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Dear Mitt Romney,
As a member of the 47%, I have to say, it’s
uncanny how well you know me.
First, as you said, I am dependent upon
government in many
ways. As I write this, a battalion of orange construction vehicles are
finishing work on the inky black strip of asphalt that now extends between
curbs boasting brand-new storm drains. My husband and I cannot afford to fix
the cracks in our driveway, never mind install drains in the street on our own
dime. For this and so many other services, I have the City of Tallahassee to
thank, as well as federal funds dedicated to maintaining the nation’s
infrastructure.
You
said I believed myself a victim, and
this too is true. As a woman, my body has been made a battleground for
political gain. I am facing the forcible disenfranchisement of my basic right
to make choices about my health. When I was without healthcare, I was able to
push through the ever-present protesters at my local Planned Parenthood to
receive essential services such as pelvic exams, breast cancer screenings, and pap
smears. When you say you plan to “get
rid” of Planned Parenthood, I feel not only personally victimized, but I
fear for the women and men who rely on the organization for affordable
preventative and palliative care.
You
are right again when you suggested I believe that the government has a
responsibility to care for me. That is not to say I believe anyone should
take care of me. In Lincoln’s
words, the governance of the United
States of America should be “of the
people, by the people, for the people.” It should be in no government
official’s power to “stop worrying” about any subsection of them. Many of the
47% are elderly citizens who are finally collecting on the monies they’ve paid
into Social Security and Medicare. I believe the government should care about protecting
the rights of this “voting block” as much as I do.
I also believe it’s
a matter of human decency to help to feed and house those who are (temporarily
or terminally) unable to do so for themselves. What’s more—and please excuse me for getting personal, but your attack on
the 47% was nothing if not personal—so do you, according to a recent poll in
which 73% of 1,000 LDS individuals said working to help the poor is
essential to being a good Mormon.
Beyond polls and
basic human rights, what I cannot understand is your reluctance to celebrate
your father’s
rise from welfare to wealth. If you owned
the way he achieved success, instead of characterizing government assistance as
an enabling drag on society, perhaps you’d win over those independent,
thoughtful, undecided voters you spoke of at your dinner. I bet they’d have
stories to swap. I could have told you about my grandfather, for instance. An
Italian immigrant and WWII veteran, he worked his way from a crowded apartment
in Boston’s North End to owning a two-family house in Somerville and a summer cottage
near Cape Cod. After the war, his diagnoses of “nerves” (PTSD) earned him a
small veteran’s benefit check for the rest of his life. He took what was his
due, even if it was so little that combined with the social security he and his
wife collected after retirement, they still didn’t trigger the lowest tax
bracket. If he was alive today, he’d be one of your 47%. Or what about my
mother, who lived in a government-subsidized housing project in Charlestown,
sewed her own clothes through high school, and paid for college with a cocktail
of government loans, scholarships, and part-time work? Her master’s degree landed
her a job that enabled her to pay back all her loans as lump sums. For my
family and yours, temporary government assistance led to success and
self-sustainability, not dependency.
As for my own
taxes, you were right there as well. I make less
than $14,000 a year, which means that while federal taxes are withheld from
each paycheck, I get most of it back every April. In my case, this salary represents
my choice to pursue a doctorate degree that will position me to teach writing
on the college level. While I hope to make a living wage soon—and will gladly
pay federal and state taxes on whatever that figure may be—it’s a great comfort
to live in a country with resources for citizens in need as the future is ever
uncertain.
Finally, Mr.
Romney, as you predicted, President Obama has my vote. I do want to thank you, though, for accidentally sharing your true
feelings with us. I hope your words will give those independent, thoughtful,
undecided voters something more to consider.
Sincerely,
Katie Cortese,
Card-Carrying 47-Percenter
Katie
Cortese holds an MFA from Arizona State University and is currently a
PhD student at Florida State. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in
Narrative magazine, River Styx, New Madrid, Main Street Rag, Harpur
Palate, Cimarron Review, NANO Fiction, Crab Orchard Review, Willow
Springs, Passages North, and elsewhere.
