Dear President Obama:
Congratulations on your historic ascendancy to the office of the President of the United States. You are now the leader of the free world. My hope is that you understand the gravity of this office and that you are serious in reaching out to all Americans, myself included.
I have to be honest. I didn’t vote for you. Some of your campaign rhetoric seemed designed to do nothing more than to win the election, even though you and I both know that there was no way you could adhere to the promises you made. But many of my fellow Americans were unable or unwilling to think critically, so now you’re my President.
I apologize that I was unable to watch your inauguration ceremony yesterday. Unfortunately, many of us had to work to pay the taxes to support the United States Treasury and the government that you are now responsible for. I guess that my efforts allowed others to take the day off and actually go to Washington and bask in your afterglow yesterday. Be that as it may, here are a few things you can do for me and my family in the next four years.
First, please don’t raise my taxes. My wife and I already pay our fair share, and despite what your Vice President thinks, it is a privilege and not a patriotic duty to pay taxes. Given the state of the economy right now, however, it could be my patriotic duty to spend some money on durable goods, that is, replace the dishwasher we’ve been talking about, replace our deck, etc. If you raise my taxes, it will inhibit our ability to do those types of things, and as a result, jobs will not be created. This is not a threat, but Economics 101. It’s the people that work hard and are successful that create the jobs in this country, not the poor. If you want the poor to have jobs, you need to allow those of us with job-creation abilities to do just that.
Second, I would love it if you could control the growth of government. I know this is a tall order, especially with corporations that have made poor decisions and industries with failed business models collapsing right and left. I understand that it is in times like this that limited Keynsian economic theory may make some sense, but government has never been more efficient than the private sector at anything other than national defense. Your rhetoric indicates that you think government is the be all and end all, but history suggests otherwise. You’re a smart man. Use your creative thinking skills at partnering with private industry to create less government and it’s corresponding intrusion in people’s lives.
Third, please return to a balanced budget. Those of us who actually pay taxes are tired of the politicians in Washington spending our money (it’s our’s, by the way, not theirs) like drunken sailors. I, for one, would like to see it spent more wisely. Your rhetoric indicates you feel the same way, but it’s disheartening for us who do the paying to perceive government as Robin Hood. Philanthropy is best done privately, and in some cases through the church or para-church organizations. Let’s keep it that way.
Fourth, please keep my family safe. This will be a difficult challenge for you too, because your naive base will pressure you to make deals with rogue nations and release bad guys, hell-bent on our destruction, that we now have in custody. Err on the side of caution. Use common sense. Keep us safe.
Finally, while I know you’re a little fuzzy on issues of conception and the beginning of human life and therefore I don’t expect you to respect the sanctity of human life, I do ask that you respect the sanctity of marriage. My wife and I, along with millions of other Americans, take our marriage commitment seriously. My job isn’t to condemn those who make other choices, rather my job is to love them. But if they want to partake in my covenant, I ask that they choose a partner of the opposite sex, just like I did. What they’re asking for cheapens my covenant, and that offends me. (Not that they care, but it does anyway.)
Thank you for the time you took to read my letter. As my President, I wish you well, and you, your family and your leadership team are in my prayers. I look forward to your response. After all, it’s not like you have any other pressing matters to attend to.
Ann:
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments.
First, I’d like to point out that I’m not asking President Obama to lower my taxes, I’m just asking him not to raise them. The Lord knows I’ve been blessed and have no desire to short the government (a la Mr. Geithner) of its due, but it’s an economic fact that raising taxes will prolong and deepen a recession faster than anything else I can think of.
Second, I wonder how President Bush got us into “the economic mess”, as you so blithely put it. I’ve done quite a bit of research on this problem, and have learned that the seeds of the real estate bubble were sown during the Clinton administration and perpetuated by Senator Chris Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank. Everyone wants to bash “Wall Street greed”, but the truth is that Wall Street was four or five rungs down the food chain on this one. In 2003, the Bush Administration and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan suggested that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were cooking their books and that the corresponding real estate bubble was dangerous. A bill was drafted in a then-Republican controlled committee and summarily killed by Senator Dodd and Representative Frank. If you’re looking for someone to blame, you might start there.
Finally, exacerbating the “mess” was a plethora of financial services companies that were poorly managed and industries with failed business models (that is, the automobile industry). Seriously, the two worst-performing industries in the United States are the automobile and airline industries, and they’re also the most unionized. Education is a close third in both categories.
I struggle to see how President Bush can be blamed for this. Perhaps I just choose to ignore the mainstream media and use my critical thinking skills to reach solid, conservative conclusions.
Thank you for participating in our website.
Amanda:
Thank you so much for your comment. My goodness! If my comment was an anti-gay rant, what do you call that little protest out in front of Saddleback Church a couple of months ago? A riot?
You claim I sounded intelligent, and for that I thank you. Apparently you agree with my other points, and because I appeared to be intelligent, one would conclude that I had done my research on these various topics. Why wouldn’t you think I’d done my research on the marriage issue? Or is it that you just don’t agree with my position? It may interest you to learn that I have done my research on this topic as well, and this is my conclusion.
At the Conservative Reader, we espouse conservative concepts and principles. Our hope is to tackle contemporary issues and topics and shine the light of conservative truth on them in a thoughtful and respectful manner; one that allows for differences of opinion. But make no mistake, we will hold to a conservative position, not because we’re right, but because liberalism is a farce and has never, ever worked.
Thank you for participating in the Conservative Reader.
Awesome comments today. I really appreciate the feedback being provided on topics that are very important to so many of us!
I go to web sites that are very, and in my opinion, inappropropriately combative and mean spirited about the topics we are discussing here, but I find nothing about DJ’s comments that are even within the realm of anger or hate… if anything I see him taking great pains to express his concerns in the kindest of words. And yet, it seems that because the opinion being expressed is different from Ann’s and Amanda’s it is called a “rant” and “aggressive anger”.
Both of you share some great insights and might be surprised to know that both DJ and I actually spend a great deal of “our” money (which we consider to be God’s money) in helping people in our communities and around the world who are less fortunate. Our goal is not to serve our own personal pleasures by the greedy hoarding of money or other property, but to ensure that we are good stewards of the resources God has given us responsibility to care for. For us, that includes not only feeding the hungry and helping people in third world countries work their way out of poverty, but contributing to the dialogue regarding sensible taxation and government spending, both of which are wildly out of control and doing nothing to help the economy.
Another question: Ann, can you tell me what you consider to be the CORE principles of the gospel?
Thanks again for the feedback!
I am so disheartened by the aggressive anger I hear coming from Christians. YOUR rhetoric sounds hateful. As Christians, we are here on earth to do THE good work. To work with our neighbors, to love our neighbors and our enemies, to contribute, to sacrifice. I hear Christians conservatives complaining about “raising OUR taxes”. Get over it. Stop being so controlled by your money. If your taxes are being raised, you make more money than most Americans. We need to do something to help those who are actually struggling with their finances. It was the Bush government that got us into the economic mess we are in. Let’s start practicing what we preach. Really. That means practicing the CORE principles of the gospel. Literally.
Amanda:
So, on what do you base the statement “God is the only one allowed to judge his creations”?
You sounded intelligent until your anti-gay marriage rant. Seriously, two people love each other – does it matter what sex they are? Remember, Christian, God is the only one allowed to judge his creations.