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A Case for Bernie

I support Bernie Sanders for President, and I want you to know why... I am almost 48, married for nearly 20 years. I have four children. I have a BA in Political Science and my Juris Doctorate. I have studied politics since I was a little kid. It is more than a hobby of mine. I was taught by my parents the importance of being an aware and active citizen. I have worked in politics since 1988, in field, finance, and management. I have even run for office. I am passionate about good government and electing the right person to office. All my life I have made compromises. I have voted for the lesser of two evils. Hell, I have worked for the lesser of two evils. Not this time. When I got married in 1996 we were living in New Mexico. Anyone who knows NM knows that we have been at the bottom of every good list and the top of every bad list since lists ranking the plight of citizens by state have been kept. New Mexico is the canary in the coal mine, in my opinion. We are the first hit by hard times, the last to recover. I have a lot to say about how our stupid election and reelection of Susana Martinez has added to this tailspin for our state, and that is to come, but I am talking about national problems here. So in the fall of 1996 Charles and I packed up and moved to Kansas City, MO, with the promise of a better economy and more opportunity to grow our family. Two years in Kansas City, we had a beautiful daughter. Charles got a promotion and transfer to St. Louis in the fall of 1998, and we moved to the other side of MO. We worked hard, we had three more fantastic kids. We bought a house. We were by every measure upwardly mobile and successful. We were active in our community. We spent 7 years in St. Louis, but with my grandparents aging and in poor health, my mother in a vulnerable position and also in failing health, and other push and pull factors (like dying for a regular fix of green chile, missing the superb climate, and our dear friends and family) we moved back to New Mexico. My husband went to work for the state, I went back to school to complete my education, and our children grew. We reestablished our old ties, and made many new ones. New Mexico is a hard place to make a living, but it is a great place to live. So we have been home over 10 years now, and where are we? Well, it's been a tough, long slog through really difficult times. Our good governor, Bill Richardson, was replaced by Susana the Terrible in 2010. Since then my husband's mobility has stagnated. His salary has frozen, and his take home pay has been gutted. The first thing StheT did was get rid of the person who negotiated for benefits for state employees, keeping our costs down. She outsourced this function to a private company who now makes sure that they get the best deal for themselves. Nice. Also, our retirement contributions went up. What was a solid salary has become a frightening ride. Meanwhile, I graduated from UNM in 2011, and UNM Law in 2014. I am currently unemployed, and have been for over a year. The economy in our state is so bad that jobs are hard to come by, and there is always that "you're over educated, why would we hire you for this?" thing to contend with. We do not qualify for assistance, nor do we make enough to pay all the bills. We declared bankruptcy last year. We are not alone. We are a very social family, and know a lot of people like us...educated, talented, skilled people who are struggling to get from paycheck to paycheck. Our tires are bald, our pantries are nearly empty, our kids shoes are falling apart. We share rides when our vehicles break down and we can't afford to repair them. We pool resources, combine ingredients to make group dinners so that everyone can eat. We do what we can for ourselves and each other. Bernie speaks to this ethic. He reminds us that we are all in this together, and that things shouldn't be so hard for us. America has the resources, if applied correctly, to make things work for everyone. He speaks of rebuilding our infrastructure, creating jobs and making the economy more just for us all. Embrace the "we" ya'll. We are in this together.

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