Dear President Obama,
I’d like to take this opportunity to offer a suggestion that might benefit the country (as well as your reelection campaign). And because I perceive that the following frame of reference is important to whichever college intern reads this before it’s deposited into the circular file, or makes it one level up if I’m lucky (nothing against you intern), and perhaps even warrant a form letter response (dare to dream), I’ll tell you that I was a Democrat for 30 years (although I did vote for President Reagan) before I recently unaffiliated and am now an Independent.
I think you did a phenomenal job of using your skills to get elected President, but I don’t think you’re using your skills to be President. You are the President of the United States. You are the Leader of the free world. That’s what you have to do. You have to Lead.
You certainly were dealt a tough hand, but I think you could be accomplishing more than you have. Like it or not you’re not going to ram “The American Jobs Act” down the Republican’s throats, and when you blame the other side of the aisle in the court of public opinion you sound just as partisan as they do.
I thought you would have learned your lesson after giving Pelosi and Reid healthcare to reform when you first came into office. They used that opportunity to fan a flame that infuriated the masses enough to enable the Tea Party to help the Republicans gain control of the House, and fracture their party along the way so that now both sides of the aisle are dysfunctional. Remember, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result.
What you need to do is apply your inherent strength – oratory - to our country’s current weakness – lack of national community. This is demonstrated in Washington by our embarrassing lack of partisanship and across the country in our ever increasing class polarization. And it manifests itself in our inability to agree on the economic reform its going to take to get the country moving in the right direction, and in so doing renew the “hope” that was the catalyst for many of us to vote for you in the first place.
You have to get the masses and the media to take the conversation up a notch. It’s not about Democrats vs. Republicans, it’s not about cutting stimulus and spending vs. raising taxes. It’s about; we’re all in a big hole together, and if we want to get out of it, we’re all going to have to give up something. Together.
Mr. President, instead of blaming the Republicans, instead of blaming Wall St., instead of blaming anyone, you need to get everyone’s buy in. And you will get everyone’s buy in, by demonstrating how to do it. I believe it starts with you serving everybody, not just the people who voted for you, not just the organizations you lobbied for endorsement and votes, anybody can do that. It's about you demonstrating how we're all going to have to give up something by serving the other side of the aisle. Yes, we’re going to have to cut stimulus spending. No we’re not going to be able to help college students right now (and I have/had sons in college), and yes we’re going to have to start receiving social security payments when we’re a little older.
Mr. President you’re going to have to wrap up some holiday gifts up for the Republicans so they can present them to their constituents - and enable them to save face when they make their fair share of concessions as well. Because we’re also going to have to raise taxes (let them call it cutting out the loopholes, and “modifying” the tax code). And we’re also going to have to "align" government employee benefits so they map to the benefits employees get in the private sector. And while we’re at it, to show us how it's done, our leaders in Congress’ are going to have to "tweak" their benefits so they reflect what the rest of us get as well because the only thing we've gotten from our two elected branches of government recently is a lower credit rating.
Unfortunately, the bad news is that it takes a war to bring us all together as one nation, but the good news is that we now have that war. It's called Infighting. And we all caused it so nobody is going to be able to keep their toys this year, or for the foreseeable future until we get the economy righted.
It’s been said on more that one occasion that great Presidents are made by serving in tough times. Well now you’ve got them. So Lead us out of them. Use this reality to bring us all together. Again.
Sincerely,
Howie Fertig
I’d like to take this opportunity to offer a suggestion that might benefit the country (as well as your reelection campaign). And because I perceive that the following frame of reference is important to whichever college intern reads this before it’s deposited into the circular file, or makes it one level up if I’m lucky (nothing against you intern), and perhaps even warrant a form letter response (dare to dream), I’ll tell you that I was a Democrat for 30 years (although I did vote for President Reagan) before I recently unaffiliated and am now an Independent.
I think you did a phenomenal job of using your skills to get elected President, but I don’t think you’re using your skills to be President. You are the President of the United States. You are the Leader of the free world. That’s what you have to do. You have to Lead.
You certainly were dealt a tough hand, but I think you could be accomplishing more than you have. Like it or not you’re not going to ram “The American Jobs Act” down the Republican’s throats, and when you blame the other side of the aisle in the court of public opinion you sound just as partisan as they do.
I thought you would have learned your lesson after giving Pelosi and Reid healthcare to reform when you first came into office. They used that opportunity to fan a flame that infuriated the masses enough to enable the Tea Party to help the Republicans gain control of the House, and fracture their party along the way so that now both sides of the aisle are dysfunctional. Remember, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result.
What you need to do is apply your inherent strength – oratory - to our country’s current weakness – lack of national community. This is demonstrated in Washington by our embarrassing lack of partisanship and across the country in our ever increasing class polarization. And it manifests itself in our inability to agree on the economic reform its going to take to get the country moving in the right direction, and in so doing renew the “hope” that was the catalyst for many of us to vote for you in the first place.
You have to get the masses and the media to take the conversation up a notch. It’s not about Democrats vs. Republicans, it’s not about cutting stimulus and spending vs. raising taxes. It’s about; we’re all in a big hole together, and if we want to get out of it, we’re all going to have to give up something. Together.
Mr. President, instead of blaming the Republicans, instead of blaming Wall St., instead of blaming anyone, you need to get everyone’s buy in. And you will get everyone’s buy in, by demonstrating how to do it. I believe it starts with you serving everybody, not just the people who voted for you, not just the organizations you lobbied for endorsement and votes, anybody can do that. It's about you demonstrating how we're all going to have to give up something by serving the other side of the aisle. Yes, we’re going to have to cut stimulus spending. No we’re not going to be able to help college students right now (and I have/had sons in college), and yes we’re going to have to start receiving social security payments when we’re a little older.
Mr. President you’re going to have to wrap up some holiday gifts up for the Republicans so they can present them to their constituents - and enable them to save face when they make their fair share of concessions as well. Because we’re also going to have to raise taxes (let them call it cutting out the loopholes, and “modifying” the tax code). And we’re also going to have to "align" government employee benefits so they map to the benefits employees get in the private sector. And while we’re at it, to show us how it's done, our leaders in Congress’ are going to have to "tweak" their benefits so they reflect what the rest of us get as well because the only thing we've gotten from our two elected branches of government recently is a lower credit rating.
Unfortunately, the bad news is that it takes a war to bring us all together as one nation, but the good news is that we now have that war. It's called Infighting. And we all caused it so nobody is going to be able to keep their toys this year, or for the foreseeable future until we get the economy righted.
It’s been said on more that one occasion that great Presidents are made by serving in tough times. Well now you’ve got them. So Lead us out of them. Use this reality to bring us all together. Again.
Sincerely,
Howie Fertig
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