We Are Not "All In This Together"

We are definitely NOT “all in this together”. For the most part, the politicians who are making the decisions about our lives have been totally insulated from any hardship. They closed up our state in the spring - interrupting the supply chain - making it essentially impossible to plant. They have not lost their jobs, or homes, or had to slaughter poultry, pigs and herds of cattle because up to 1/3 of all the big slaughter houses across the nation were forced to completely shut down. Because livestock was diverted to small and local plants, it left nowhere for our Kansas farmers to take their animals. These politicians have not had to dump milk, or plow fields under.

Some of these politicians have likely not had to operate a business at half capacity, under mandates put in place by someone who knows nothing about that business. They've not watched their retail market dry up or land in the deep pocket of online giants like Amazon. They have likely not laid awake at night worried about where their next meal would come from. They've not had to miss having a tooth filled for up to 4 months due to the backlog because routine procedures like these were non essential. I doubt these same politicians have lost their homes, businesses or their paychecks.

I am not a career politician. I’m just a small business owner with a heart for helping my neighbor. At this point in time, we are ok but a lot of our fellow businessmen and women are not. I drive down streets that were once busy and filled with shops, and now have no activity. Out of business signs scatter the city and still every day more and more are added to the list. Here in Topeka, while some businesses seem to have made a moderate comeback, small businesses as a whole are still struggling terribly. Which means that the employees who once worked there are struggling as well. And, then, there's the groceries families cannot buy because of little to no income, and the rent or house payments they cannot afford, or car payments they cannot make. Our personal business is in that struggling business category. Small business makes up about 45% of the GDP, yet as we watch, one by one they all seem to be drying up and blowing away.

We need committed and able leadership who'll navigate us out of this downward spiral in which we are all caught. As a Kansas State Representative, I am committed to doing just that because getting businesses going again really matters to me and should matter to you too. Small business success provides the tax base that supports this great state. Without those mom and pop shops, we are in deep trouble. This could mean higher income taxes on families, people leaving our state, higher unemployment, and certainly more stress on families everywhere.

When is the last time you heard of a politician not getting a paycheck? Or the state unable to pay a bill? These are serious questions. Consider how long our families and business owners have been waiting on a small business relief loan to come through, so that their job could be re-instated or their business could be re-opened.

So I ask you to really think about it the next time you hear a politician say we are all in this together. Because "WE" DEFINITELY ARE NOT.

What are your thoughts?