The Phoenix Proposal - an Introduction

The Phoenix

     One night I'd finally had enough!  I felt like the (wo)man in that movie NETWORK who goes across the room, throws open the window and screams "I'm made as Hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"  As I often do I was watching the news. It could have been CNN, MSNBC or one of the national news channels.  It didn't make any difference - the story always seemed to be the same. There was partisan bickering in DC and, as a result, some program that could have helped the Poor was either defeated...cut from a budget...or not even able to get out of committee and onto the floor for a vote!  Yes...I was angry with the politicians who seem to have lost sight of the fact that the original call to be in Public Office is SERVICE and NOT 'let's vote against the other side - no matter what they do - and that way we can win the next election!  When did being dysfunctional become so powerful? 

     However, I wasn't so angry at the politicians as I was at the Poor themselves.  I kept asking myself "Don't they Vote????"  There are so many more votes if the Poor and those who work with them actually did vote than the 1% of the population who may have most of the money but they don't have that many people in their group to be a powerful voting block.  Maybe it's my teacher background...but I kept telling myself.."It's all about MATH!!! Don't the Poor get i????  The numbers are on their side?"

     So, this blog is being written in the hopes that that mindset can be changed. The Poor can get organized and recognized as a powerful voting block that politicians and those who hope to be elected to office learn to respect,,,maybe even (like the Tea Party) they'd come to fear the Poor and the Power of their Vote because the Poor will (like the Phoenix)..." rise up from the ashes" of their defeated attitudes and show up and VOTE!

     The PHOENIX PARTY is intended to create a MOVEMENT that I'm calling THE PHOENIX PARTY.  Like THE TEA PARTY...the PHOENIX PARTY is NOT a political party like the Democrats and Republicans are a Political Party.  The PHOENIX PARTY is to be a group of people who share a common vision and values as well as a set of priorities it wants elected officials to endorse and work toward passing.  This group of people consists of those our country defines as "economically poor" - male or female, old and young, black and white (and all the skin-colors in between), straight and gay, religious and atheist..well..you get the picture - as well as people who care about, are related to or work for/with the Poor.  To qualify to be a part of this group you neither have to be a Democrat or a Republican or an Independent for...unlike other concerns...POVERTY doesn't discriminate. While I personally am registered as a Democrat and find my concerns most often aligned with this party; I hope the information I publish in this blog doesn't come across aligned with any political party.  On a recent newscast the reporter observed that one of the reasons that GOP members vote AGAINST bills that would positively impact that Poor is that they believe that action won't hurt them politically because, traditionally, the Poor just don't show up to vote!  So, if this movement it successful, I hope to help mobilize the Poor and their supporters and turn that action around....this time around THE POOR WILL SHOW UP AND THEY WILL VOTE and the Politicians and the Public will know that they did.