American Winter Page #5

- Actually, yesterday was two weeks.

- Yesterday was two weeks. Oh.

Yup. I'm waiting to see if we'll

be back in another two weeks.

- Yeah, exactly.

- So...

The doctor told us to come in,

and he wants to keep dilating it

until her stomach opens

and stays open

'cause it's not staying open.

We have to do this,

he said, every two weeks.

I feel bad that it's

my fault that she's losing so much work.

My mom was always there for me and

stayed every single night with me,

so she made me really happy.

I'm really anxious.

I just want it to be done.

I've got doctor bills,

like, every day in the mail.

I got a $49,000 bill.

About fell over when I opened it.

I haven't paid my rent

for December.

I've always been able

to do it on my own.

I may not have a lot of money, but my bills

are paid, my kids are taken care of.

Nobody has rent assistance.

I guess you have to call

before the first of the month,

and I didn't know that.

Am I going to get

an eviction tomorrow?

I just don't know.

I have never seen a time

when there has been as much

venom and vitriol over things

that, in previous years,

we agreed on.

We've always been a nation

that would look out for those

that needed help,

and for the life of me,

I don't understand the response

that would say,

"No, fend for yourself. "

And that's not rooted in

the fabric of America.

I've got the letter

from the doctor right here

to help us get the

electricity turned back on,

let them know about

the medical.

My son's got just

this incredible... cough.

He's coughing so bad

he's throwing up.

Our power's been shut

off for about a month now.

- OK.

- And so we just

found out not too long ago that you

can get a letter from your doctor

that states that if you

have medical issues...

OK, once your power

is turned off,

you are not... you don't

actually qualify

for the medical certificate

at that point.

Once your power is restored,

then I can give you...

I can give you the phone number

for you to contact them

and then, you know,

hopefully they can

get that going for you.

- So, hey, dude.

- Hmm?

Like...

how are you doing?

- Bad.

- Bad?

It just sucks.

Like, the house?

Mm-hmm.

Like, what sucks

about the house?

Almost everything.

There's been times

that there's not enough food,

and I definitely go over

to friends' houses

and eat their food.

But I feel bad for everyone else

who has to stay here

'cause, you know, like,

what are they going to eat?

If you want, you

can go to your friend's

and we won't blame you

or anything.

You should probably

eat there, too.

I don't know.

This is too much

for you, you can go.

Me and Austin aren't

gonna blame you

and we're not gonna be lonely.

OK.

I definitely

worry about them a lot.

I want to take care of them,

but I just can't.

It's so hard.

In Oregon,

and this is mirrored

around the country,

but 26% of the population lives

in a condition of asset poverty.

So that's one out of 4 people.

If you don't have income

for 3 months,

you're going to your friends.

Hopefully you have some friends,

right, or family?

Maybe you don't have family

nearby, or public assistance.

The resiliency cushion...

the resiliency,

economic resiliency

of Oregonians

and, in fact, nationwide is

almost non-existent, really.

We need to pray

that we get our

food stamps next week.

We'll just eat what's in

the cupboards this weekend.

We're just not going

to have any meat.

Will you go to that

food bank tomorrow?

Yeah.

Our kids know

I don't eat during the day.

They ask, "Mom, what'd you

eat for lunch today?"

I didn't eat. "What'd

you eat", you know?

"I wasn't hungry," you know?

"I worked through my lunch. "

I'll make up some excuse.

I just worry about

my mom the most.

She doesn't really get to eat.

I'd rather have

my mom eat than me.

So, you cannot,

cannot forget your lunch.

So if you forget it,

I'll be texting you.

- And you'll get in trouble.

You'll get grounded. - OK.

My daughter...

we had leftovers last night,

and she's like, "No, you need

to take this to work.

You need to eat. "

I was like, "No, no, no.

Don't worry about it. "

So I wake up this morning,

and she had one on the door,

two on the fridge, one on

the cupboard, and then one

on my bedroom door saying,

"Mom, don't forget your lunch.

Don't forget

your lunch. "

Sure enough, I didn't

forget my lunch.

It was the best lunch ever.

I really love my Mom.

The social safety net

has more holes in it.

You have to be

significantly poorer today

to even get in the door, OK,

for them to consider you.

In Oregon, for instance,

a 3-person family

whose income exceeds

$616 for a month

cannot get into the door to be

considered for the TANF program.

That was set in 1991

when our minimum wage

was under $5.00

and it's been frozen

there ever since.

That's a bad budget priority.

It's a bad choice,

and we need to change that.

So are you going to come

to the game tomorrow?

- To where?

- To the game?

Yeah, it's my last game.

Uh! It's in

the Northeast?

It's at Grant.

If I can get the insurance

and stuff on the car

and get, like, a trip permit,

then I'll be down there.

The job interview she

went to, she said that she had killed it.

She said she felt like she killed it

and she ended up not getting the job.

And she was, like, down and she was like,

"I don't know if I'm ever going to get a job again".

And I'm like, "Mom,

you got to do this.

We need you and you're

gonna push through. "

Weren't you invited

to go to Nevada?

- About wrestling?

- Those regionals?

Huh?

No, for nationals.

When is it?

When is Nebraska?

- I have to have my money in by June...

- By June what?

You have to have your money

in by June and how much?

$500.

Oh, my God. How long

you guys gonna be there?

For a week.

Your one goal as a parent is

that your kids do

better than you.

Also, they know

that I went to college.

They know that they have

the ability to go to college.

I do want them to know that

they can achieve more.

This is not it. This is not it.

I told her all the time

that when I get older,

I want to buy her a house.

That's, like,

the American dream for me.

I was like, "I just want

to buy her a house. "

I just want to give her

the world, and I literally do.

She's like Superwoman

on steroids.

If you believe

that wealth trickles down

from the top,

then the only reason

you would help a poor family

is for charity, because

you felt sorry for them.

But there's, I think,

a far more persuasive argument

that you simply have this problem where

no one can afford to buy stuff anymore.

Helping a poor family

isn't an act of charity.

It's converting a family

that you have to support

into a family that can buy

things from your company.

Helping the poor is what

drives the economy.

That's why all

prosperous economies

have big middle classes, right,

that there's a huge return...

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