True Americans

He's fifty-nine years old. His wife is the receptionist for a local dentist. One of their children graduated from a state university while the other works in the construction trade. Their early eighties built home has four years left before the mortgage is completely paid off. He has been active in Little League as a coach and an active VFW member. She is a Sunday School teacher and a volunteer at the public library. He fought for his nation in Vietnam and married his high school sweetheart after returning form the war. He has worked for twenty-seven years at the venerable GM plant that dominates his mid-western town. He has risen to become a foreman and has only called in sick thirteen times in all those years. The two are thinking about moving down to Florida once he can earn a complete retirement. They vote, pay taxes, and for all intent and purposes are bedrock model citizens. They believe(d) in the American Dream: work hard, play by the rules, move ahead economically and spiritually; not asking for handouts. Now as their golden years beckon reality has hit. He is on strike. That secure retirement now does not seem so certain. Will there be enough health coverage as they move on into their sixties and seventies? America once made a promise to a couple like this. That promise held well deep into the last century. Has the global environment, the preeminence of the stock market, and a presidential administration hellbent against any form of expanded health and pension coverage conspired to take away all that they have worked so hard for? Think about these true Americans when you watch tonight's newscasts and see what the GM workers are fighting so hard for.