Four years ago my father left a job he hated to start his own company and start doing what he loves. Within a year he was involved in a car accident. My father was diagnosed with Polycythemia, an excessive production of red blood cells that resulted in dementia and rash decision making. My dad was forced to sell his budding business to pay for the mounting medical bills and insurance fees. At the same time my mother was the president of our local teachers union and had been a teacher for forty years; she was forced into early retirement with the passage of Act 10, a bill that crippled Wisconsin unions and forced significant budget constraints on schools. She was coerced into retiring, otherwise she would lose her pension.
My family continues to struggle and feel the pain inflicted on us by the coalition of Tea Party Republicans and big business, who trampled on the rights of unions, cut funding for teachers, and are actively resisting comprehensive healthcare and immigration reform.
Going into college, I just received my bill for the first semester of college and took out loans to cover it. I can only watch as my debt mounts and as government refuses to act to address the crisis of impoverished students in higher education.
I am passionate about the need for progress in our society and in our nation. These issues deeply affect me and have impact on every soul in the country. I want to promote that progress however I can.
I hope that we can appreciate what this young man has to say.
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