I clock in at 6 a.m. every day, fixing roofs in the Florida sun until my back screams. I bring home $18 an hour, but half of it vanishes into rent for a two-bedroom apartment that still has mold on the walls. My kid’s school textbook is so beat up, the pages are falling out, and the nurse’s office ran out of allergy medicine three months ago. But when I turn on the news? Congress is arguing about tax cuts for billionaires again.
They say we’re “the backbone of America,” but our bones are breaking. I can’t afford a doctor’s visit if I get sick—my insurance deductible is higher than my monthly paycheck. Gas prices jump 50 cents overnight, and groceries cost 30% more than last year, but the president talks about “economic growth” like we’re all sharing in it. We’re not. We’re choosing between buying diapers and filling the car to get to work.
What do we need? Not speeches. We need rent that doesn’t eat our whole check. We need schools with books, not just metal detectors. We need health care that doesn’t feel like a luxury. But instead, our leaders pass laws that help people who already have yachts and vacation homes. Do they even remember what it’s like to stand in a grocery store aisle, calculating if you can afford both milk and bread?
