I just got off the phone with one of these grassroots campaign outfits who were looking for folks to hire. After briefly discussing "the job", it appears that they don't actually hire you in the normal sense, i.e. a fair hourly wage for hours worked getting the candidates name out or issues in the public's ear. What they want you to do to for your pay is to reap donations from John Q. Public. The more money you bring in, via donations, the more money you get paid. I asked, "What kind of money would I make if I brought in no donations"? The fellow I spoke with, Patrick, indicated that the way that they determined my compensation, if any, would depend upon how much money I collected for the cause, what ever that might actually be. I suppose they could call it a campaign donation, or a slush fund, or just about anything they want once they get their hands on it.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong about this, but I don't think I am, aren't the two guys running for the presidential office both connected at the hip to huge piles of money already? There was just a comparison of the two major candidates on national television discussing which of the two had spent more money on their various indulgences. It seems to me that any individual that spends money the way these two do shouldn't be looking for handouts from the ranks of the general public. They each easily spend more money on any single bling thing fling than I make in a year or two. Then to top it off they have organizations like these grassroots outfits trying rake in even more cashola for them! Maybe if each of our poor impoverished candidates spent a little less green on private golf course visits at 20,000 a pop or $15,000 bicycles they'd have enough left over to be able afford to finance their own campaigns.

This whole thing is really disappointing as I am, and have been, unemployed for longer than is comfortable. I have used the services of the local food bank but that doesn't cover expenses that can only be satisfied by cold hard currency. I certainly don't count myself, or my situation, among the worst in the country. I'm sure there are those in more dire need than I, like the thousands who have lost their jobs to outsourcing.

These folks have spent their lives building futures in major manufacturing jobs all over the United States. They worked hard all their lives at increasing the value and stability of the companies they held positions with, only to have the rug pulled out from under them by those same companies. Their jobs were outsourced, that means that the companies, after using American labor to build a successful industry, then looked for cheaper labor alternatives in third world labor markets. They profited by the hard work of their American laborers, but instead of honoring that diligence on the part of their American workforce, they turned their backs on it. Now countless thousands are doing what I must do just to survive each week, visiting their local food banks.

But, how does one cook food with no electricity, gas or running water? How do you stay warm in the winter without fuel to heat with? Or, how can you seek work without a running automobile when you can't afford the price of gasoline?

And these grassroots campaign guys want me to fetch donations to support the already overly funded political candidates and their parties??? They want me to support the same fat cats that can't even figure out how to support the vast unemployed population in this country?!!!!!?