“Pardon my French” is what Representative French Hill was inclined to say after his emotions got the best of him as he mumbled under his breath about Matt Gaetz, a Washington colleague, to “Oh, F*** off.” That slip of the tongue was a precursor to the unimaginable things that lay ahead.
2023 Remembered
We’ve had 5 months of a writer’s strike, 2 months of talks with auto workers and, according to CNN on Wednesday, more than 75,000 employees of Kaiser Permanente walked off the job, marking the largest healthcare worker strike in US history. And don’t forget, the actors are still on strike, and after this week’s brouhaha in Washington, I guess you could say the House of Representatives are too, creating the biggest chaos and a potential government shutdown.
Looming Chaos
Since the first threat of a federal shutdown this year, FAB’s sales have declined. It makes sense. Many government agencies, both federal and state level, along with the people they employ, have put their spending on hold.
As if that threat was not enough chaos for our Washington leaders, the colleague French was mumbling about and his small band of rebels upped the ante this week and voted to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy from the House of Representatives.
Small Business
As any entrepreneur can tell you, any kind of political upheaval or threats of violence on American soil is bad for our economy. The House, giving little thought to how disruption threatens and affects small businesses (that make up 99% of businesses in the U.S., account for 64% of new jobs, and generate 44% of our GDP), has abandoned the greater good for what appears to be a publicity stunt.
What We Can Do
All we can do is stay optimistic and hope our leaders learn to work together. Even with all our country’s faults, we don’t need to forget that the United States is unlike anywhere else and the working situation, for those who want to work, is pretty good.
I heard Arnold Schwarzenegger, a forever grateful immigrant who has lived the American dream, speak on how the world watches America, admires our democracy, and that, no matter who is at the helm, it miraculously continues, giving hope to the world.
Food for Thought
As my brother so flippantly and yet so poignantly said at dinner one night, “Complain as you might, but if you were to open the boarders of all the countries across all the world, most everyone would rush to enter the United States, because it is the best place to live.”
Even for all the chaos and asses in politics, I still feel lucky to have been born in the USA. And if I hadn’t, I too would probably be trying to get in, cause we’re the BEST!
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