{"id":5122,"date":"2012-12-12T21:15:34","date_gmt":"2012-12-13T02:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/verastic.com\/?p=5122"},"modified":"2012-12-14T16:54:46","modified_gmt":"2012-12-14T21:54:46","slug":"whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html","title":{"rendered":"Whose Mouth Will You Have To Stop Feeding?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Yours? Or someone else\u2019s?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

You may be one of those people who tune into stations like CNN and MSNBC only accidently, and when you do, the first thing you notice is that your television has a lot of pixels. My, the clarity! And that the lady giving the news is kind of pretty. Look at the fullness of her lips. And that the man next to her is a sharp dresser. Where did he get that suit from?<\/p>\n

And while you ponder all these very important things, your right ear might overhear \u2013 also accidentally \u2013 something about a cliff<\/em>. Someone fell off a cliff? Oh, a fiscal<\/em> cliff. Whatever that may be, it sounds like it\u2019s related to money. And it\u2019s something that Obama and those government people have to worry about. Oh, but wait, you have to switch back to your other channel. Access Hollywood is coming on. That Lindsey girl needs to stop acting crazy.<\/p>\n

To have it be just a government problem would probably make a lot of people very, very happy, but it isn\u2019t. It\u2019s a you-and-me problem. If the Lord tarries, and we make it to January 1st<\/sup> 2013, that would be a blessing. But if President Barack Obama and the congress fail to reach an agreement on how to avoid this fiscal cliff, we will start the New Year off with a brand new problem. And we all need that like the beach needs sand.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Contrary to what our Nigerian and African minds might tell us, the fiscal cliff is not just an American problem, something that only actual Americans have to deal with. If you live in America, if you depend on someone who lives in America, and\/or if you receive any kind of benefit because of the existence of this America, then you ought to be worried.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, I was privileged to be on a conference call organized by the Cameroon American Council, with several other Africans and with Kevin Lewis, White House Media Director of African American Affairs, and we discussed the fiscal cliff. According to Kevin Lewis, both the democrats and the republicans want to extend the tax cuts and avoid the fiscal cliff; the difference is that the democrats want to extend the tax cuts only for the middle class people, while the republicans want it for everyone, including the top two percent wealthy people \u2013 those making more than $250,000 per year. This, also according to Kevin Lewis, is proof that the republicans are holding our pockets hostage.<\/p>\n

So you must be wondering, what exactly is the big deal about this fiscal cliff? And why am I interrupting Access Hollywood to discuss this? Well, if the fiscal cliff is reached, several things are sure to happen:<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> \u00a0In addition to what you already pay in taxes, you will also pay an additional $2000 per year. That\u2019s about $166 per month. What could you have done with this money? Send it to mom in Nigeria? Pay a utility bill? Pay for your son\u2019s football gears? Help out your favorite charity? Your niece\u2019s school fees in Nigeria?<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> \u00a0Those little perks you currently enjoy, you may no longer be able to afford. Like going on a vacation, like buying a new gadget, and like upgrading your house.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> \u00a0Funding for programs and institutes like NIH (National Institute of Health) will be cut. NIH is one of the few federal agencies that hire immigrants, even if they are not citizens. With their funding cut, you are less likely to get a job there, and if you are already there, it may not be for too long.<\/p>\n

4.<\/strong> \u00a0Funding to cancer and HIV research will also be cut, among other things. And did you know that in Washington D.C. alone, Nigerians are the second largest HIV-infected group? Cameroon is number one, and Ethiopia is number three.<\/p>\n

5.<\/strong> \u00a0Non-profit organizations like Cameroon American Council will lose some funds, and that means that the work they are able to do will be drastically cut, too.<\/p>\n

6.<\/strong> \u00a0Critical programs like Medicare and Welfare will lose funding, and some might even be totally eliminated.<\/p>\n

So what do you do now? There are several things actually:<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> \u00a0Call your congress representatives and tell them that you do not want the Bush tax cuts to be extended to everyone. Certain States\u2019 congress representatives like Rep. Chris Gibson of New York, Rep. Jim Morgan of Virginia, Rep. Dan Webster of Florida, and much more are yet to sign for this. If you are in a State where your representative is still holding your future hostage, make your voice heard. Check http:\/\/call.theaction.org\/members<\/a> to see if you need to call your congress person, and if you do, his\/her number is also available on this site.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> \u00a0Sign the petition of African immigrants to the US Congress on www.change.org<\/a>\u00a0[direct link HERE<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> \u00a0Spread the word in person. Do it at home, at work, and in church. Did you know that the Redeemed Christian Church of God has almost 600 churches in America, 40 of which are in Maryland alone?<\/p>\n

4.<\/strong> \u00a0Spread the word in virtual communities. On Facebook, on Twitter, and on all other social networks. On Twitter, there is a hash tag that you should use and follow: #My2K<\/p>\n

While it may all seem tiresome and overwhelming, I cannot help but remember a quote that never fails to encourage me, \u201cStart where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.\u201d<\/em> And let\u2019s hope that all our mouths get fed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yours? Or someone else\u2019s? You may be one of those people who tune into stations like CNN and MSNBC only accidently, and when you do, the first thing you notice is that your television has a lot of pixels. My, the clarity! And that the lady giving the news is kind of pretty. Look atRead More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_14738191_14738191":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[315],"tags":[367,403,609,604,606,583,603,607,605,610,608],"class_list":["post-5122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-write-ups","tag-america","tag-barack-obama","tag-democrats","tag-economy","tag-economy-recovery","tag-election-2012","tag-fiscal-cliff","tag-recession","tag-recovery","tag-republicans","tag-white-house","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhose Mouth Will You Have To Stop Feeding? - Verastic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Vera Ezimora\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html\",\"name\":\"Whose Mouth Will You Have To Stop Feeding? - Verastic\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Obama-Fiscal-Cliff.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-12-13T02:15:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-12-14T21:54:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/2c1b7969fbea03a45b97d54a5228cc1a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Obama-Fiscal-Cliff.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Obama-Fiscal-Cliff.jpg\",\"width\":503,\"height\":335},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Whose Mouth Will You Have To Stop Feeding?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/\",\"name\":\"Verastic\",\"description\":\"Recklessly authentic.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/2c1b7969fbea03a45b97d54a5228cc1a\",\"name\":\"Vera Ezimora\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f6c1e19c23a08351aab97f35d3ca650f0b87e7e96937f85baf0faf6e0834bc51?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f6c1e19c23a08351aab97f35d3ca650f0b87e7e96937f85baf0faf6e0834bc51?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Vera Ezimora\"},\"description\":\"I mean, I'm a lot of things - a Writer, Blogger, Speaker, Vlogger, Content Creator, Storyteller, Truth-Sayer, Milk-Lover, Yogurt-Addict, Entrepreneur, Daughter, Wife, Mom, & Nwa Jesu. Nigerian girl with Russian roots and future mommy of confusingly identical twin boys.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/verastic.com\",\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/verastic\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/verastic\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/author\/vera\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Whose Mouth Will You Have To Stop Feeding? - Verastic","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Vera Ezimora","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html","url":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html","name":"Whose Mouth Will You Have To Stop Feeding? - Verastic","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Obama-Fiscal-Cliff.jpg","datePublished":"2012-12-13T02:15:34+00:00","dateModified":"2012-12-14T21:54:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/2c1b7969fbea03a45b97d54a5228cc1a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Obama-Fiscal-Cliff.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Obama-Fiscal-Cliff.jpg","width":503,"height":335},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/write-ups\/whose-mouth-will-you-have-to-stop-feeding.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Whose Mouth Will You Have To Stop Feeding?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#website","url":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/","name":"Verastic","description":"Recklessly authentic.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/2c1b7969fbea03a45b97d54a5228cc1a","name":"Vera Ezimora","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f6c1e19c23a08351aab97f35d3ca650f0b87e7e96937f85baf0faf6e0834bc51?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f6c1e19c23a08351aab97f35d3ca650f0b87e7e96937f85baf0faf6e0834bc51?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Vera Ezimora"},"description":"I mean, I'm a lot of things - a Writer, Blogger, Speaker, Vlogger, Content Creator, Storyteller, Truth-Sayer, Milk-Lover, Yogurt-Addict, Entrepreneur, Daughter, Wife, Mom, & Nwa Jesu. Nigerian girl with Russian roots and future mommy of confusingly identical twin boys.","sameAs":["http:\/\/verastic.com","http:\/\/facebook.com\/verastic","https:\/\/x.com\/verastic"],"url":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/author\/vera"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Mdf8-1kC","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5122"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5132,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5122\/revisions\/5132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}