"Notes and Quotes"

One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man. - Elbert Hubbard

Friday, February 20, 2009

An Open Letter to President Obama - # 2

An Open Letter to President Obama - # 2


Mr. President, I really did not think I would be writing to you again so soon. Following is a link to my first letter in case you did not get a chance to read it. I really did not expect a reply but it would have been nice.



Shame on you Sir, for not renouncing your attorney general, Eric Holder, for calling us a "Nation of Cowards" in regard to race relations. You should slap him silly for having the nerve to suggest such a thing. Its time to get over it. We ARE NOT a racist nation. Sure there are individuals who have a problem but we ARE NOT a racist country. This deserves no special praise but look how far we have come in such a short time. We have two black former Secretary's of State, a black former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a black attorney general (the one who calls us cowards) , a black chairman of the RNC, a black President, black CEO's in charge of major corporations, black senators and congressmen, as well as black neighbors, friends and co-workers.


This will draw the wrath of many, but blacks comprise less than 15% of the population. Do the math. An overwhelming majority have acted in a completely non racist way. Politically speaking, the only time race comes up is when the left brings it up and it is always as a pejorative toward the right.


Shame on you Sir, for supporting caps on executive pay. Companies compete for top talent just as professional sports teams do. If you want to propose change why not support pay for performance? Set realistic performance levels and pay on that basis. Large and small businesses do it all the time. It is not perfect but at least it has a basis in logic. And while you are at it, please include congressional pay. At the current level of congressional performance they would be working for nothing or owe us money.


Shame on you Sir, for supporting and signing a massively bloated Stimulus Bill which was rammed through congress without allowing time for it to be read and/or debated. What happened to your campaign pledge to post all legislation on a web site for at least five days so "we the people" could study and digest it. To make matters worse, the copies you sent to our representatives to review were not in a format which allowed them to quickly search for key words and phrases. This resulted in several toxic provisions remaining in the bill which allegedly were negotiated out before the vote. One example: the healthcare provision, which in effect, will (down the road) allow the government to decide (pay for or not pay for) which treatment older patients are entitled to. If the government deems it not cost effective to treat your ailment... you die. The compassion overwhelms me.

Still on the Stimulus Bill... did it ever occur to anyone to CUT spending. You promised to go over the budget line by line to eliminate waste. Have you been too busy to do that? Maybe you could assign the task to an underling. I am retired and I have time if you are looking for a volunteer.


Shame on you Sir, for not taking Russian Prime Minister Putin's warning to heart. He said:


"The US should take a lesson from the pages of Russian history and not exercise “excessive intervention in economic activity and blind faith in the state’s omnipotence”. “In the twentieth century, the Soviet Union made the state’s role absolute,” Putin said during a speech at the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “In the long run, this made the Soviet economy totally uncompetitive. This lesson cost us dearly. I am sure nobody wants to see it repeated.” Putin said, “Nor should we turn a blind eye to the fact that the spirit of free enterprise, including the principle of personal responsibility of businesspeople, investors, and shareholders for their decisions, is being eroded in the last few months. There is no reason to believe that we can achieve better results by shifting responsibility onto the state.”

Mr. President, how can you not take this seriously and learn from it?

Shame on you Sir, for only giving lip-service to bipartisanship. You have talked a good game but when given the perfect opportunity (the Stimulus Bill) you effectively shut out all opportunity to bring us together. 46% of the country does not agree with you. We do not want to be a Socialistic country. As someone said, "One man's bipartisanship is another's capitulation". We do not want to be bipartisan in any matters involving our trend toward socialism. We will not capitulate on this.


Shame on you Sir, for supporting and recommending that we can solve the credit crisis by encouraging the use of more credit. Its like giving an alcoholic another drink while demanding that he quit. You complained about "predatory" lending practices such as A.R.M.'s with low teaser rates that then reset much higher a few years later. In your just released Mortgage Stabilization Plan, mortgage rates would be reduced for homeowners who have seen their payments rise to more than 38% of their monthly income. But those reductions last just five years, after which they begin to reset to higher rates. In short, your plan is just drawing out the artificially low rates a bit longer. Isn't that exactly what you have been critical of?


Shame on you Sir, for continuing to prop up the failing auto industry. Auto companies are dying and nothing you do can bring them back. Prepare a nice eulogy and thank the unions for killing our beloved patient. Rest in peace. I am sure you know in states that heavily rely on unions, few if any are fiscally successful like Michigan, California, New York, Pennsylvania, etc. Right to work states consistently show greater job growth than non right to work states. There is a message here.


Shame on you Sir, for continuing to blame past administrations for the current problems you face. While you were running for president you said you could make it better. OK, go ahead, we are waiting. You keep saying it is worse than you thought, and it could still get even worse. That just tells me you were unaware and out of touch when you were running for president. You are president now. Your actions from January 20, 2009 on will make things better or worse. It seems your actions now are continuing the bad times you are just now becoming aware of.


Shame on you Sir, for betraying the future your two beautiful little girls will face. They need positive role models to look up to. You certainly are that in some ways. If you become the president that puts us over the edge on the road to socialism, the president that takes away our individual freedom and responsibility, or the president that bankrupts this country beyond repair, they will be making excuses for you for the rest of their lives.


I will close for now with a quote from our mutual favorite president.


You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.

---Abraham Lincoln

Actually, Ronald Reagan is my favorite but I was trying to bond.


Respectfully,



Steve Mishket

stevemishket@comcast.net

02/20/09

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"Notes and Quotes" Archive

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