I am not watching the Republican National Convention. Not because I do not agree with the Republicans, but, because if I do I will end up throwing heavy objects at my TV. That being said I am angry. I am angry because of the stupidity of the average Republican voter. I am tired of the rich buying our political system for personal gain. I am sick of the veiled racism and dog whistles coming from the right

I am a single father and I am busting my ass trying to provide for my son. If him playing football or taking guitar lessons means I have to go without, then so be it. I will eat beans and rice to make sure he can do those things. I don’t have any stock to fall back on and after I pay the bills there isn’t a hell of a lot left over—my son’s needs come first, my needs are secondary to his.

In 1994, when Mitt Romney ran for governor, Ann Romney had this to say about the early years of their marriage:

"Another son came along 18 months later, although we waited four years to have the third, because Mitt was still in school and we had no income except the stock we were chipping away at. We were living on the edge, not entertaining. No, I did not work. Mitt thought it was important for me to stay home with the children, and I was delighted."

Chipping away at stock, no entertaining and a stay at home mom? That is not living on the edge. Living on the edge is wondering if you have enough money to buy groceries this week. Living on the edge is having to decide between a full tank of gas or school supplies for your children. Living on the edge is eating only two meals a day so that your child can eat three.

In Ann Romney’s RNC speech the other night she stated:



I read somewhere that Mitt and I have a "storybook marriage." Well, in the storybooks I read, there were never long, long, rainy winter afternoons in a house with five boys screaming at once. And those storybooks never seemed to have chapters called MS or Breast Cancer.

Want a story Ann? How about a child who won’t bring his friends home because one of his parents is an alcoholic? How about being a woman who finds a lump in her breast—and she doesn’t have health insurance? What about being diagnosed with MS and having your insurance policy cancelled because as a teenager you had acne?

Compared to my life and a lot of people I grew up with Ann Romney not only had a storybook marriage, she has lived a life of privilege that most of us could never imagine.

Then we have Paul Ryan. I am ashamed to admit he is a product of my beloved home state of Wisconsin. Paul Ryan touts his private sector experience as one of his selling points. Problem is, other than a few part-time jobs in high school and college, he has worked for the government all of his life. My government experience? I was in the U.S. Army from 1985 to 1989. I joined right out of high school. Not because I wanted to but because there were really no other options for me at the time. Ryan was elected to congress at the age of 28. When I was 28 I was working in a crappy job in a lumberyard. I don’t know when Paul Ryan read Atlas Shrugged. I do know that he took the philosophy from that book and has lived by it. Me, I read Atlas Shrugged and was sickened by it.

Paul Ryan, Mitt and Ann Romney claim to have lived hard lives. They claim to understand the plight of the middle class. They claim to have struggled in their lives. I have a challenge for them. Live on what I make and pay the same bills I pay. See how long you last. I can stretch my funds out to get me from paycheck to paycheck. I am willing to bet that the Romney’s and Ryan’s spend more in an hour than I have left over after paying all my bills.

