Rushing's Ramblings

In my early 20s, I was easily impressed and wanted all the trappings of success. I was a college student, working nights while attending classes during the day and poor as a church mouse. I needed incentive to continue with an exhausting schedule. As I was heading to class after working all night, I saw a woman driving a Mercedes. On her lap was a beautiful dog hanging outside her window, capturing air in his mouth while his long, white hair was blowing in the wind. That image propelled me to finish a third degree and enter into a career that would enable me to afford a Mercedes and a Maltese. While I never became wealthy, I did all right and eventually enjoyed several Maltese dogs and one Mercedes. After owning the Mercedes for 10 years, a boyfriend coveted it, so I sold it to him for a handsome price. My last two dogs have been mixed breeds. I haven't been interested in appearing wealthy for years and happily drove a 2012 Prius until recently. Not surprisingly, my first dog as an...

Living in a small town where wealthy white Republicans outnumber those with modest means and left-leaning folks can be challenging.  I was recently elected to the POA board that represents 7700 property owners.  About 2500 residents live here full-time, with the majority using their homes as second and third vacation homes. The average age in my town is around 75. There were approximately 110 Democratic voters in the most recent Primary and almost 700 Republican voters, so you might say that those of us with like minds are significantly outnumbered. Let's face it, I'm a minority. It's a label I wear proudly. I am the Llano County Democratic Party Chair and consider my Republican counterpart a friend. We became friends after attending an 8-week "Citizen's Academy" course hosted by our city government. He's also a good friend of some Democrats I know who live here. As an outgoing personality and retired attorney, I'm confident he has his sights on hi...

On the last day of the eighth grade, my niece, Andrea, ran across the street from her house to jump on the neighbor's brand-new trampoline. Andrea could already imagine spending many summer days trying to reach the clouds with each jump. After one of those high bounces, something terrible went wrong. As Andrea returned from the high in the air, she didn't land on the stretched polypropylene mat of the trampoline but fell hard on the metal frame. Her leg was broken in two places and required a cast extending from her thigh to her foot. That fall on the trampoline ended her summer dreams of running through the neighborhood, playing softball, water skiing, and jumping. My brother, Tim, worked on the railroad during this period of his life. He was scheduled to work that eventful day but called to tell them he was taking the day off because his daughter had been injured. While playing with a train set as a kid was unending hours of fun, working on freight trains is often grueling. L...

We have two goals for our county Democratic party: (1) To get the Democrats out to vote and (2) To identify, recruit, train, and support individuals to run for local, state, county, and national elections. Living in one of the reddest and most rural counties in the country is a tremendous challenge. Some might ask, "Why are you beating your head against the wall?" But my question is, "How can I not keep trying when I'm so passionately opposed to everything the president and Congress are perpetrating on the most vulnerable of our society?" I keep doing it. I'm doing it for those who don't have a voice. I'm doing it for my grandchildren. I'm doing it for those who have no idea how the current policies and laws being passed will eventually negatively impact them––all while they're chanting "Make America Great Again." Yes, I'm doing it even for them. I've been warned by one of the leaders of my community, a former Obama supp...

I resigned from a lucrative gig today. It involved reviewing medical records and writing letters to appeal denials of claims on behalf of a hospital. This has been a two-month arduous ordeal. While it paid handsomely, be barriers from the part-time employment process to getting access to the medical records I would be reviewing with every twist and turn. I'm limited in technological knowledge if their instructions and organization are not adequately developed or don't want to do the work. It's all of it. The ongoing frustration of dealing with it became too much. Sometimes, whatever financial or intellectual rewards you receive aren't worth the hassle. At this stage in my life, I don't need it. My life in the past 18 months has turned into sheer chaos. I was propelled into political activism by the presidential election in 2016. Even before that time, I had participated in caucuses in Washington. I had high hopes our country would continue on a course of compassion ...

Yesterday, a friend, who had recently read my book, called me a "risk-taker."  I thought about that label for about half a minute and knew he was spot-on. Immediately, I began to recall my solo trips to large cities when I was much younger and as clueless about my safety as I am now. The streets of Manhattan were well-known to me in my 30's and 40's. It wasn't unusual to enjoy a late dinner with colleagues and walk ten blocks or so to my hotel––by myself. For over a decade, there were cities all over this country and Europe where I would behave similarly, but I was young and foolish. I continue to be a risk-taker. Recently, I organized a march for gun reform in the town of Llano. Llano is the deer hunting capital of the world. Gun lovers hate liberals because they fear we're out to take away their guns. Heaven-forbid if bump stocks are ripped away from the cold hands of the average hunter. After all, they are a must for killing deer, especially if you...

While we were being distracted by the atrocities at the border and the upcoming trade wars (to name a few of the distractions), Congress is moving forward with draconian cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.  One of the "options" in their budget bill is to privatize Medicare. As someone with her entire career spent in healthcare, it is my experience that the patient will lose financially and healthwise if Medicare is privatized. Insurance companies will deny care for whatever reason they can invent.  If the insurance claim is rejected after the patient has received care, they will be billed, and if they don't pay, the provider will sue. After all, they're in the business to make money, not pay insurance claims if they can avoid it.  Medicaid provides services to the disabled and elderly, including nursing home care. All these benefits are being reduced or eliminated to pay for the tax cuts, which have been MOST beneficial to the 1%. You may have enough assets to pay $50...