Velma Hart is the woman who stood up at an Obama town hall meeting in September and caused quite a stir by saying that she was "exhausted" with defending the him and his administration. Well, her "new reality" just got a lot worse:
Velma Hart, the chief financial officer for Am Vets, a veteran services organization based in Maryland, said Monday in an interview with CNBC that she was laid off as part of the nonprofit's effort to cut expenses.
"I want to focus on the positive and be optimistic," said Hart, who lives in Upper Marlboro, Md. "And assume that somehow things will work out, that there's an opportunity out there with Velma's name on it that's right around the corner."
http://www.cnsnews.com/...
Here's the video from last fall:
And the transcript:
VELMA HART: Thank you very much and, quite frankly, good afternoon, President Obama. I am deeply honored to finally be in this forum, and so grateful for CNBC making the forum available so that you can speak to American citizens just like myself.
OBAMA: Well, thank you.
HART: I am a chief financial officer for a veterans service organization, AmVets here in Washington. I’m also a mother, I’m a wife, I’m an American veteran, and I’m one of your middle-class Americans. And quite frankly, I’m exhausted. I’m exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that I voted for --
OBAMA: Right.
HART: -- and deeply disappointed with where we are right now.
I have been told that I voted for a man who said he was going to change things in a meaningful way for the middle class. I’m one of those people, and I’m waiting, sir. I’m waiting. I don't feel it yet. And I thought, while it wouldn’t be in great measure, I would feel it in some small measure.
I have two children in private school. And the financial recession has taken an enormous toll on my family. My husband and I joked for years that we thought we were well beyond the hot dogs and beans era of our lives.
OBAMA: Right.
HART: But quite frankly, it’s starting to knock on our door and ring true that that might be where we’re headed again. And quite frankly, Mr. President, I need you to answer this honestly, is this my new reality?
There is no apparent connection between her words at the town hall meeting and the lay off:
Am Vets executive director Jim King told The Washington Post that the nonprofit was looking for ways to survive financially.
"It's not anything she did," King told the Post for a story that appeared online Monday. "She got bit by the same snake that has bit a lot of people. It was a move to cut our bottom line."
http://www.cnsnews.com/...
Hopefully, that's true. The alternative would be rather disturbing.
In any event, the latest chapter in the Velma Hart story just underscores once again how critical it is for President Obama to find ways to get this economy moving again and put people back to work!