Reflecting back while looking forward

In 1994, after less than a year at The Associated Press in New York City, I was selected to go to Atlanta to cover the Super Bowl between the Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys. It was quite an honor, especially considering there were far more experienced editors at AP than me at that time. I was so proud of being chosen that I kept my press pass for all of these years.

Even after I left the AP, I was contacted about a year later and asked if I wanted to return. I was flattered. They were offering me a better job than the one I had before. I declined for personal reasons. Soon after, I went to work at USA Today in Northern Virginia -- one of my favorite newspapers in those days. After hopping around a lot for the first 15 years of my career, I figured USA Today could be my last stop -- one of those places one goes to where they earn their gold watch after a quarter of a decade of service. I got my five and 10-year anniversary awards, but fell far short of 25 years.

Career moves came easily for me back then. In my first job out of college, I was promoted into a managerial editing position within my first six months. I was soon on a track to become a publisher in a small chain of newspapers, but I decided I wanted to live in Florida more than I wanted to be a publisher in Virginia. So after a short stint on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, I got a job as sports editor at a small paper south of Miami. I covered the Miami Dolphins and Hurricanes as well as the high school sports scene and professional boxing. Those were good years. Not much pay, but a lot of fun.

It never took me more than a few weeks to find a new job when I was younger. Sometimes they were marginally better jobs, sometimes they were significant leaps. It didn't dawn on me that I would be without work. I was fairly versatile and had a good work ethic that my bosses always seemed to appreciate. And it certainly never crossed my mind that I would be laid off.

Then on December 2008, as readers of this blog know, I was was laid off from USA Today after working there for 13 years. That was quite a shock.

The real harsh surprise for me came in the months following my layoff, when I began to search for work and encountered walls that were never there earlier in my career. I turned to friends and former colleagues, seeing if they could help. This was always a good method of finding work in the past, but not now. The recession wasn't helping, but there also seemed to be other forces working against me. The newspaper business began crumbling. A couple potential employers shockingly held it against me that I had worked at USA Today for so long. The national newspaper and parent company that owns it aren't well-liked within the industry for various reasons. It was guilt by association.

My early days at USA Today were filled with fancy office parties, views of Washington, D.C. from our windows and a pretty good newsroom staff. It was always tough work, but as a third-generation journalist, I was accustomed to the late hours, deadlines and contentious nature of the newsroom.

Here is a picture of me (left) at my first USA Today Christmas party in 1995 with two of my former colleagues who are still at the newspaper -- Dash Parham and Dave Merrill. These parties were very extravagant. The paper was doing well. The booze flowed. The shrimp were large. If you worked in journalism, it was a good place to be. Lots of resources. In fact, USA Today's parent company, Gannett, more or less had a hands-off policy when it came to its flagship newspaper. We enjoyed our independence and did good work. Eventually, Gannett got more involved with USA Today, which led to layoffs at the newspaper most people thought was immune. Read about the bonuses received after those record layoffs.

A lot has changed in the news business and my own career since the mid-1990s when that picture was taken. Essentially, I don't have a career right now. While I feel far from obsolete or incapable, I can't deny that finding work at this age is far different than finding work at 30 years old. There are days when I think back to how easily things flowed, the people I have met, the places I've been. And yet, things are so different now that it often takes my breath away how quickly one can go from cruising along in a modest career to ... well, I will let you fill in the blank.

One of the many lessons that I have learned from this is to never take anything for granted -- not even your own abilities. There is always something lurking out there somewhere waiting to take you down. If it's not a layoff, then it could be an illness. If it's not an illness, it could something else. So it's good to treasure what you have and not get too caught up in the little difficulties of a career, relationships or just everyday life, because when it's prematurely gone, it's awfully hard to rebuild.

Whether or not I get another shot remains to be seen. Whether I work inside or outside of the media, my batteries are recharged. I have a new perspective on work and life. I believe I have more to offer to an employer now than I did when I got laid off. Finding that right fit isn't going to be easy, but if I do I know that the latter years of my career probably will surpass the early days in some profound ways. Job satisfaction, I suspect, will come from other sources that don't necessarily include fat paychecks, free Heinekens and trips to the Super Bowl.

Obama lights up the Patriot Center at GMU

President Obama just finished giving a speech about health-insurance reform at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., just 20 miles from where I live. Whether you agree with Obama or not on this or any issue, you have to admit the guy can deliver a speech.

What struck me about Obama's speech and broad support at GMU's Patriot Center today was that he was speaking to folks who, for the most part, have health-care insurance. Yet, these people nonetheless support efforts to help other citizens who are less fortunate. They don't take the position that just because they can afford insurance others shouldn't have access to medical care. They don't take self-reliance values so far that they are incapable of lending a hand.

While you might not agree with the health-care bill that is being politically debated like no other issue I've seen in my lifetime, you have to respect folks who could easily turn their backs on the needy but don't. I hear too many overly judgmental people in my daily life who think everyone who has fallen from grace somehow did something to deserve being without health care, a job or a home.

I am glad that we have a president who can passionately articulate his views about helping others as he did at GMU today. I rather his beliefs be debated than his basic intelligence or compassion be in doubt. I see some problems with this bill, but I don't see the sky falling if it passes. I refuse to get into the parochial argument of whether or not Obama is maliciously trying to ruin the country.

One way or another, the debate needs to come to an end soon. America is dangerously divided. Other serious problems need to be addressed. If the bill passes, I hope conservatives won't try to do some of the crazy things that have been suggested on talk radio -- like impeaching Congress. If it doesn't pass, I hope the left can move on to other matters and revisit health-care reform later on.

Maybe we need a new "ism"

As the health insurance reform debate comes to a climax this week, you've probably heard the word "socialism" used a lot by conservatives who want to kill the bill. This is meant to scare people into thinking that we are about to lose all of our freedoms and liberties.

Let's get real. Without a reasonable measure of government intervention, and some relinquishing of freedoms, we wouldn't have a country. We'd have no military. Planes would be crashing in our skies on a daily basis. Cars would be spewing deadly emissions into the air and drinking water would be polluted by companies dumping toxic waste into rivers. Highways wouldn't be built and the guy sitting in the cubicle next to you would be blowing cigarette smoke in your face all day long. There would be no space program because there would be no taxes to pay for it. Fewer kids would go to college and there would be no public schools. There would be no laws against murder, rape or stealing or any police to enforce whatever "wild-west" laws might exist. Street drugs would be pouring in from Mexico and folks would be screaming "fire" in crowded movie theaters just for kicks. White-collar crime would be off the charts. Discrimination would be the norm. If your bank failed, your money would not be insured. Get the picture?

Most "isms" don't provide the ultimate answer to a better society. And most "isms" aren't that radically different than others. It's really a matter of degree and who is getting screwed the most under whatever governmental system exists. Frankly, I would rather see the insurance companies taken to the woodshed than have Americans needlessly dying of curable diseases. I don't know what "ism" that belief falls under, but whatever it is, sign me up.

I understand the perception that the government (federal, state or local) doesn't run many things very well. Motor vehicle departments are a mess. The Internal Revenue Service is the poster child for inefficiency. Some cities can't even get the streets plowed after a snowstorm. But to deny millions of people affordable medical care is heartless in a society that as a whole is relatively generous. To watch premiums rise 30 percent annually while insurance companies rack in record profits is absurd even for a country that prides itself on capitalism.

I don't know if what conservatives call "Obama-care" is going to solve more than it damages, but I am reasonably certain that the spirit of the effort is just. I don't see what alternatives conservatives are offering that would prevent people from needlessly suffering and dying. Instead of screaming "socialism," it would be better if conservatives came up with a more understandable, feasible plan of their own -- one that is fiscally responsible but also helps return some sense of fairness to a health-care system that seems to shut out more people each year.

I am willing to let the government lean on greedy insurance companies and perhaps offer less expensive health-care alternatives. We don't have absolute freedom and self-reliance anyway. Never have and never will. Nor do we practice a pure form of capitalism. The government is involved in most things in our society, from checking our food to delivering our mail. Why so many folks are drawing the line in the sand over health care is somewhat surprising, particularly when you consider how many Americans have lost their jobs and insurance since the start of the recession.

Loudoun County is No.1 in wealth

I don't feel like I live in the wealthiest county in America. Yet, Forbes says households here have an income of about $110,000, making it the richest place in the U.S.

Loudoun County, Va., is a nice place. If you live in the populated eastern end, you're less than 30 miles from D.C. If you live farther west, you have views of mountains, wineries and horse farms. Scattered throughout the county are high-end stores, restaurants and major companies.

Two miles from where I live, in a more modest townhouse community, is the Donald Trump Golf Course. It winds its way along the Potomac River. However, two miles in the opposite direction are some low-income housing complexes. A little farther away, across Route 7, lies the community of Sterling Park (not part of Sterling) -- a place known as the home of illegal immigrants, lots of gang activity and rundown homes.

The weather here isn't as nice as La Jolla, Calif. There are no views of the ocean like in Palm Beach County, Fla. You might run into the occasional politician or Washington Redskin football player out and about in Loudoun, but you aren't likely to see any celebrities of note as I did when I lived in the suburbs of New York and occasionally would run into Al Pacino or other famous people.

The beautiful people do not live in Loudoun County, but that's not to say there isn't some old money to the west in horse country. Yes, there is plenty of grooming and lots of fitness gyms here, but no starlets fluttering about at any New Age spas or young guns cruising the boulevard. You will see a lot of luxury cars, but they are usually stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic or driven by people who should have never been granted a license. A vanity plate will on occasion indicate that someone has too big of an ego for these parts. But there are showoffs everywhere. Big fish in little ponds.

Life in Loudoun County is about making money and raising kids. That's its focus. It doesn't attempt to be the tourist capital of the world. It doesn't pretend to be enlightened or artsy like a Santa Fe or San Francisco. It is well educated, a bit arrogant and not the friendliest of places.

Crime is low in Loudoun but taxes are high. On the eastern end there are lots of Arabs and Indians, but few African-Americans. Like most places, there is a mix of Hispanic folks from various countries. It is more of a melting pot than many other affluent areas around the nation.

Dulles International Airport continues to grow, giving the county another boost. New terminals and airport transportation systems are being built. A Metro train rail will connect the airport to downtown D.C. by 2016. Already-high property values are expected to shoot up once that project is completed. Unlike Reagan Airport in D.C., Dulles has international flights. Because there are a lot of foreigners living in Loudoun, the airport is a major convenience when they want to travel. Businesses throughout Northern Virginia benefit from having an international airport. Dulles also has some of the longest security lines in the country.

Unemployment is low in Loudoun. Most of the jobs are in technology-related fields, but of course lots are jobs are tied to the federal government. There are also plenty of service-industry jobs. I am not sure how people working in lower-wage jobs can afford to live here. When I was working at USA Today (12 miles from here in Fairfax County), I needed every penny of my salary to maintain my home, pay my taxes, etc. Now that I've been unemployed for awhile, it's becoming less and less feasible to live in Loudoun. There isn't anywhere in Loudoun to go that would be safe and affordable.

Overall, I like living in Loudoun. After my 9 years here, I'd have to say it's one of the better places I've lived. I hate the traffic. Don't appreciate the rudeness. And I do get worn out by all the kids. But I figure most places have their drawbacks. I like feeling safe in Loudoun. I like living in a place without too much ignorance. I like mountains and rivers and eateries that aren't run by large corporations.

I wish Loudoun had more of a sense of Virginia about it. You're more likely to hear an Indian accent here than you are a southern accent. Of course, you are less likely to see a moonshine bust in Loudoun than you are in Danville, Va., 200 miles south of here. Dental health is generally pretty top-notch in Northern Virginia, too. Kids from Loudoun tend to go to college. That's not the case in say the southwest part of the state.

I don't think most Loudouners think of themselves as living in a highly exclusive area. Greenwich, Conn., has far more snob appeal than Leesburg, a historic town located near the center of Loudoun County. But Loudoun has a sense of livability and convenience that seems to attract folks of means -- folks who would not be as comfortable living in more rural or more urban places. We have our fair share of blue-bloods and residents who feel entitled to, well, everything, but I suspect Beverly Hills has more. As I mentioned, Loudoun is largely about families. And regardless of how much a person earns or how often they go to the tanning salons, you can only be so snobbish when immersed in raising kids. By the way, Loudoun has one of the highest rates of multiple-kid families in the country.

Unfortunately, growth has also made Loudoun less desirable to folks wanting more elbow room. Like the other D.C. suburbs, sprawl is becoming a problem here. The infrastructure is not in place to handle all the new subdivisions. Schools are constantly being built to keep up with the growth rate, therefore taxes go up each year. Some older people without kids are beginning to move away, tired of paying for schools that don't benefit them directly. County leaders can't seem to say no to any developer. As a result, some of the charm of Loudoun County has disappeared.

I like that I don't have to go far to get almost anything I need. Sure, if I want great crab cakes, I still need to drive the hour or so to Baltimore. If I want world-class museums, I need to go to Washington. But from Loudoun, those places are accessible. Loudoun has nice parks, a decent mall, good medical care and some of the best wineries on the East Coast. We even have not one, but two Wegman's food stores. Many universities have satellite campuses here. There are still quaint towns like Waterford and Middleburg that are nice to visit for the day. And parents rave about the public school system.

I am sure there are glitzier places that would appear to be wealthier than Loudoun. I know there are friendlier places and states and counties with nicer weather and lighter traffic. Loudoun County is very good at providing for the upper-middle class. And as long as you have a good job and can tolerate an area that seems to have more than its fair share of Type A personalities, life in Loudoun is very doable.

With that said, I think Loudoun needs to pay more attention to quality-of-life issues and not shut out the middle and lower-middle class folks who want to live here. School teachers, police and county government workers should be able to afford to live in the county they provide services to. This should not become a county just for members of the Trump country club. Too many businesses in Loudoun still underpay their employees. A lot of the money made by Loudoun residents comes from D.C. and surrounding counties in Virginia and Maryland. Salaries in a place like Leesburg are still relatively low compared to salaries in McLean, just 20 miles away in Fairfax County. One of the reasons why traffic is so bad in Loudoun -- and why people are so cranky here -- is because they have to commute to get the big bucks to afford homes and taxes.

If I have to leave Loudoun this year because of not being able to find a job, I will be disappointed but not entirely devastated. Loudoun isn't a warm and fuzzy place. It's a functional county but not one that creates a lot of sentimental feelings. I personally don't know of any adult who grew up here. Few people have roots in Loudoun. Most of Loudoun's growth happened in the last 15 years. So there are people from all over the world who now call this home, but they don't really have any serious attachments to the area.

Still, I would rather stay than be forced to leave. Living here is a mixed bag, but it's more good than bad.

Yeah, we're No. 1 in household income. We have lots of new buildings, some scenic vistas to the west, lots of college-educated people. Whether Loudoun has a soul remains to be seen. Whether or not people who want to stay or move here can afford to do so also remains to be seen. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am wary of anything that gets too big or is ranked too high. There is only one place to go once you've reached the top.

Read more about Loudoun's No.1 ranking.

Tearing down old memories in the Bronx

You won't see the old Yankee Stadium imploding. Using dynamite to bring down large structures is not permitted in New York City. So the stadium, which holds many good memories for me, is being ripped apart piece by piece. Slowly. Painfully. It will be completely gone by June. Yes, I do see the potential metaphors...

Across the street lies the new Yankee Stadium, which debuted last year when the Yankees won the championship. I haven't been to the new stadium. Frankly, I didn't want to see the remnants of the abandoned old House that Ruth Built -- didn't want to see anymore reminders of what no longer exists. But I hear the new stadium is spectacular, so I hope to eventually make the trek up I-95 to the homeland to see it. It won't be the same, but few things remain constant in life. Baseball stadiums are no exception. Watch video.

Feeling fatigued from too much Toyota news

My daughter drives a Toyota. I recommended the brand and went with her to buy the car a few years ago. She likes her car. It's not one of the recalled models, but obviously I have had some concerns because of the safety problems being reported.

If you have similar worries about Toyota read this. Essentially, the writer of this article does the math and the math indicates that the chances of having a runaway Toyota are pretty darn low. He also gets into why we are afraid of so many things that don't pose any overwhelming threat.

This doesn't mean that as a father I have no worries about my daughter's Corolla. I wish Toyota would have paid more attention to safety and less attention to the bottom line in recent years. I don't want to let the car company off the hook, nor do I want to ignore a country (Japan) that is so pro-business that it hasn't yet recalled a single Toyota in its homeland. But I also think that Americans are overly jittery about far too many things lately. Heck, we mentally fall apart, close schools and shut down the government whenever a snowflake falls from the sky. The risk of slipping in the snow seems to overwhelm us.

There are risks in life. I don't believe companies should knowingly create and lie about those risks like cigarette manufacturers have done for decades. We need consumer advocates and government regulators to expose and police companies that have bad intentions or cut too many corners. I am glad Toyota's over-the-top ambitions and greed have been exposed. However, I don't think this particular story deserves the media attention it has received. I don't think we need another thing to be overly anxious about.

There are plenty of things in life that fail far more frequently and have dire consequences when they do. Politicians fail us every day in profound ways that lead to recessions. Toyota cars aren't creating the infections in hospitals that kill tens of thousands of relatively healthy people each year. Camrys aren't wiping out the rain forest. We have convicted pedophiles living in our neighborhoods. We barely give any attention to the food we ingest or the factory farms that create it. Yet, we're obsessing about Toyota?

As the author of the column writes, the problem could lie in the software of these runaway cars. We are relying way too much on technology, in my opinion. It's seeping into everything. Frankly, I want to make the decisions on how my car drives, handles and brakes. I don't want a computer telling the engine when to accelerate or steering mechanisms how to turn.

Perhaps one good thing that might come from these Toyota headlines is that technology needs to be managed better. Just because something is new and shows potential doesn't mean it's ready to go to market or will ultimately improve the quality of our lives.

Missing the old Greenberry's cell-free zone

Greenberry's Coffee & Tea Company started in Charlottesville, Va. Now there are franchises throughout the commonwealth and a few in neighboring states.

I hadn't been to the Greenberry's in Reston in months. But today I was in area and wanted to have a good cup of coffee before going home. In addition, I wanted some quiet -- something not associated with Starbucks and other large franchises.

I was disappointed to see that this particular Greenberry's no longer frowns upon cellphone use. And sure enough, a woman was chatting up a storm on her phone, oblivious to everyone around her.

Seems there are few places left where cellphones aren't permitted. That's unfortunate. Cellphones deter the opportunity one might have to start a face-to-face conversation with another patron. While these devices connect us in one way, they separate and isolate us in other ways.

I understand Greenberry's relaxing its store policy from a business standpoint, but I still think it's a shame on a more profound, cultural level.

Rejection a tough pill to swallow

"We will retain your candidate file in our database and may inform you of job openings that match your profile. We also invite you to visit the career section on our Web site regularly."

When I am lucky enough to receive the courtesy of a rejection letter from a potential employer, those are the words that the note often ends with. I guess it's an HR thing.

I have come to realize that those words are fairly empty. I've applied to companies and universities multiple times, for a wide variety of jobs, only to receive the same rejection letter or no reply at all. One local university that I won't name claims it is a champion of hiring mid and late-career professionals such as myself, yet I can't even get a phone interview for jobs that I am qualified for according to the requirements listed in the postings.

Rejection is rejection, I suppose. There aren't too many nice ways to tell someone they don't even merit a call. Still, I rather receive a rejection letter than to be left hanging. I would estimate that close 90 percent of employers don't respond to job applicants at all these days. I believe this is unprofessional and will come back to bite these employers if the economy improves. With almost everything being done electronically, it wouldn't take much effort for companies to automate their response systems so that applicants are left wondering if their applications were even received.

Most employers claim they are so swamped with applications that they can't respond to everyone who they reject. From my experience of dealing with well over 300 companies in the last 15 months, the employers receiving the most applications seem to be in areas like parts of Virginia, where unemployment rates are relatively low. A modest job opening here could produce hundreds of applications from all over the country. Thousands if the job is a higher paying one.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I recently talked to an employer in west Texas. She said her company, which is in a sparsely populated area, is actually having trouble filling jobs because of the lack of applicants. Seems most folks looking for work are focusing on the more cosmopolitan areas and better quality-of-life places.

It would be risky to relocate to an area where job opportunities are few. Even if someone were to secure a job in place like west Texas, there would be an uneasy feeling knowing that if that particular job or company were to eventually downsize or disappear, there would be no other options for work in that vicinity. You'd most likely have to relocate again, assuming you could afford to do so. It could get expensive hopping from state to state.

However, being in an area like northern Virginia also means intense competition for every job opening. Some employers have mentioned to me how wonderful it is having such a vast talent pool to recruit from in this part of the country. Yet for every super-talented person who is hired, there are a bunch of almost-equally qualified people who are rejected - intelligent people who in any other time in the last three decades would have been snatched up quickly by employers.

Being rejected month in and month out is a tough pill to swallow. Life's rejections usually come in smaller doses and sudden spurts, then it's over for awhile. A girlfriend dumps you. A bank turns you down for a car loan. You move on. For unemployed people who are desperately looking for work, rejection is an everyday occurrence. It has to be processed and managed without doing significant long-term damage to one's spirit. Unemployed people aren't just dealing with not earning a paycheck. They are coping with solitude, self-worth issues and a general feeling of being invisible. Society swirls around them, but they remain inside an eerie bubble that is clouded, disturbingly silent and alienating. Once proud and in possession of solid work ethics, they continually search for a way out.

The real numbers tell the real story

There are six people looking for work for every one job that's available... There are some communities where unemployment rates are around 50 percent... About 11 million jobs are needed to get everyone back to work... About 100,000 new people enter the job market each month, mostly after graduating from high school or college.

If you're unaware of the magnitude of the unemployment crisis, you have chosen not to pay attention for whatever reasons or have convinced yourself that you are immune to losing your job and/or wealth.

These are daunting numbers that still haven't received the attention they deserve. In places where unemployment rates are relatively low, you would almost think there is no recession. I live in one of those places where people can't see beyond their own inner circles of employed friends.

As many observers have noted, the Democrats are blowing it by obsessively focusing on health care rather than the economy. And the Republicans don't have enough of compassion to focus on any real solutions to either health care or unemployment. They're too busy trying to tear down President Obama.

Read more about this from a New York Times columnist.

So where do we go from here? Does unemployment need to spread like a virus, penetrating even the wealthiest neighborhoods and the most bullet-proof businesses before it is addressed in a more urgent and intelligent manner?

It makes me cringe when I hear people throwing around statistics that they twist into evidence of recent improvements in the job market. There is virtually no improvement. There are only people like myself falling off the radar because we're no longer on the official unemployment rolls because our benefits have run out, making it appear as if there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Do I know of some people who have found work recently? Sure. But for every one who found work that means five other people didn't. Even if you are a hard-nosed cynic and want to believe that one of those five don't want to work or have never held a steady job, that still leaves four other well-intentioned, well-qualified folks without much hope. There are countless reasons why this can't be sustained forever without a total collapse in our economy and society.

We're in the eye of the hurricane. There is a false sense of calming, like the storm has passed. But the numbers indicate that we haven't seen the worst of times yet. Just as Americans rallied to win world wars, we need to rally our efforts to fortify the economy before its too late.

Why I may never vote Republican again

It doesn't happen often in my mature years, but every once in awhile I want to punch some arrogant politician in the face -- if not literally, then figuratively.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is the latest moron without a clue as to what he's talking about. Delay says people are unemployed because they want to be. Read about it here.

I would love to invite Mr. DeLay to my modest home and show him my Excel files on my computer with hundreds of jobs that I've applied to since being laid off from USA Today in December 2008. I would love to show him how little food is in my fridge, my lawnmower that won't start and my dishwasher that has been turned off for over a year because I can't afford to have it fixed. My thermostat is on 64. My socks have holes in them. And my pride has been blown to pieces.

I would love to show Mr. DeLay my credentials in order to make my case that for 29 years I was a responsible employee who earned his way up to larger companies, building an admirable career in journalism, learning new skills with each job, and embracing technology. I would enjoy telling him how I worked on my college newspaper and interned at the local television station while other people were partying, and how I am a third-generation journalist with ink in his blood, not a bum sitting on the corner drinking ripple wine.

If Mr. DeLay could produce a job in the area where I live, which paid even 60 percent of what I previously earned, I would take it. I would even consider relocating in order to work. But I doubt this Republican has any clue about the predicament I am in, the efforts I've made and the crushing disappointments I've experienced, nor cares. I am beginning to regret ever having voted Republican in my life. After the recent cold and uninformed comments about jobless people from DeLay, Pat Buchanan and Jim Bunning, I might never vote Republican again.

Wonder if Mr. DeLay knows what it feels like to interview for a job over the phone for 90 minutes and then never hear back from that potential employer? Wonder if Mr. DeLay realizes that I and millions like me spend 4-10 hours a day, seven days a week, looking for work, filling out sometimes complex online applications, networking and making cold calls?

If politicians like DeLay want to do something constructive, how about enforcing age-discrimination laws that are openly being broken by numerous companies. That might help improve the job-hunting chances of qualified folks 50 and older.

Right now, I am fighting against a recession, a dying industry (journalism) and blatant age discrimination. I apply to hundreds of jobs that I am 100 percent qualified for, Mr. DeLay, yet rarely get a reply, even though I usually state that I am not looking to exceed or even match my previous salary. Sadly, as my unemployment payments appear to have run out, I have to choose between selling my house this year so I can afford to accept a minimum-wage job or freelance work, or exhausting my remaining savings while I continue my search for a position that will enable me to maintain my modest lifestyle. This is reality and not as easy a choice as some people throwing stones seem to think it should be.

Mr. DeLay, does this sound like someone who doesn't want to work? Yeah, it's my personal story of the last 15 months, but it's also the story of many other people my age. I suggest you and other politicians who are prone to stereotyping unemployed people leave your gated communities and plush offices in Washington and start talking to guys like me -- guys who have busted their butts for decades, only to be treated like unwanted garbage by people like you. Many of us lost our jobs for less than honest or legitimate reasons. The layoffs of this recession were driven by some companies wanting to clear their payrolls of older workers. Now we're faced with criticism for not being able to find new jobs? Unbelievable.

Sen. Bunning was not "brave" in his recent attack on jobless Americans. That undignified attack wasn't about fiscal responsibility. You two are apparently cut from the same cloth -- talking in code, out of touch with realities of today. You are selling something to your conservative base, the ones who can't think for themselves, that is not honorable or true. Ironically, with your cold tactics and idiotic comments, you are doing more damage to your party than are the Democrats.

I am fiercely independent and weigh each issue on its on merits. I wish there was a political party that spent money wisely, but also protected the environment -- was pragmatic, yet compassionate. For whatever reason, it seems politicians can't support the protection of wolves yet also be tough on crime. I have never understood this. If it was up to Republicans, there would still be smoking in restaurants in Virginia, but we might not have the ridiculous car tax. Republicans want no regulations, but Democrats want to regulate everything. Where's the balance?

After these last several weeks, I doubt I will be supporting anymore Republicans for awhile. I live in a state where Republicans have turned down federal assistance for unemployed people. I've seen what a lack of regulations/funding leads to. And while I still believe Ronald Reagan was the perfect president for the time, I think we live in a very different era now. This recession is different than the last. The unemployment problem alone has taken on a unique form. We need less of Tom DeLay and Jim Bunning, and more politicians who can listen and not simply make ignorant assumptions.