Letter to Obama

This went in the mail this morning.

I encourage you to write to our new President and tell him what YOU want.

Hell, everyone else does.




President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

January 28, 2009

Dear President Obama, I write to you as a tax-paying American who did not vote for you.

I saw your proposed plans for "change" and they worried me. I'm a hard-working, middle-class American who typically votes Republican because I am terrified that my taxes will go up and passed along to government plans and programs that I will never benefit from. I lose sleep at night because I feel that government is bigger than ever. It started with the Bush Administration and is very apparent that it will continue with yours. I am finding that the government is determined to tell me who I need to "help." Forget the fact that I regularly support my college alma mater through my time and money. I regularly donate to nonprofit organizations such as the American Kidney Foundation and the American Cancer Society. I have coached a softball team made up of 8-year old girls for the past two years now at the same park where I played at the same age. Can you put a price on someone's volunteer time?

I recently received my W2 in the mail and nearly got sick to my stomach when reminded how much of my paycheck has been taken out for taxes. You would think I would be used to this by now but I still can't fathom how the government takes so much and justifies so little.

I recently got married and my husband and I each have successful and stable careers. I am angry that we will now be punished for our hard-working mentalities. I am tempted to quit my job to keep us under an inevitable low cap. What would happen to the economy then, if enough people thought the same thing?

Lip service isn't enough.

The government has no right to make me responsible for those less fortunate (or those less motivated). It is my responsibility to make the moral decision to help those in need.

Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution does it state that the U.S. President is responsible for the economy. Not the downfall of it, not the stabilizing of it, not the growth of it. A capitalist market should entail as little government involvement as possible.

Let the market decide the fate of the auto industry, for example.

When you reach out to help these failing corporations that have made bad or corrupt business decisions, you have created a sense of entitlement for all. Meanwhile, people like me are left standing here, penniless and perturbed. I work 50 hours a week or more. I volunteer my time because I want to. Yet, no one is coming to me to ask what they can do for me. In fact, the government penalizes me by taxing me more and more, leaving me wondering: Why bother to be a proud American?

Where is my bailout? Where is my check?

Not a fair question, is it?

Prove me wrong and show me that you are not the socialist I believe you to be. You want people like myself on your side, I assure you. Ultimately, it will come down to those of us who work hard and give a damn.

Sincerely,

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