For six long years, America's working families have been invisible to our president.
Energy, health care, and education costs are rising while wages and incomes lag. Americans are working harder than ever, but keep falling further and further behind.
It's like middle class and hard working families don't even exist to this Administration.
If you're one of the nearly 90,000 people still living in trailers after Hurricane Katrina - you're invisible.
If you're a soldier back from Iraq fighting to get the treatment you need in crumbling facilities at Walter Reed - you're invisible.
If you're a parent who can't afford childcare or who struggles to get by on the minimum wage - while the wealthy get tax cuts -- you're invisible too.
Well, you're not invisible to the rest of America. When Hillary is in the White House, you will no longer be invisible to the President of the United States.
We want to hear your story. Share with our hillaryclinton.com community how you have felt invisible under the Bush Administration. Share with us your dreams for the future. And join the Hillary Clinton campaign to help make our way to the White House so we can change our country's direction and create a better future for everyone.
We signed the “Do You Feel Invisible to Your Government?” petition!
# 50:
7:43 am PDT, Aug 24,Joan Koch, New York
Under our present administration there is a separation of classes. Rich and poor. My dream would be that everyone is equal no matter what one earns. No more plea deals because of wealth, noterity, or political affirmation. If religion is going to effect abortion rights, death penalty, stem cell research they to shall pay their equal share of taxes. Health care must be revamped so that EVERYONE not just immigrants are given health care. If the govenment wants us to live longer, make pharmacutical companies lower there prices. My dream is for all of the above. Taxes, healthcare, oil, wars
everything is out of control. We need control in the White House elected by the people for the people not the lobbiests, or rich CEO'S. And English to be the FIRST language not second or third.
# 49:
7:42 am PDT, Aug 24,Barb Burton, Virginia
I'm employed but I have no health insurance. My husband is a US veteran. My father was a DAV. My mother died last year because a doctor did an unnecessary procedure [on her] & botched it. No one wants to take responsibility. Maybe I'm lucky in that I don't have health insurance, since the American Health Care system seems to be deadly.
# 48:
7:42 am PDT, Aug 24,Name not displayed, Rhode Island
My biggest hope is that health care becomes availabe to all Americans. We are both retired and,thankfully, my husband is old enough to recieve Medicare/medicade. I am almost 60 and worked with my husband in his veterinary practice for over 20 years. Because I am not old enough to recieve any help with my medical coverage I pay $600.+ per month to carry health coverage for just me. I am fortunate because I am healthy and I still can afford to pay for my coverage. In the past 3 years I have watched my cost of coverage increase over $100. per month per year. I am worried that I won't be able to afford my coverage much longer if these increases continue. We raised 7 children and out of those seven children 3 are not able to afford health coverage. The middle class is being squeezed to death by health costs, education costs and housing.
# 47:
7:42 am PDT, Aug 24,Elissa Kleeman, New Jersey
I am a self-employed musician. Since 9-11, my "gigs" and students have declined sharply. It seems that fewer and fewer people are interested in the arts anymore.
# 46:
7:41 am PDT, Aug 24,Joann Nicoletti, Pennsylvania
Unfortunately, if you are not wealthy or not poor, you are completely forgotten in this country. There is no such thing anymore as the "middle class family."
# 45:
7:41 am PDT, Aug 24,Hank Algermissen, Florida
I listen to all your promises, but when the election is over nothing ever changes. I want for all legal citenzens to have the same Health Care coverage as you folks in the Congress and Senate enjoy.
Are you ready to give up your health care coverage, you most certainly can affort to pay your doctors and hospital bills, but we the people cannot
# 44:
7:40 am PDT, Aug 24,John Alexander, Pennsylvania
I am 85 years old and struggling to live on very little money. Some help is needed for others like me. School taxes and other taxes need to be forgiven after a certain age. Old age is difficult enough without the worry of the lack of money for normal expense. it's not a plea for a hand-out, just help in making ends meet.
# 43:
7:39 am PDT, Aug 24,Jessi Russell, Utah
# 42:
7:39 am PDT, Aug 24,Loretta Rosa, New York
Bush And Clinton are two of a kind.Both Crimnals.
I would never vote for her.
My vote will go to anyone but her.
# 41:
7:38 am PDT, Aug 24,Name not displayed, Minnesota
I am a 40 year old single homeowner in Minnesota. The cost of everything has increased so much that I can barely afford to survive. I have a very oogd job but can't keep up with the rising costs. I have asthma and the environmental changes are scary. I am very afraid for our future. I hope the war will end and the environment will become a top priority. Minimum wage needs to increase and everyone needs to have free healthcare. There are also too many people struggling to survive. The next president will have the hardest struggle yet to fix the many things the Bush Administration has ruined.
# 40:
7:37 am PDT, Aug 24,David L. McNiel, North Carolina
just getting George the foul-mouthed Texan out of the White House will be a dream come true for me and mine!
# 39:
7:37 am PDT, Aug 24,Carol Karlin, Florida
Health care is just awful. I feel invisible when I see my Freedom (Medicare) doctors. They panic and send me for all kinds of tests when I know I'm fine. They won't listen to me and it seems they are in it together all making money by making people go for all kinds of testing and sometimes procedures they don't need. It is awful to be age 60 in the state of Florida. I know Hillary Clinton would be a wonderful President and things will change in Health Care and other areas.
# 38:
7:37 am PDT, Aug 24,Name not displayed, North Carolina
As a lesbian, I have felt completely invisible to the Bush administration. He has shown no support for the LGBT community OR women!!
# 37:
7:37 am PDT, Aug 24,Sandy Hollingsworth, Texas
I am invisible. According to the Republican Party if you dont make in excess of 100,000.00 a year you are invisible. If Bush had his way there would be no Social Security, Medicare, Medicade, Welfare, etc....so that the rich would get richer. And the poor...well, who cares?
This is what happens when the two top positions in this country are filled by oil company CEOs. Under Republicans Corporate America and its GREED has been allowed to run rampant.
# 36:
7:36 am PDT, Aug 24,David Howard, Texas
Bush brought this country sparse jobs, poor wages, no health insurance...in other words all the usual gifts of the Republican party.....with Hillary, we hope to see a plethora of jobs, opportunities, grants to stimulate new Green Industries, better wages, ease of health care access, and INTELLIGENCE and COMPASSION....!!!!
# 35:
7:35 am PDT, Aug 24,Matthew Swyers, California
For seven long years I have had to watch as this administration has broken the law with impunity. Now after my hopes were raised that something would happen after the 2006 elections, I am twice denied justice when we are told Impeachment is "off the table" and that we have to wait and let the same liars about the war determine if we stay or go. Do I feel invisible to my government? This is not my government. Is my only option renouncing my citizenship?
# 34:
7:35 am PDT, Aug 24,Rob In WA, Washington
I'm not signing this in support of Hillary, but I am signing it against Bush. I would also add that voting for Hillary will only net the same results as voting for Bush. Consider our so called Democratic Congress, with Pelosi at the helm, and all she does is bend over backwards to make sure the dictator in the White House gets every thing he wants. Hillary is not a choice, in fact there are no Republican nor Democrat choices for a REAL candidate of any kind, vote 3rd party, preferably a party that makes cleaning house the first priority, some party that supports independent oversite of congress, and restores limits on presidential and federal powers, some party that will restore the constitution and our bill of rights. But whatever you do, don't support any more of the same crap that got us here to start with. No more right wing neo fascism, no more of the left wing sheep who follow the right wing fascist, stop the insanity of continuing to vote for the same 2 parties over and over and expecting different results.
# 33:
7:34 am PDT, Aug 24,Name not displayed, Florida
The Department of Veterans Affairs has a "NON-SERVICE CONNECTED PENSION WITH AID & ATTENDANCE" unfortunatley the pension is made very difficult to obtain. This pension is for OUR VETERANS or their surviving spouse that can no longer work and physically are in need of the aid & attendance of another. The VA dept. often makes the veteran or surviving spouse wait months or even over a year to grant the pension OUR VETERANS are in dire need of. When you call the VA's 800-827-1000 number you get incorrect information or rude personnel. OUR VETERANS gave all that was asked of them for our government now when they need our government they are handled very poorly. PLEASE HELP
# 32:
7:32 am PDT, Aug 24,Ramona Mackessy, Illinois
# 31:
7:31 am PDT, Aug 24,Kenneth Brown, Georgia
I don't want to write a story that's no doubt repetetive, considering this administration's actions; but I want like to make a statement: When is this administration going to address issues that pertain to 9 to 5 Americans? America is coming apart at the seams and all I hear Bush talk about is Iraq. I wonder, would Iraq's democracy be as inportant to Bush if they produced widgets instead of oil?
# 30:
7:31 am PDT, Aug 24,Robert Bixby, North Carolina
I recall that when hillary was president for eight years in the 90s, she was very responsive to the people. I think she has to take a certain line on Iraq to get the needed republican support in the general election, but if she wins, she will do the right thing. If Bush would solve some of the problems in Iraq, I'd support him in that action. I don't believe that there are any solutions, but if there were, Bush wouldn't realize it and he wouldn't act on it. Hillary would. There might be a way even now to turn the hearts of the Iraqi people, if there is a new president and a new approach that includes a scheduled withdrawal. Hillary is a remarkable person, someone we haven't seen in the White House in a long time--not since Bill was president, and before that, much longer ago, maybe FDR, maybe Lincoln, maybe Jefferson. She's a genius with a careful approach and a strong commitment once she finds something that works. A realist, a rationalist, and a pragmatist.
# 29:
7:30 am PDT, Aug 24,Heidi Box, Colorado
# 28:
7:29 am PDT, Aug 24,Barbara McAllister, New Jersey
I am 66 years old and can not stop working even though I have health issues. If I stop working health insurance costs and medical will eat up my social security check almost entirely. I have worked for many companies and paid into pension plans that did not materialize because of
layoffs, re-organizations etc. where I have come out with nothing.
I feel totally disenfranchised as a native born American Citizen. Another disillusioned elderly invisible person.
# 27:
7:29 am PDT, Aug 24,JAMES HALL, Vermont
I wish I'd never seen Bush - he's never shown any regard for us.
# 26:
7:29 am PDT, Aug 24,F. Wayne White, Missouri
What this country needs is a second party. Impeach Bush and the shadow president Cheney. Just say no to Hillary; she's just another Joe Lieberman. No thanks.
# 25:
7:28 am PDT, Aug 24,Name not displayed, New York
# 24:
7:27 am PDT, Aug 24,Tom Sparrow, Michigan
What we need is a focus on the American family! The economy stinks and people are suffering for it! We need tax breaks, education should be a primary focus as well as health care for ALL!
# 23:
7:27 am PDT, Aug 24,Maureen Pricci, New York
# 22:
7:26 am PDT, Aug 24,Stacia Lara, Texas
Getting ready to have our first child, and I don't know how we'll afford childcare, or any time off with my new baby. It's horrible!
# 21:
7:26 am PDT, Aug 24,Name not displayed, Vermont
I have a disability and a PhD and I can't even get a part time job. Nor can I get the proper about of social security that I'm entitled to. I have a lot of abilities and could contribute significantly but because of my disability, and now my age, I have to live way below the poverty line; can't travel freely because of the lack of national public transit. Am also restricted in where I can live, not only for financial reasons but also because of the afore mentioned transportation. This has been going on longer than the past six years. The past six years have just made things worse.
# 20:
7:25 am PDT, Aug 24,Vicki McCarroll, Louisiana
I work two jobs and have had to give up on the American dream of home ownership. I feel that middle class rights are waning. I don't make enough money to be able to not life paycheck to paycheck but have too much money to get any "help." Men and women die daily over seas and I don't see things ending. There are so many uninsured middle class that is is frightening, I will never be able to retire and hope I can stay healthy enough to work until I die.
# 19:
7:24 am PDT, Aug 24,Panagiotis Rigopoulos, Greece
# 18:
7:23 am PDT, Aug 24,M S Polanco, New York
# 17:
7:21 am PDT, Aug 24,Ray Lynch, New Jersey
When Hillary is in the W.H? Please anyone really think she is going to get us out of Iraq? Republican lite her and her most favored nation, NAFTA loving husband. NO MORE CLINTONS!!!!!
# 16:
7:21 am PDT, Aug 24,Dorothy Maxwell, New York
My messages to end the war are ignored, and I watch as developers build and open businesses in my area where only the rich can afford to live. The homeless will soon be seen on my street, because they have to go somewhere.
# 15:
7:19 am PDT, Aug 24,Jeannie Baden, New York
Hey George this is one of the struggling single mothers (due to divorce) who needs help but can't get any because I "earn too much money" I hope that whomever occupies the White House in 08 going forward will see that women like me deserve the help they need without having to resort to "begging".
# 14:
7:18 am PDT, Aug 24,Kris Lennon, Ohio
Yes - I most certainly do feel invisible. Every time I turn around more and more rights are being taken away from American employees. The courts make a mockery out of lawsuits against employers by dismissing out most of them. Low pay, little to no benefits and a total employers market make it hell for the average American to toil through the work week. My dreams for the 2008 election are for some RELIEF. Relief to me as a worker, relief to me as a taxpaying citizen, relief to me in not having to see all my tax money go to Iraq and not to America, just plain RELIEF. I have spoken to many people, people older than me and they say they have never seen anything as bad as this, as bad as America is now and it is a shame. Whoever is the next president will have their hands full undoing all the damage that Bush and his monied cronies have done.
# 13:
7:14 am PDT, Aug 24,Nicky Elizabeth, Maine
# 12:
7:09 am PDT, Aug 24,Cheri Purnell, Florida
# 11:
6:36 am PDT, Aug 24,Cindy Moyer, Pennsylvania
Hi George, It's me...one of your struggling, can't-make-ends-meet, hard-working, Americans. Stop being so disrespectful. Things aren't as great as you pretend they are.
# 10:
6:18 am PDT, Aug 24,Sean Noyes, Finland
US citizen residing in Finland with my wife and daughter, due to the challenges confronted with immigration in the US, quality education and health care.
# 9:
5:21 am PDT, Aug 24,Donna Marshall, Georgia
# 8:
2:56 am PDT, Aug 24,David Dunkleberger, Pennsylvania
# 7:
2:51 am PDT, Aug 24,Selina Schecroun, Virginia
# 6:
1:34 am PDT, Aug 24,Judy Wasco, Florida
# 5:
1:18 am PDT, Aug 24,Alexandra Nett, South Africa
# 4:
12:19 am PDT, Aug 24,Name not displayed, California
# 3:
11:51 pm PDT, Aug 23,Nicky Meyer, South Africa
# 2:
9:15 pm PDT, Aug 23,Rebecca Young, California
My dream is for a president who cares about affordable, high quality child care; health care for everyone; high quality education for all children; and making sure that all parents have the resources they need to raise their children in healthy, loving homes. Hillary Clinton has always been a strong advocate for children, women and families. I also have a secret dream that my daughter, who just turned one, will NOT be able to dream of being the first female president - she'll have to settle for simply dreaming of becoming president, period.
# 1:
6:20 pm PDT, Aug 23,Jacolin Schultz, Wisconsin
We NEED to CHANGE our country's direction and create a better future for everyone ... TODAY !!!