Dear Barack,
I got up earlier than usual yesterday to meet at a friends house to watch your inauguration. The party looked great. Your family was beautiful. I’m convinced it was Roberts’ fault for messing up the oath, but that’s quickly forgotten.
It was a pretty big day for you, and an even bigger day for the country. It’s great to see an African-American elected President when so many people thought it impossible.
Everyone seems to be pretty excited for your Presidency. It’s nice to see people so happy and optimistic… but I really feel left out.
I try not to let it show too much. I don’t want to be a downer at someone else’s party…
But seriously… what’s going to change? Aren’t you promising to take away more freedoms? Despite what you said in the inauguration, aren’t you trying to move us further and further away from our founding documents?
I love the United States of America. But it hurts to watch the country go down this path. It really feels like watching a loved one celebrate a drug addiction that’s killing them.
Many of your supporters tell me Bush was the worst President ever and you’ll bring change. But I’m having a hard time spotting the difference…
The Iraq war is coming to a close without you. And you plan to intensify the war in Afghanistan. That’s the direction Bush was moving in as well.
Are you going to bring troops home from any of the other 130+ countries where they’re currently stationed? Are you going to continue the big government foreign policy dreamed up by the Democrats and now embraced by the Republicans? It looks like it. That’s not change.
You don’t like Bush’s tax cuts. But what’s a 4% tax cut when you’re talking about confiscating 40% of a person’s income? Sure, it may be billions of dollars but I don’t think it’s enough to declare “change.”
And why do you want to take a cut out of someone’s paycheck anyway? I know pimps do that. So does the mob. I guess the IRS thinks it’s OK to join them.
(Question, do you think the income tax is hurting the economy? It seems like when you want to stimulate the economy, you give us money back. I don’t understand why you don’t just stop taking the money in the first place.)
Speaking of the economy, President Bush has proven he’s willing to do “anything necessary” to save the economy. That has resulted in great interventions in the market. You plan to do the same thing. What’s the difference?
You’re still trying to do something that’s not possible: fix a problem of overspending and over-borrowing with more overspending and over-borrowing. Most reasonable people, with their own budgets, usually try to spend less and save more. Shouldn’t that be obvious?
It’s like we’re watching an Alchemist try to turn mercury in to gold. It’s never happened before and it never will.
Didn’t you learn anything from the mistakes of Hoover and FDR? I guess it’s no surprise you wouldn’t. FDR presided over the worst economy we’ve ever seen for more than 10 years… and somehow history has decided that was a good thing.
Hmm…
Back to your inauguration. I wanted to give you the heads up on two factual errors you made in the second paragraph of your speech.
You said 44 Americans have now taken the Presidential oath. I know it’s not that big of deal compared to the issues we’re facing, but actually only 43 Americans have taken the oath. Grover Cleveland is counted twice, as he was our 22nd and 24th President.
I hesitate to even bring it up… but I thought you might be able to learn something from Grover Cleveland. He used his veto power A LOT. Specifically vetoing unconstitutional bills that reached his desk. Since you just took an oath to uphold the constitution, I’d appreciate if you followed his lead.
But that brings me to the second factual error in the second paragraph of your speech. You said that we have remained true to our founding documents.
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
The Declaration said we all have an inalienable right to life and liberty. That meant people should be free to live their lives as they see fit, as long as they don’t step on the rights of others.
But that’s not the type of government we have. And it’s not the kind of government you support.
Do you realize that you force me to pay in to the worst retirement plan imaginable, social security? You know, that system where I pay you 12% of my income for as long as I work… and you decide if I ever get any of it back? If I die without dependents, you get to keep my retirement money?
Surely few people with liberty would ever choose to be part of such a system. Maybe that’s why you don’t give people a choice to opt-out of this system.
There are nearly as many violations of liberty as there are laws that come from the Capital. I can’t possibly list them all.
Of course, that’s just one founding document and the government is not actually bound to it. The Federal government is supposed to be bound to the constitution, however.
What’s up with that?
Maybe it’s my mistake and I didn’t realize that the 10th amendment of the constitution had been removed.
Hmm… I just checked, it is still there. It reads…
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
That means the federal government only has the power to do what the constitution says it can do.
But you want national healthcare? That’s not delegated to the federal government in the constitution.
In fact, most of your ideas seem unconstitutional if the 10th amendment is, indeed, still a part of the constitution.
It seems that the federal government has completely ignored our founding documents.
They call Ron Paul “Dr. No” because he votes down so many bills in congress. But he’s simply living up to his oath of office, upholding the constitution.
Why does he get a special nickname for carrying out his oath of office?
So in the end, Barack, I’m not too excited about your presidency because you’re not bringing change… you’re not planning on obeying your oath of office… and you’re not going to respect our founding documents or even our inalienable rights to life and liberty.
But really, Barack, I don’t give a damn. The only other candidate who got close to your office was McCain and he seemed to hold very similar positions to you.
My only hope is that one day the nation will wake up from this drug-like addiction to big government.
Big government is the enemy of freedom and the cause of our problems. It’s why our schools can’t teach. It’s why our health care is too expensive. And it’s why our economy is falling apart.
If we can wake up from this addiction to big government, and maybe support Ron Paul for President or someone like him, then I’ll join the party and celebrate.
Until then, I’m just a disappointed observer.
Sincerely,
Stephen Dean