Paul Ryan’s net worth is reported to be $7 million.  Not a lot by the standards of the top 1%, but a figure that is beyond imagining for most of us … the other 99%.  Yesterday, Ryan was apparently attempting to convince his Twitter followers how wonderful the tax bill passed by Congress in December was, when he tweeted …

$1.50 per week, $78 per year.  Mr. Ryan likely throws away $78 without a thought on any given day. I doubt there is an article of clothing in his closet that costs less than $78.  I am willing to bet that some members of Congress have paid that much for a pair of bloomin’ socks!  This, as much as anything, offers proof that our elected representatives are completely oblivious to the needs of those they supposedly represent.

After he came under fire from some of us in the 99%, he removed the tweet, but once seen, it cannot be forgotten, and fortunately it was seen by enough, recorded by the media, that it is not going away anytime soon.

A recent comment on one of my posts noted that the ever-widening gap between “us” and “them” is likely to lead to the next civil war in the United States.  They may be right, for it is clear the people who are making the laws under which we all must live are not only out of touch with We The People, but that they plan to stay that way.

Do you know who the wealthiest member of Congress is?  Greg Gianforte, with a net worth of $315 million.  You remember Greg, right?  He’s the one who, on May 24, 2017,  the night before he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, beat up a reporter from The Guardian who was only doing his job, asking a question.  Gianforte didn’l like the question. He was conviceted of a misdemeanor, but was nonetheless elected and still has his $315 million.  If I had done that, I would still be in jail, and would still be poor.

Mind you, I have no problem with people who work hard, are innovative and earn their way, having millions of dollars.  None at all.  There surely must be rewards for hard work and innovation.  However, we do not need people representing us, people making decisions that affect our very lives, who cannot even comprehend what it is like to have to decide between paying the telephone bill or putting food on the table.

To see Mr. Ryan patting himself on the back for passing a bill that will benefit his wealthy friends to the tune of millions of dollars, while giving the secretary an extra $78 in a year is sickening and disgusting.  And it’s even worse than it appears on the surface, for in early 2019, when that secretary sits down to prepare her income tax return, she will find that $78 and possibly more is going right back to Uncle Sam, for she will no longer be allowed to take certain deductions that she was once able to.

The really sad part is that those who are seeing an extra dollar or two on their paychecks may well praise the republicans for their tax bill, may go to the polls in November, before they have seen the ultimate outcome of their “tax cut”, and vote the same rich candidates right back into office.

The upper 1% see the rest of us as fools, and perhaps we are.  It is time for us ‘fools’ to awaken from our dream where we believed that our elected officials were actually looking out for us, for our best interests, for they are not and perhaps never were.

We did not need that extra $1.50 nearly as much as we needed Congress to work toward fixing what was wrong with ACA, but instead they have fractured it to the point that it no longer guarantees affordable healthcare to all.  We did not need that $1.50 nearly as much as we needed regualtions on fossil fuels that would put us on the path to a cleaner environment.  We needed regulations on the banking industry that would prevent the likes of the Koch brothers from causing another crisis such as we saw in 2008, where many of us in the 99% lost a significant portion of our retirement funds.  We needed reforms in our education system that would make college more affordable for all, not just those in the upper echelons.  No, we did not need an extra $1.50 on our paychecks that is but an illusion to begin with.

Paul Ryan,  Mitch McConnell and most of all Donald Trump are so out of touch with the reality of the people they purport to represent that it is unconscionable.  I wonder how these people can look themselves in the eye when they shave or brush their teeth in the mornings.  I wonder how they fall asleep at night.

Think about this, republicans, as you boast and toast the fact that your guys have a majority in Congress, that your guys are in charge and leading the way toward “making America great again”, that your guys have those ‘liberal snowflake democrats’ under their heels.  They aren’t doing you any favours, and the only people for whom they are making the nation great are themselves.

As for you, Mr. Paul Ryan, you can take that $1.50 and put it you-know-where.  A civil war of the 1% vs the 99%?  Think it’s impossible?  I wouldn’t be too sure.  We in the 99% may be fools in believing you and your cohorts actually represent our best interests, but eventually the day will come when we say, “ENOUGH!!!!”

Paul Ryan’s home

Other homes in Ryan’s hometown