What do Colin
Kaepernik and General David Petraeus have in common? One is a quarterback, the other
a General. One takes a knee during the national anthem. The other doesn’t. What
they have in common is that neither voted in the last election. They were not
alone. Ninety-three million of their fellow Americans stayed away from polling
places in November.
Wyoming is no
exception. If you think Republicans are the majority in Wyoming, you’d be in
error. The majority are those who, though eligible to vote, don’t even bother
to even register.
When that
many voters stay away from the polls, it makes a profound statement about our
political system. “If there isn’t someone or something worth voting for, why
bother?”
Don’t get me
wrong. Voting matters. I’ve always voted. I highly recommend it. But if that’s
the basket in which you place all your eggs, disappointment will be your
constant companion.
Voting
without being engaged in politics and government is like praying without using
the voice, hands and feet God gave you, little more than wishful thinking. For
progressives and others concerned about a more just state, calling yourself a
Democrat or a Republican and hoping for the best doesn’t even rise to the level
of wishful thinking.
Take for
example the basic needs of Wyoming’s people; healthcare, housing, and food
security. If you are one of those who actually votes in this state, you elected
people who exhibit little interest, even hostility toward meeting these needs.
Not only did they reject healthcare for low-income working families, they
rejected millions for unemployment benefits, eliminated literacy centers and
tax benefits for the impoverished elderly and others, cut energy assistance and
eliminated dental assistance for the low-income elderly.
Jesus said,
“The poor will always be with you,” and the Wyoming legislature seems
determined to make certain they are.
The one-time Kids Count Director Marc
Homer knows what the data said even before the current economic bust. One of five
Wyoming children lives in homes where parental earnings fall below the federal
poverty level despite working long hours and multiple jobs. Politicians the
voters choose are aware that those number exceed 50% when there is no
father in the home. Yet they do nothing to bridge the gender-wage gap that
worsens the lives of thousands of Wyoming women.
The National Center for Children in Poverty calculates that
it takes twice the federal poverty threshold to meet a family’s basic needs.
Thirty-six percent of Wyoming’s children live below that level.
Members of the “elected class” know that in order to afford a
modest two-bedroom apartment, Wyoming wage earners must earn at least $14.98
per hour to afford the rent. Still they refuse to raise the minimum wage, which
is currently less than what the Pharaoh paid the Israelite slaves.
These grim statistics are nurtured by Wyoming’s two-party
system, made up of a Democratic Party without the power to do much and a Republican
Party that won’t. This session was an example. The Democrats proposed a modest
increase in the minimum wage. The Republicans countered by proposing the state
wage be hiked to the federal level. Then they defeated that.
This year the minimum wage was increased in 21 other states because
citizens took the matter into their own hands when their political parties and
legislators, like ours, failed them.
Wyoming families aren’t asking much; a livable-wage job, affordable
healthcare and housing, their kids in good schools, and a secure retirement.
They will need to discard the old paradigm, which offers only
Democrats and Republicans. Just as Minnesota’s Farm Labor Party emerged from
economic hardship, perhaps a Wyoming Children and Families Party could emerge
from economic hardships suffered here. Maybe there are enough people who care
about children and families to organize around a reason to vote. First stop? A
ballot measure to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour.
Watch then who makes voting a priority. Watch then to see who
starts to listen to children and families.
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