At the state and federal level, programs that help the poor, the sick and the elderly are being slashed, as is education, which was supposed to put all people on a level playing field. Of course, that hasn’t been the case, as schools in wealthy towns were able to fund their schools better.

But now everyone is affected as class sizes increase and teacher aides, custodians and administrators are laid off. Money for new buildings and upkeep of older buildings is disappearing, and it will be all of us who suffer as children don’t get the education they need.

Education has been under attack for 30 years as legislatures have cut spending and standardized testing has increased. Teachers have little or no time to be creative or to help students develop critical thinking skills. And people with a lack of critical thinking skills are much easier to convince they should vote against their own best interests.

Too many Americans really think we can’t pay for education, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. I call it the politics of scarcity, and it’s wrong.

We are not broke.

Legislators in Raliegh, in other state capitols and in Washington have chosen to make these cuts. They have slashed taxes on the people who can most afford to pay. They call them the “job creators,” but there are no jobs. US corporations are sitting on a nearly $2 trillion surplus that they’re not investing back into the economy.

Legilsators can choose to raise taxes on the wealthy and leave the social safety net in place. Instead they have chosen to cut taxes and let the nation’s most vulnerable drop through what’s left of the net.

This was a choice. It was not the choice most Americans wanted. The majority of people in the United States don’t want Medicaid, Medicare or Social Security touched; they don’t want our children’s education compromised by injudicious cuts.

But our legislators have chosen to ignore the will of the people.

Don’t forget this come election time.

After all, we have a choice, too.