Right Time For A Radical Change

            We’ve reached a turning point in the history of politics in our country and our Commonwealth.  Working families – a critical mass of voters – have reached the boiling point.  Some of my colleagues in Harrisburg may not see it.  And my counterparts in Congress may choose to ignore it.  But, not only do I understand why people are so angry, I also agree that they have every right to feel that way!

           Today middle-class families are under enormous stress.  The price of everything from milk and gas to health care and college tuition is rising so much faster than their take-home pay.  And no matter how much harder they work, it’s still a struggle just to keep from falling behind.

That’s the reason why so many people – from all walks of life and every political persuasion – are demanding change on so many different levels.  Voters are angry because the Congressman who makes $165,200 a year can’t relate to the two-income family making $60,000 and living paycheck-to-paycheck while trying to raise their two kids.

              We’ve reached the point where voters don’t simply want to change things in Washington, DC, and Harrisburg – they want to burn “politics as usual” at the stake.  What angers voters most of all is the never-ending conflict, the continual political posturing and the small-minded, petty political bickering that has replaced common-sense, come-together determination to solve the real problems facing real people in their daily lives. 

               Voters are tired of being polarized, divided and pitted against one another.  They’re fed up with being caught in the middle of the playground tug-of-war that masquerades as democracy these days.  There’s a reason why voters all across the country started following the Presidential candidates almost two years before the 2008 election: people are counting the days until things change in our nation’s Capital.  Even though no one knows who that person will be, we all know for certain that there will be a new President in the White House in January of 2009. 

                In Harrisburg, we must move beyond “the illusion of reform.” Pennsylvanians saw how little both chambers’ “reforms” mattered when thousands of state workers were furloughed because the Governor and the Legislature couldn’t work together to pass a new State budget on time.  People understand that there are very real differences in political philosophy that go far beyond simple “liberal” or “conservative” labels.  But, what they don’t understand is why every single politician can’t set those differences aside and “just work together” to do what’s right and what is good for hard-working, middle-class families. 

              I truly believe that government can be on the side of the people again.  That’s why I ran for office in the first place.  But, we cannot get there without radical change and the will of every elected official to really listen to and follow the will of the people they represent.

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