Ten years old: HRC 9/100
6 August, 2016 | Index
Dear Hillary Clinton,
It’s me again, Gerard Mclean from Englewood, Ohio.
Yesterday, I read an email from your campaign about 10-year old Tessa and how her dad has switched from being a Republican to vote for you. One voter at a time. I also have a daughter who is more than twice Tessa’s age and she votes Democratic. In Houston, TX.
Allow me a moment to tell you about my 10-year old self. When I was ten, I got three paper routes delivering the St. Paul Pioneer Press in the morning and the Dispatch after school. (Technically, I was nine years old but you had to be at least ten so I lied… nobody checked birth certs in those days.) I delivered papers every day until I was fourteen and lied again about my age to get a restaurant job that paid more and gave free food.
I worked in those days just to eat.
I have been working ever since, even as I was able to secure a college degree, raise a family and buy a modest home in the suburbs so my kids didn’t have to claw and scratch to live; so my daughter could become president if she chose.
Today, I just wanted a moment of peace, but I was up at 6am working to pay the exorbitant premiums Anthem BC/BS of Ohio continues to demand of me. I work now not to eat, but to pay for health insurance that does not even give me an hour of actual care for my premium dollars. It is my single largest monthly expense, eclipsing my housing cost by over twice.
We need real Universal Care now. Our daughters depend on you making this happen. We can’t raise another generation of 10-year olds like this. It is inhumane.
Regards,
Gerard McLean
cc: Sen. Sherrod Brown
