American Jobs and Families plans unite a divided couple
We’ve been married for 27 years. We have a lot in common: our Presbyterian faith, our love for each other and our family, and our Greensburg roots. But we disagree on politics. In the 2020 election, we were one of the only houses in our town that had both a Biden and Trump sign in our lawn.
But during the pandemic, we came to politically agree on one major point: Americans need help.
InJanuary 2020, one of us, Clyde, lost his job at the Westmoreland County Blind Association due to COVID-related budget cuts. We struggled day-by-day to pay our bills and rent. We started taking shorter showers and cut down on laundry in order to save money on our water bill. Even still, the gas company threatened to shut off our gaswhen we fell behind.
We’ve always volunteered for our local food banks, and we never thought we would be in the position of needing that kind of support ourselves.But we did for a time.
We were constantly worried, and one of us, Lucille, had a ministroke from the stress. But as
hard as it was for us, we know it was far worse for so many of our neighbors.
Luckily, we’ve recently found stabler footing, but many people in our community are still struggling to make ends meet. It’s getting harder and harder to make it on a working person’s salary in this country, and we worry about the future we’re leaving for our four daughters, seven grandchildren, andtwo great-grandchildren.
Although we don’t align politically, the pandemic made one thing abundantly clear: our community needs jobs that pay more and things that cost less. That’s why we’re both firmly in favor of the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan.
We know that some people are attempting to make this about Democrats or Republicans, but in a family that has both, we want politicians to know this is about right and wrong.
We need all of our senators and representatives, regardless of political party, to come together to support these plans. We love our country, and want to see Congress doing what’s best for the people who elected them.
Right now, we need an investment so we can give Pennsylvanians the boost they need to get by. Every day, hard-working Americans like our daughters stand to benefit.
The expanded child tax credit stopped one of our daughters from getting evicted. Our other daughter used it to pay for our grandson’s summer school. Working parents need this support, and it should be made permanent. This shouldn’t be political — it should be common sense.
Many people have asked us how we make our marriage work despite our political differences. We always say that many people argue about politics, but we just talk about politics. When we talk about it, we often find that we agree on more than we expected. Like commonsense investments in jobs and families.
So we’re asking our senators and representatives to do the same thing. Talk to each other. Work together. And invest in the American people.