Hey Chuck, Tell My Family What We Should Sacrifice Next (DKOS)

[kpete]

Hey Chuck, Tell My Family What We Should Sacrifice Next
by RandySF
Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 08:38:43 AM PDT

My dad left Tennessee on the day of his high school graduation in 1953 and drove to Michigan with his brother and friends to find a job on a General Motors factory floor to make a better life for himself and send money back to the grandparents who raised him. When was draft was in full force by the mid-50's, he told Uncle Sam to move his name to the front of the list so he could get his time over with. So, for two years he and his grandparents did without his paycheck (and that of his brother, also in the military) to do their solemn duty to America.

He worked hard, always told the truth, attended church faithfully (and made me go too). He did without SO MUCH to make sure I had everything a selfish brat like me wanted and that I was able to go to school. He was one of those salary workers that GM stabbed in the back when they took away the lifetime medical coverage they were promised in exchange for early retirement. He is in his 70's now, on one of those goverment programs called Medicare and enjoying his retired life and the fairly new role of grandpa (or "ambie" as my three-year old still calls him. I have no idea where that came from). So, I want to ask Chuck Todd what my parents should sacrifice. Well, Chuck, what? They don't deserve what they have?

I had a great life in Michigan. Sure, I wasn't happy about living in the Detroit area, but I had a cozy, secure job, a nice big and quiet apartment, a car and all the toys. But when my significant other who was transferred to San Francisco for her job announced that we would have an unanticipated arrival in nine months time, I had to make a tough choice. We decided that the best thing for our child would be to raise him in the Bay Area, I quit my job, sold almost everything I owned, argued with my parents for weeks, an moved out here. With a lot of hard work and the hep of no one but each other's, I found a job and we now have a cozy life in the city we love as our new home. We work, raise our son and save for the same dreams my parents realized. I know that we are more fortunate than many other people, but we could use some of the help President Obama proposes. Are we being selfish, Chuck? What should we sacrifice?

I work for a municipality in the East Bay that's been hit very hard by the recession. The City Manager who has been doing everything he can to hold it together had to bite the bullet and let some people go. As the next fiscal year looms and the CM desperately works to avoid any further layoffs, my union got together and decided that we should all sacrifice 13 days of furlough starting July 1 so that no one else has to lose their jobs. The other non-safety unions followed suit. It will hurt the wallet a little, but we are all in this together and looking out for each other.

Hey Chuck, what else should we sacrifice? What will YOU sacrifice?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/3/25/712851/-Hey-Chuck,-Tell-My-Family-What-We-Should-Sacrifice-Next

[bluestateguy]

1. The sonofobitch Democrats in the Senate want to phase out the middle class tax cuts after 2010

Which is, of course, after the tax cut was reduced from $500 to $400 in the stimulus.

So that's their sacrifice right there.

[Missy Vixen]

2. I wrote about this at my blog last night as well.

I'm furious with Chuck Todd's comments. Mods, I wrote this, I give permission for it to be printed in its entirety.

http://strategerie.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/hey-chuck-todd-of-nbc-news-you-suck

Ahh. Another Tuesday evening, another Presidential news conference. Of course I tuned in. After all, watching President Obama administering the smackdown to some journalists that desperately deserve it is great entertainment. Plus, I wanted a little more explanation of what the President is up to these days.

Mr. Todd had an incredibly penetrating and intellectual question for the leader of our country. After all, he gets paid the big bucks to come up with this stuff.

Thank you, Mr. President. Some have compared this financial crisis to a war. And in times of war, past presidents have called for some form of sacrifice.

Some of your programs, whether for Main Street or Wall Street, have actually cushioned the blow for those that were irresponsible during this — during this economic period of prosperity or supposed prosperity that you were talking about.

Here’s my favorite part of his question. Wait for it…

Why, given this new era of responsibility that you’re asking for, why haven’t you asked for something specific that the public should be sacrificing to participate in this economic recovery?

Let me get this straight. Mr. Todd does not think that the American people have “sacrificed” since October? Let’s have a list of what’s happened. After all, I’m sure he never leaves the newsroom or the White House press room. He doesn’t see a lot of real life out there. He needs some help, doesn’t he? After all, there’s been a real “cushion” for Main Street, hasn’t there? I’d LOVE to hear his explanation of what that “cushion” might be.

Unemployment in the USA is currently at 8.1%. The new numbers come out Friday, April 3. This statistic does not count those who’ve fallen off the unemployment rolls, or those who are chronically unemployable. We lost 697,000 jobs in February alone, for example. This also leads to an increase in the uninsured. After all, those who’ve lost their jobs typically lose their health insurance, too. The most recent statistics I could find were 2005; 44 million uninsured Americans. Since we’ve shed over 2 million jobs since October of 2008, I’m sure that number has gone up. Ten percent of the population of the United States, or thirty million people, are now on food stamps. When all this wasn’t happening, millions of Americans were watching their 401K’s tank. If you really won the economic trifecta, you’re either losing your house or you’ve lost your house due to an ARM, and you lost one or both jobs in the household as well. One of the more interesting comments from President Obama this evening: Forty percent of all mortgage holders are eligible for the homeowner bailout.

I’m not even going to get into the billions American taxpayers have handed banks and investment houses since October, only to watch them either sit on the money or spend it on neato corporate jets, like JP Morgan/Chase did yesterday.

Let’s talk about the biggest sacrifice the average American has made since last October: Peace of mind. It’s nice to not wake up in the middle of the night and worry about how you’re going to pay the bills. How you’re going to send the kids to college, how you’re going to swing the braces your preteen needs, how you’re going to keep the car running one more year. How you pray that nobody gets hurt or sick, because you don’t have medical insurance, and you can’t even afford to walk past a hospital, let alone go inside. How you’re going to feed your family when the unemployment runs out and how you’re going to explain to them that you’ve applied for every job you could find, but eight hundred people showed up a month ago to apply for one meter-reading job in Tacoma, WA, for instance.

It seems the collateral damage of the economic meltdown is not enough of a “sacrifice”. Mr. Todd, what did you have in mind? Please share with the class. Frankly, I can’t wait to hear what you think might be more of a sacrifice than watching you and your family’s future implode. In other words, the ruling class got their hands slapped and had to give back a fraction of the funds they looted were awarded, so now there’s going to be hell to pay.

Am I angry? You bet. Would I say this to your face? In a heartbeat. I can’t believe that Helen Thomas didn’t get up out of her chair and smack you with her notebook. The American people deserve better than the above. You’re paid to find out, and that’s the best you could come up with?

I think you and your colleague, Mr. Hardy of CNN, should have to sit in the back of the room until you can come up with a substantive question. I’m sure there are multiple bloggers (Jane Hamsher and Christy Hardin-Smith of Firedoglake, Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo, Atrios of Eschaton, Digby of Hullaballoo, for instance,) that would take their chance to quiz the President seriously.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I think I need to lie down for awhile.

[lsewpershad]

5. Chucky

has become a jerk. This jerk was soliciting questions from the public so I guess the public advised him to ask the question he did.
What a jerk????

[felinetta]

3. What a stupid and disgusting question from Chuck!

I couldn't believe what a stupid, heartless question. How
could anyone seriously ask Americans to sacrifice more?  Todd
needs to be publicly humiliated for weeks.  Chuck was OK as
the bean counter during the campaign, but I have quickly grown
to dislike him in his new role.  He is no longer appealing.

[OregonBlue]

4. These "reporters" sit in their ivory D.C. towers collecting big bucks. Millions are losing their

homes and health care, tent cities are springing up all over America, food banks are running out of food and this fool has the gall to ask " what should the American people sacrifice"? Talk about out-of-touch.

These guys are working so hard to formulate a brilliant "gotcha" question. They are so busy parroting right wing talking points with UNPROFESSIONAL statements like "some people say". Our media has become a bunch of idiot tools and they wonder why they are losing viewership to Stewart and Colbert.

I imagine Todd and Henry thought they were going to get their brilliant "moment in the sun". What a laugh. As long as they are more interested in "gotcha" than in real reporting, they will become increasingly more irrelevant. And it serves them right!!

[shraby]

6. Todd thought of the question because there was a sorta

buzz about the lack of sacrifice people were asked to make for the wars we are fighting..he extrapolated it inappropriately to Obama's agenda in trying to get the country through the depression where a good chunk of the populace are losing a lot big time.

[Blue_In_AK]

7. That was a terrible question.

I didn't get a chance to watch the whole press conference, but I caught that one, and I was pretty shocked. Is he really so out of touch that he doesn't realize how much "ordinary" people are sacrificing already?