Cal Thomas’ column Nov. 9, “Politics of personal destruction,” was a mean and judgmental conservative rant.
Conservatives like to blame poor people for their poverty. As Herman Cain says, “Don’t blame Wall Street. Don’t blame the big banks. If you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself.”
He’s forgetting the countless American jobs that have been moved overseas and the jobs that have been eliminated in the quest for larger profits.
According to USA Today, an average of 4.2 unemployed workers are competing for each job opening. Qualified people apply for job after job for endless months. Many who have worked all their lives are unemployed because of the economy. Others can’t get ahead even when working at two or three jobs.
Do conservatives really think that most Americans would rather get a small unemployment check than have a decent job that pays enough to cover rent, food, health care and a car?
Thomas refers to the “15 percent of the country addicted to food stamps.” In reality, people are “addicted” to eating two or three meals a day and need their food stamps to survive.
This is America. We should be helping the needy, not cutting programs.
Ellen Field, New Gloucester
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