Dear Mr. Republican
by Genevieve Petty

Dear Mr. Republican
Come live my life
See if I'm a government mooch
See how I'll get along
Without a college degree
See the kind of job I'll have

See if you can survive on $4.25
As prices around you go up
One months work pays one months rent
Now where does the money for food come from?

And you wonder why girls have babies
To get on welfare
And "mooch" off the government
Do you really know how much a baby costs?

And you say you'll cut the social help
That the poor don't need it
Just go get a job
You'll get out on your own

You're not poor, so how do you know?

Mr. Republican, I have a job
And a full-time one at that
I also carry full course load
And make curtains in my spare time
After all, I need to eat

So Mr. Republican, so high and mighty
Come live my life
For just one week
Before you condemn me and those like me
Just put your feet in my shoes

See how you like it
Being a paycheck away from homeless
Knowing if you lose your job
You're out on the street, or back in the shelter

See how you like it
Being short at the end of the week you're paid
Not having anything but dust in the wallet
Till next week you're paid again
Hope you don't need anything

See how you like repairing the clothes
You've had for several years
Wondering where your winter coat comes from
Because you don't have the money to buy one
They're at least a hundred dollars

See how you like knowing
That if you get hit by a car
Or get deathly sick or in an accident
Or even need to have a operation or medicine
To save your life
You're better off dead cause you can't pay the doctor
His prices reflect demand and greed

See how you like it
When all the other people in your classes
Are going out and having fun
Have new fashions and shinny new cars
While you walk 2 miles to school
Bus fares go up every day
And they all go out to eat
While you go home to ramen noodles
Day in -- day out

And see how you like
Having no safety net
Not the government -- you don't qualify for welfare
I don't have any kids, and respect myself too much
Not your relatives -- mother is as poor as you
father left before you're born
well-off cousins just don't care
Not a savings -- you never make enough to save
Not a marketable skill -- you're still in school, getting that
all you get now is minimum-wage
Not a spouse, or attractive enough to net a rich one
Probably the only one is crime
But conscience, dignity and self-respect don't let you

And see how you like
The insult
Of people who don't know you
And don't know what you're going through
Say you can pay for college on your own
Or you don't need a degree
But without one you stay where you are --
maybe that's why you don't need one
Say just get a job
You have one
Get your parents to pay
Struggling as much as you
This isn't the government's job
We need money
To give to the military, billions in their budget
To fund a tax cut for the rich, but not the poor, ever
To line our pockets and fund our pork projects

Yes, Mr. Republican
Trying walking in my shoes
See how long you last.