Reply #101: I show up on threads which are about issues that I'm focused on.

[laughingliberal]

My top concerns right now are SS, jobs, and the economy. I'm assuming other people show up in threads that are about issues they are interested in. It may well be the same people showing up in threads over and over because the threads are about issues that interest them.

You'll rarely see me in a thread about the war. Not that I am not concerned about the war but my energy is being spent on domestic issues, right now.

As for being a chicken little, I plead guilty. My husband and I have gone from pretty solid middle class people with FICO scores in the high 700's (him) and over 800 (me) and a very comfortable income in 3 years. We've both put in long hours working our asses off for over 30 years. He started apprenticing in his trade 47 years ago and has been working ever since (with some time off serving as a paratrooper in Viet Nam). He ran a successful business from 1982 until business started dying up with the bust of the housing market. I lost my job. We've run through our savings, we've lost our health insurance because we could no longer afford a $1200 a month premium. I'm 55. He's 63. We both have chronic health issues which were well controlled when we had health care but are now going unaddressed. We have slim hope of ever finding jobs. Our savings, as I said, are gone. We have managed, so far, to get enough work into our shop to feed ourselves and put fuel in the vehicles to get to the shop or the job site. There's no extras and all we need is one bad month (and our slow season is approaching) and we'll be down to hoping someone will feed us. You're damned right, I'm a chicken little right now. SS is the only hope we have of not sleeping outdoors and starving to death.

And I am angry at President Obama. I'm angry so much has been given to prop up the financial sector and so little for the rest of us. And I'm angry about the deficit commission. With SS being our last hope, I am angry anyone would be considering taking even this away from us. The Senate defeated the bill to create this commission and President Obama chose to do it be executive order. People whose situation is not as dire have the luxury of sitting back with a wait and see attitude towards the commission's work. But their recommendations and Congress' action on them really do constitute a life and death situation for some of us out here and I'm not willing to wait until it's too late to start raising hell about it. If they don't decide to cut benefits, what have we lost but some time? This really is about people's lives. And I am irritated at the increased tendency of many to treat politics as if it's some sort of sporting event and any win for 'our team' is good regardless of the effect on people.

This was my response to the post you linked to: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=415636&mesg_id=416558