The Poor People of America

The Poor People of America

A tent city for dipossessed people

outside the city of Sacramento, California.

I am one of the volunteers at Loaves and fishes. My family came to California from Oklahoma in the first great depression. 7 kids. So both ends of my life look like they will end in a depression era. I lived so as to be prepared for its return. Emotionally and otherwise. When I began helping at Loaves and Fishes a few years back, our largest meals would have 500 guests. Now they are reaching 900 at times. And climbing.
Dugan

- Robert, Citrus Height

This song came into being after watching President Obama in action, trying to allay the fears of American voters that a decent health service wouldn't involve a sea change in their thinking.

During the years that I was a member of the Mudcat cyber community, I met a lot of Americans online who had terrible trouble funding their need for drugs - prescribed by a doctor and necessary for their wellbeing.

In England - even the poorest people in our country have access to a decent level of medical care. And whatever other problems we have, we don't need to worry about the cost of paying for the drugs we need.

However these problems are not sorted out by magic. Aneurin Bevan, the Welsh politician who introduced the National Health Service to England said he literally had to 'stuff with gold' the mouths of the private medical practitioners to stifle their protests, because they foresaw the proliferation of the NHS. In America , where a medical degree is reputedly like a licence to print money , the problems are going to be worse. To pretend otherwise is silly,

However it is a measure of the man that Obama is undertaking this, just when so much other manure is hitting the fan - the banking business, unemployment - and of course the 'corrections' industry as the justice system is euphemistically called.

best of luck to him!

Cometh the hour

Cometh the man....?

The Poor People of America

You bleeding heart liberals who bitch and whine

Should have seen the dark days of Two Thousand and Nine

When the banks went bust, having filled their vaults

But everyone said, it was no one’s fault

And the cold winds blew and nobody cared

About the poor people of America.

Folk living on the streets, or they lived in tents

On the edges of cities, camps came and went

When they were ill they suffered, when it snowed they were cold

They begged for food, cos their jobs had been sold

No TV or newsmen confronted politicians,

Or all of those fellows in their high positions

And said, you sons of bitches! You took them there....

The poor people of America.

Last night I saw the President on TV

He said, we’re not like the French or the English, oh no -not we

Like theres a path even the Republican could follow

Won’t cost anyone a single tax dollar

Cos we’ll turn into commies, if we start to care

For the poor people of America.

A Republican said you unpatriotic son of a bitch

Its the American way, we all try to be rich

And those too lazy, trashy or dumb

They just have to settle for being a bum

And the FM radio lisped out songs

You broke my heart baby – you done me wrong

Oh America’s got talent, but it can stay down there

With the poor people of America

In Huntsville prison, they got a death row

Where the poor and depraved people get to go

And on each lonely unmarked grave

Perhaps some person ought to engrave

Look at the justice – stop and stare

For the poor people of America.

We should have ‘malice towards none, and charity for all'

A Republican once said, as I recall

They cut him him down

But Mr Lincoln cared

For the poor people of America

© words and music Alan Whittle 18/08/2009 19:04