News of possible government shutdown dominates the headlines on CNN's website.
News of the possible government shutdown dominates the headlines on CNN.com tonight as the deadline to pass a budget looms less than 24 hours away. The inability of Congress to resolve this impasse has far-reaching implications. Unfortunately, it has the potential to reach right into our wallet and bank account as federal workers would be furloughed for an undetermined amount of time until a spending plan is approved. As you would imagine, this would strain an already tight budget – not just for our family, but thousands across the US.
The ramifications of a furlough have been weighing heavily on my mind the past couple of days. Tonight, I decided to take a mental vacation and set my time machine to 1986 when rock stars with big hair, tight jeans and cowboy boots ruled my world. No mortgages, maintenance fees, association dues, utility or grocery bills to worry about. As long as I had enough money to buy Bon Jovi’s new album, all was right in the world.
Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer” came into rotation on my iTunes playlist and seemed uncannily appropriate. The lyrics speak of a young couple, working class Americans down on their luck. Tommy is a dock worker on strike and they’re living on Gina’s income as a waitress in a diner. And so the anthem goes:
…
She says, we’ve got to hold on to what we’ve got.
It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not.
We’ve got each other and that’s a lot for love.
We’ll give it a shot.
We’re halfway there,
Livin’ on a prayer.
Take my hand, we’ll make it, I swear.
Livin’ on a prayer.
…
Listening to Jon Bon Jovi belt out those lyrics makes me feel like I can overcome anything. If you’ve got love, nothing else matters. If only that were true in reality, but it was nice to let myself believe it for 4 minutes and 9 seconds. And now you can too. I’ve embedded the video below. Enjoy. 
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2 Responses to Living on a Prayer
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Hi Donna, at this time my job at Head Start has been facing this crisis since we heard about it in Feb. We were mostly concerned with the federal cut that we would receive, not this looming shutdown. If a shutdown, we might be put on furlough till heaven knows when. From what I heard, we can volunteer our time until this problem is over with and receive back pay when Washington finally comes to their decision. Than comes a big worry on how much of a cut their giving head start & if they’ll be laying off teachers, or shutting down sites, or pay cuts & benefit cuts.
Donna, please send out a prayer for the Nation & for the children that will be going though this problem. xo
praying that they find some kind of resolution this week…dont you think they’d start negotiations earlier instead of playing with peoples emotions!?!
sonya´s last [type] ..so much for WordlessWednesday