I love football. I will start out by saying that I am a huge football fan. My two teams are the Wisconsin Badgers and the Green Bay Packers. I try not to miss a game. It is easier to get the Badger games here in Florida than the Packers but we can always go to Lambeau South at Parrot Key if the game is not covered on local TV. I have been able to watch three of the greatest quarterbacks to play the game, Bart Star, Brett Favre, and Aaron Rodgers. That being said one of them should now be in everyone’s Hall of Shame. That person is Brett Favre. The man is probably not the richest person in the State of Mississippi but I would bet that he is in the 1%. He took 1.1 million dollars for speaking engagements that he never gave and he asked for the State of Mississippi to divert 5 million dollars to build a new volleyball complex at his alma mater which is the University of Southern Mississippi. Now a person should never take money for services that are not provided, under any circumstances, but when that money is suppose to help the needy that is just plain wrong. The money that went to the University of Southern Mississippi was also supposed to go to helping the poor. Helping a volleyball program is not helping the poor. He also helped divert money to a Pharmaceutical Company that he has a stake in. Bret Favre was more concerned that people would find out where the money was coming form than what the money was actually meant to do. I don’t swear a lot on this blog but I will say what an Ass. Again this money was earmarked to help that poor but instead in was used to help the rich, in this case Brett Favre.

I remember when the entire country, let alone the entire sports world, went after Michael Vick with a vengeance when he was part of a Dog Fighting ring. The man went to jail and then he had to serve a suspension from the NFL for a period of time. His once promising carrier was ruined. Why is Brett
Favre not a bigger story than what it is? The Poor, the disadvantaged, these are people that he helped cheat. These are people that will never have a way of holding him accountable. It is people like us and the press that has to make sure everyone in this scandal is held accountable. The Michael Vick story was everywhere. Not only on ESPN and other major sports networks but it was on every major News Network under the sun from Good Morning America to MSNBC. Mike and Mike on ESPN went after him with a vengeance.  I will ask again. Why is this not a bigger story? Do we value the life of our pets that much more than the lives of the poor? Where is Dan Le Bebtard when we need him?

People that follow me on Facebook and Twitter know that I am a huge dog fan. The face on my twitter account is that of my Springer Spaniel Zoe. I know firsthand what a dog brings to a household. I had a Heart attack and spent 19 days in the ICU and then 2 more weeks in a rehab facility. I will tell you I was really in bad shape. When I came home Zoe thought it was her job to make sure I was doing ok. For months she never left my side. I would be very upset if anything happened to her so yes, people that abuse dogs should be put in jail. That does not mean what the State of Mississippi did and Brett Favre stealing money that was earmarked for the poor should not upset me just as much. People that steal money that is supposed to be going to the poor should also be going to jail.  It is great to value our pet’s lives but we must also value the lives of the poor that money was supposed to help.

The problem is an old one in America. We love to demonize the poor. We love to say “they are poor because they are lazy”, that “they lack the drive to pull themselves out of the gutter”. “It is their fault for where they are in life”. That is what Paul Ryan said isn’t it? It couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that for too many that deck is just too stacked against them. Of course racism and bigotry have nothing to do with the problem. If you believe that I have some swamp land I would like to sell you. Where I live the average price for a rental is 1,900 dollars. 2 percent of the rentals are between 700 -1000 dollars, 13percent of the rentals are between 1,000-1,500 dollars, 45 percent of the rentals are between 1,500-2,000 dollars and 40 Percent are above 2,000 dollars a month. If a person is paid $15.00 dollars an hour half or more of what they earn could be going just to rent. Now, there are still a ton of jobs in Florida that make far less than 15.00 an hour. In many cases they just make minimum wage. Can you imagine for the poor family to try and make ends meet here in Ft. Myers. 10 percent of the population in Ft. Myers makes $9.00 dollars an hour or less with another 25 percent making less than $13.00 dollars an hour or less. These figures are from 2021. That is not a lot of money to live on when the price of rent is what it is. Our Governor DeSantis is dead set against the Minimum wage being raised. The system is stacked against the poor. When 10 percent of your jobs are paying under 9 dollars and hour then 10 percent of your workforce will be working at or just above minimum wage. You can’t just tell them to go and get a better job. How do they go about it? How do they acquire new skills? Where are the jobs that pay better available? The answer from our government should not be that is not their problem.

Great leadership lifts people up not keep people down. That is what is really lacking in the Republican Party here in Florida, great leadership.  We are so worried at times that someone may get more than the rest of us that we work hard to make sure they get less.

 

Average Rent in Fort Myers & Rent Prices by Neighborhood - RentCafe

Average Salary and Minimum Wage in Fort Myers, FL - Zippia