Open Letter to President Obama (Economy, Healthcare...etc)

An open letter to President Obama.

If anyone who reads this knows how to get the president to read it please do so.

First, some background so my opinions have foundation. I am 57 years old, currently unemployed, married, and in less than perfect health. My wife has been drawing a Social Security disability check since a severe auto collision in 1993 and she has ongoing medical issues. Over the years I have attempted to put aside money for retirement in 401K accounts at several jobs. Each time I got a few thousand saved, something happened to the job and I had to spend the 401K on survival until the next job. I admit some of my financial decisions were flawed but the net result is that I have nothing in savings.
I saw a few years ago that my health was not going to allow me to continue doing the physical work I have always done. I started classes in information technology and achieved an AAS/IT degree. This degree was accompanied by a $30,000 student loan. I have lost my last two jobs in some degree due to my worsening physical condition and inability to do the work as well as the younger people. Now I am unemployed, practically unemployable, undereducated (I would like to go on to a BS but can’t afford it), living on unemployment and my wife’s $780 /month Social Security. (Thanks for the extra $25 by the way) I have been trying to break into computer programming as a career. My thought was that as long as my brain and one finger still worked I could be productive and earn a living. Maybe I was wrong but I haven’t given up yet. I achieved a 3.6GPA so I’m not some ignorant country boy – I can learn and I truly enjoy working with computers. But that’s enough about me…

I just watched the Presidential news conference and feel I have respond. My first response actually goes to the press corps in general. Do you people only hear 20% of what is said? Your interpretations of the President’s answers seem to focus on certain phrases out of context and rarely on the actual meaning intended by the President. Lighten up! Go back and read the transcript a couple of times until you understand it, then write a response fit for publication. I suppose your job performance is judged by your time on camera and not by the quality of your questions.

Now to President Obama: Mr. President I do not intend to stop defending you to my narrow-minded friends. I believe you have inherited a situation brought on by the greed and power-seeking of financial leaders and easily manipulated political figures. The opposition to your policies is driven by a need to recover control and not by any real concern for the economy. If there was a real concern for the economy, the actions and policies that got us to this point would never have occurred. I cannot accept that people in charge of multi-billion-dollar corporations are too stupid to see the side products of their actions. I truly believe they (as a group) simply chose to blind themselves to the consequences in order to pursue additional wealth and power. President Obama: keep your focus on the people and give us a chance. WE can restore this country to its leadership position in the world economy if we are given the chance. Remind everyone that there is more at stake than their weekly take-home. Remind us how personal sacrifice was a major contributor to the victory in World War Two. Remind us that this is a fight for the American way of life and the moral high ground of true democracy.

I have little to contribute personally. My best contribution at this time is to try to maintain a positive outlook and keep looking for a real job. I am available to start immediately if there is a paying position on your staff for a wannabe computer programmer or an even less likely wannabe writer. (I digress).

Now to the Health care issue: I was appreciative of your response to the accusation that a government health care option would put private insurers out of business. Excellent point and an example of a narrow-minded response by the press!
We should realize that insurance has its roots in gambling. We bet our premiums that we will need medical care at some point. The insurance companies are the bookmakers that take our bets and hope to balance the losses and wins into a profit. Let private companies set whatever restrictions they see appropriate on the people they insure in order to keep premiums low. Tax the hell out of them if they take exorbitant profits or in some morally bankrupt way manipulate the process. Give them significant tax breaks if their policies meet socially acceptable guidelines. I’m sure there are mathematicians who can develop formulae to analyze an insurance company’s actuarial policies against some standard. Tell us (the people) in as plain language as you can what you are doing. Make it hard for the opposition to spin your intentions.

Your policy (at least the public one) on Iran’s current situation is proper. We can decry human rights violations any time and any where they happen. We must not make threats. We cannot give some hard-handed leadership any ammunition in the war of public opinion in [their own] country. Truth is always the ultimate weapon against tyranny.

Donald Page