Mr President,
Congratulations on your recent appointment. There are many questions streaming through my mind that I would love to ask you. Instead I will limit the focus of this letter toward where this country is headed, why I think your administration should do its best to turn this around and, with your permission, my recommendations on how to accomplish this.
Social Policy:
Currently our country is in bad shape - few will deny this. Of course we all disagree about what the worst things are that are going on right now. I feel one thing that is tearing our country apart is liberty we have all, as US citizens, had to sacrifice throughout the Bush administration. I'm not sure when it became "alright" to punish Matt for the wrongdoings of John. I'm also not sure who decided that we were now a nation that decided a person was guilty until proven innocent.
You, and only you, have the power to reverse this abuse of power that has become just another day at the office for the finger-pointers who sit on a hill and pass judgement on the very people that voted them into office. You, sir, can change it all. Give power back to the people. Let them make mistakes. The Bill of Rights gives us the right to do what we want as long as we do not impede upon the rights of others.
Restrictions and taxes on small businesses make it nearly impossible to get started. Lifting these restrictions will allow for more competition in the market place and only those with quality products will be able to turn a buck, those who fall behind in safety and quality will find themselves without a customer base. Competition will cause innovations and technology to skyrocket bringing prices down and the market up.
Fiscal Policy:
Another very important issue that is plaguing this great nation is our fiscal policy. Any economist worth his salt will tell you that debt is bad. You can't allow those in Washington to keep printing money! Every dollar printed cuts the value of the dollar I worked all week to bring home to provide for my family. Giving money to other "under-privilaged" nations, while done for "the right reason," is not what OUR country needs right now. The value of the dollar is plummeting and what does Congress do? They take more of my money to give to lenders that wrote bad loans to people that were unable to pay them back.
Instead a more sound way to help the people would be through tax cuts - REAL tax cuts. Taxes can be and should be cut to the bear minimum. This can be done simply by shutting down the very government agencies that take our liberty from us. Most of these very agencies handle matters for the entire nation that would be more effectively handled at a state (or even local) level.
Socialism isn't what this country needs - not now, not ever! Socializing medical care (amongst others) will work out the same way socializing retirement benefits and welfare have worked — horribly. Nothing about these systems make sense, especially the math. If you really want to help people through charity let their neighbors and their churches take care of them. This can only be done if you let people do it by not taking money from them to do it in their place. If you want to help them retire offer a plan that citizens can choose to opt in to and out of.
Foreign Policy:
The war in Iraq must end. We have completed every task that your predecessor gave for keeping the troops there! We eliminated the threat of WMDs, we removed a tyrannical dictator from his position of power, we helped the Iraqi people create a democratic government and we trained the Iraqi troops to defend it.
Why are we still there? Oil? The only reason the price of oil finally quit climbing since before the war started was because of the financial "crisis." We are not saving face by being there - Bring the troops home or send them to hunt real terrorists.
If our country is to continue being oil-dependant please allow us to produce it here. With the oil in Alaska and the off-shore oil we could tap, we could put a huge dent in our dependance of foreign oil. The environment will survive!
Education:
Our educational system is a joke. Our children are falling behind and the very people that claim to care (the US Department of Education) are too far away to see the problem first-hand. Every state, every city for that matter, has it's own educational problems - let them figure out how to deal with their own issues. Placing every child in a box labeled "US Child" and making a decision on what is best for "US Child" does not always work for (or apply to) little Timmy down the street.
US Constitution:
The US Constitution was written as a guide for the future leaders of America. It should not be disregarded as out-dated. Our forefathers knew a very important fact - they knew that they didn't know everything. They make allowances for the Constitution to be amended so that as times changed it could stay a viable guide for future generations to live by.
The Bill of Rights was not meant to be changed or interpreted differently on a case-by-case basis. The first ten amendments to the Constitution were meant to apply to every US citizen without question. We need to get back to our roots and let people live again. Let them breath, eat, smoke, watch, say, shoot, and even drink what/how they want.
Summation:
Mr President, I hope my thoughts have given you something to consider over the course of the next eight years (four if not). We need leadership! The most effective leaders lead by example. Take control and then give to those that deserve it - the people. Let us live our lives the way we want to - wether it is "good for us" or not. Write laws to protect us from each other, not from ourselves. Use the military to protect our land not the oil we will purchase from a foreign country. We need to pay our debts, cut taxes, and, heaven forbid, put a little money back for a rainy day. Our government is too big and costs too much to run. It is in our lives from beginning to end and tells us what to do in between.
In short, Mr President, be the kind of President we can be proud to tell our children we voted for.
