"Bitter"-sweet

I had a good laugh when I saw on CNN 'Headline News' last night that there was an uproar about Pennsylvanians being "bitter". Yeah, so? I live here, I see it all the time. I thought, is it different somewhere else?

I am posting a letter I wrote as a lifetime resident of the State of Pennsylvania on behalf of Senator Barack Obama. This video is his reply to the latest pathetic ploy by his (sorry ass) political rivals to pick apart the truth of his statements to attempt to make him look bad, rather than have to stand on their own political merit. His campaign wrote to me and asked if I, as a PA resident, could explain my frustration with Washington. I was only too happy to comply.

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This latest nonsense, picking apart what Senator Obama said in a effort to create a "sound bite" which his unworthy presidential opponents then turn into a media feeding frenzy, is highly offensive to any cognizant individual living in the state of Pennsylvania.

I believe that his prompt and direct response gets to the heart of my frustration with Washington politics; most politicians are completely out of touch with the common people.

Senators Clinton and McCain are both so beholden to special interests that I would not trust them to make a decision in my best interest, or that of my fellow Pennsylvanians.

My laundry list of complaints begins with being a frustrated small business owner who finds the self-employment tax rate to be grossly unfair. Having to pay an outrageous amount for health care, which inexplicably rose by 48% this January, despite a climbing unemployment rate, 44 million uninsured Americans, and Independence Blue Cross banking a huge surplus in PA. Not one single politician in Washington has stood up to even regulate these maverick, out of control insurance companies, much less to advocate for single-payer health insurance.

The recent sub-prime mortgage/banking/financial industry fiasco (fraud on a scale we haven't seen in this country since the Savings and Loan scandal) proves that our elected officials have sold out their citizens to the highest bidder in order to line a campaign war chest, and insure their own financial interests now and in the future.

Senator McCain is a particularly egregious offender, as he was one who initially supported and sponsored the type of campaign finance reform that could have prevented some of this wretched excess. Any politician who accepts big money from special interests cannot be trusted to make policy based on the wants and needs of their constituents. This is not a theory, but has been proven over and over again by our supposed 'leaders' in the Congress and Senate. Corruption, greed, political and corporate elitism has eroded not only their values, but the entire middle class in this country.

I could go on about being the first generation of educated individuals having to move back in with our parents; an entire generation of Americans my age that can no longer find a decent job, afford to take out a business loan, pay off student loans, let alone own a home. For many of us, the 'American Dream' is dying.

But despite all this, I am voting for Senator Obama not because he is the only presidential candidate not beholden to special interests, though that is a huge consideration, but rather because he understands. He gets it. And in my estimation, there hasn't been anyone in the White House since I've been old enough to vote that I've been able to say that about. I believe Washington is broken, and in need of serious repair if our country is to survive and the average American to thrive. And you can't fix what you can't see, and don't understand. It's high time to change the old guard in Washington.

Senator Obama brings hope back to the political process for many younger people like myself; a belief that change is possible. I'm happy for the ability to vote for a nominee for president that is not the lesser of two evils, but a clear choice for change. A voice of integrity, clarity and honest discourse is what Barack Obama offers in this election, and is something desperately needed after the shocking level of deceit and stupidity of the current administration.

So, I live in Pennsylvania, I'm politically bitter, and I'll be voting for Senator Obama on April 22.