Political Quotes

“My home State of Ohio is deep into a foreclosure crisis. Gas prices are going up, and all energy prices and transportation costs are going up. More Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, hand to mouth, some not even that lucky. Congress is now working on an economic stimulus package, one that is desperately needed. Let me tell the story about something that happened last month in my home State of Ohio to illustrate how this recession, which has clearly already swept across my State, has had an impact on families, on middle-class families, on families who consider themselves middle class and sometimes do not--a couple of stories. One is from Tim in Cleveland. Tim told us that for some time, he and his wife had volunteered at a food bank. They donated money to this food bank. Over time, as his budget got tighter, his pay wasn't keeping up with the cost of gasoline, heating, the increasing cost of food, and he no longer contributed to the food bank, but he and his wife kept working there. More recently, Tim said that he began to go to the food bank for food. He said he was a bit embarrassed by that, which he should not have been, and said: I used to consider myself middle class. Now I do not. He has held the same job, worked the same long hours, but he is simply not able to keep up with an economy under the rules of globalization, where wages are stagnant and prices continue to go up.”