We are an average family. We are Main Street Americans. We are small business owners that provide jobs and services. We try to treat everyone the same. (do unto others, etc) We are God fearing, Church going, hard working. We are honest, trustworthy, ethical, and moral. We have never tried to scam anyone or rip anyone off. We have tried to build the American dream for our family. We are loyal patriotic Americans and we pay our taxes. We have children that are Police Officers, Sheriff’s Deputies and Paramedic/Firefighters. We are all about public service and giving back to our community. We are the backbone of our society and we can't even get our own Government to throw us a bone in our time of need. We are the victims, through no fault of our own, of FINANCIAL TERRORISOM. We are dying. We are suffocating. And we are being snuffed out. No one is standing up for us. No one is speaking out for us. No one is trying to protect us or help us. What are we to do?

In May of 2008 I lost my job because of a citywide budget cutback. I was told I was no longer employed on the telephone while I was out on sick leave recovering from surgery. I was let go just a little over a year away from being vested in my retirement fund. I lost my city health benefits which now costs me over $1,000.00 per month in Cobra payments. Do I pay my health insurance or do I pay my home mortgage? Who’s helping us?

We are three months behind in our mortgage payments. Chase Bank WILL NOT work with us on a loan modification because I am unemployed. I need the loan modification BECAUSE I am unemployed. If I were employed I would not need their help! Our home is worth $250,000.00 less than we owe on our mortgage. What’s wrong with this? Why can't they help us?

Our family business is down over 75% from last year. What used to take one week to pay our bills and responsibilities NOW takes four weeks or more. And we still find ourselves behind. Who’s bailing us out? My wife has not drawn a paycheck, in over a year, just so we can keep our employees working and earning a living. This includes our daughter who manages the business.  

In November of last year we fell behind in paying our payroll taxes to the IRS. I set up a 120-day extension and have paid over $1,200.00 of the original $1,400.00 bill. We recently received an urgent letter from the IRS telling us they were going to place a levy on our assets if we did not pay. I called the IRS to try to resolve the problem. Operator I. D. # 2978842 greeted me on the telephone. She would not explain why I owed more money. She refused to give us an extension to make additional payments. And when I explained that the current economic situation was making it difficult to make the payments on time. She said, “ That’s NOT my problem make the payment”. I tried to explain further but she came back again with, “It’s not my problem you need to make your payment”. I asked why her new boss was given a free ride and forgiven from paying any penalties. She responded again, “I have nothing to do with that and it has nothing to do with this”. I tried further to reason with her but she came back again, “If you don't like it write to your Congressmen”. That was the end of conversation. So, the IRS would rather we lay our employees off and let them go file for unemployment benefits. Does that make sense? WHO’S HELPING US? WHO’S BAILING US OUT? 

We just can't lose our home and our business at the same time. We are too far along in life to ever recover from that. We just pray our children will be able to survive. The American dream, which we have worked so hard for all these years, is about to go up in smoke. Our own Government has left us out on the street corner and driven away. Our own Government is forcing to walk away from all we have. Our own Government is forcing us to leave our homes and our businesses behind and declare bankruptcy. The entire way our people earn a living, spend their money, save their money, strive to attain good credit, and attempt to borrow money will change forever the way all Americans will have to live. But, who cares about us? Who’s listening to us? Who’s bailing us out?

How many hundreds of thousands of other families have the same story? How many more will have the same story to tell in the future? We have lost our American way of life. It no longer exists. It may never exist again. God be good to us.