There Really Is a Santa Claus
Chrismas in July or December - whether you have been bad or good, it doesn't really matter. Santa is wearing work boots, jeans, hard hats and yes, some- times a business suit. Santa has been seen wearing army fatigues and camouflauge helmets recently. While you may wonder what in the world I'm talking about, Santa once again delivered a hefty pay raise to our Congressional government officials, raising their yearly income to approximately $168,500 - no wonder so many are vying for those extremely perk-packed jobs of sitting on your laurels, making some let's-move- ahead speeches. This is all on the way to the bank to deposit your pay hike that unfortunately, you don't deserve and the people don't deserve paying for it with blood, sweat, and tears.
The sweat comes from long hours many times close to minimum wage - gas prices that choke the life out of any pay slip - and medical, food, child care and don't forget those double digit credit card interest rates. It seems that a few months back, Congress was going to check into unscrupulous rates by some credit cards companies but it seems this idea went up in the chimney smoke. Many families, unfortunately, are losing their homes, so a brightly decorated fireplace mantels will not be there come the cold of December. Santa, I was wondering why these "lavish" gifts are given automati- cally, without letters sent to the North Pole pleading for some financial relief to cover food, home, and hearth. I thought if you don't ask, you don't receive. Bu things surely are changing - this Christmas I will await my "automatic" monetary wind-fall too.
They call it a cost of living wage but while soldiers are dying daily for a war that is-for-profit in many ways, they will never know the freedom of being paid $168.000 plus to give their families the best of everything. Yet, they give this country the very best any being can give - their lives, their freedom from devastating bodily injuries, and the ability to hug their families good night, in person. If they are lucky to come back alive, but without all human parts, they can struggle to get adequate health care and their families can shed the tears of the many, now well over 3,500 who came home carried by military personnel, and laid to rest in the white-cross cemetaries across the nation (the pay raise figure for January, 2008 is $3,300 to each member of Congress). These figures are not only depressing to hear, but your mind has to reel from wondering what they do to get these checks of gratitude from the tax-payers, as well as the best of medical insurance and pensions to last their entire natural life. This does not include all those "extras" that they so easily pick up along the way - plane trips, dinners, gifts, and plaques and applause for waving, tipping their hats, or raping a gavel on a podium.
This Fourth of July is freedom day - a true thank-you to the Almighty for the many blessings we have in this land. We are free, there is prosperity and abundance in many forms besides monetary, and more importantly, we have each other to turn to in times of fear, confusion, and distraught emotions. We also can still speak out and voice our anger, our frustration with our government and its bypassing the people and doing a one-man-show. Santa, however, was never meant to lavish gifts on those who get the media attention and who already have been paid more than they deserve - they get long breaks, a few hours of work a day, and if they get sick they most assuredly by-pass the long lines in emergency room waiting rooms.
Santa, from the rest of us who are on your list - give us an early July Christmas gift - our soldiers coming home unhurt, healthy, and with a bright future. Also, check that "naughty" list again and you just might find a few names on their to skip this Christmas.(Hint - they all work in Washington, D.C.). ©Arleen M. Kaptur July, 2007
About the Author
Arleen M. Kaptur has written numerous articles for magazines and newspapers. Her latest book will be out in 2008.