sizes, red pens, correction tape, a power strip, router and VOIP box and all the necessary cables for all these devices,  a three-hole puncher, a plastic tool box filled with paper clips, staples, push pins, binder clips and all the necessary tools of my trade. There was even room left for a back support for my desk chair and few boxes of computer labels and pocket file folders and my all important cash box, sans the cash of course.

I had started to go through my clothes, mending and ironing and folding them into neat piles, when the phone finally rang.  It was the producer.  There was a big storm heading toward the first location.  They hadn't forgotten me. The earliest I would leave was on Monday.  So I spent the rest of the weekend, making lists of things to do, like cancel my newspaper, suspending my Netflix, making sure all my bills came to me online.

My nephew who is staying with me, was looking forward to sleeping on a bed instead of a couch. I made a status report for the other members of the board of the homeowners association, showing where we stood on our various improvement projects.  I packed up checks for my remaining post shows, in case someone needed something while I was away. 

When I was finally packed, the phone rang again. "I am so sorry, but..." those five words I seem to keep hearing, "We had to hire someone for political reasons." Another common refrain. "We really appreciate that you were ready to jump in at a moment's notice, and we will keep you in mind for the second season, which is starting to look very likely."  I thanked her politely, saying we should meet when she gets back from location. Then I hung up and started to unpack.

They say when one door closes another door opens. I keep waiting for that to happen. It seems lately that all the doors keep closing and none of them are opening. Come on people, all of you in positions of power to make things happen and give us jobs. Stop sending our work overseas and out of state to save a few bucks. If we don't have jobs, we won't be going to the movies or even paying for cable. And who needs all the cheaply made goods from China that break and are made with dangerous chemicals?  Help your communities heal.  Open the doors again.

Pay it Foward

I don't know about the rest of you, but I have been underemployed for over one year now. I choose to use the word underemployed instead of unemployed because I continue to work part time in the film & TV industry. Part time work is better than nothing and usually more lucrative than unemployment. Our industry was hard hit before the recession due to runaway production to states and foreign countries that offer tax credits and rebates. Resourceful state governments in hard hit areas like Michigan, New Mexico and Louisiana enacted tax credit legislation to lure production away from California and they've done a damn good job of it. California's legislature has been incapable of protecting jobs that employ over a quarter of a million workers and suppliers in Los Angeles alone. This week Panavision announced it was having financial difficulties. It's a sorry sign of the state of our industry when the leading camera supplier almost goes belly up. Next thing you know we'll be shooting TV series on our iPhones.

I've adapted to the current situation by working for several employers, a day here a day there, Saturdays, Sundays, whenever work is available. Whereas before I was a full time employee with union benefits and federal and state taxes paid by my employer, now I am a freelance worker with no benefits (my insurance is running out soon) and it is up to me to pay my own taxes. Unfortunately I am not earning enough to make my monthly commitments and pay taxes unless I give up the important things like a roof over my head, my car, medical care or food.

During this past year of underemployment I have learned some survival techniques that have helped me keep my sanity. Over the next month, I'd like to share them with you. Not all of my ideas are money makers, but at least they give me something to do with my time. There are a lot of things that you can do to make the most of your unemployment/underemployment. Cleaning out your closets is one of them. I started with my bedroom closet. I had no idea how many items I had in my closet, clothing that I hadn't worn in years, jewelry, shoes, handbags that I had spent good hard earned money on and rarely used.

I made myself try on every item in my closet. Over the past few years I have lost a considerable amount of weight, so over half the items were way too large for me to wear. I tried having a few pieces taken in, but the tailor charged me nearly as much as the items original cost and a few weeks later they were too large again. I sorted them by sizes and then into piles for each of my friends and family. They were struggling, too. Why should they waste money on new clothes? I outfitted a few friends with suitable business attire and then asked them to clean out their closets and pass on the results to someone else. This pay it forward closet cleaning is something all of us can do. Of course you can donate your used clothes to charity, and some of my rejects ended up as donations, but I enjoyed seeing the smiles on my friends' faces as they tried on my barely used items.

Now some of you are thinking, maybe I should take the tax deduction or sell my stuff on EBay and make some cash. There are people out there who have created rental services for evening wear and high end handbags. Be creative, there are a lot of ways to benefit yourself and others with the items you already have.

Tomorrow: More Ways to Make Money Cleaning Your Home