| Dear Mr. President... |
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| Thursday, 26 January 2012 08:00 |
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I lost my lower mid-level management job several years ago. Because of my age, I could not be hired at anywhere close to the same wage so I am one of those who had to give up the job search and am now trying to become an internet entrepreneur. I am 58 years old and my older brother - a former Air force Staff SGT and Veteran during the Vietnam War, finds it impossible to get a job so he is living with my wife and I. He is a veteran and from what I understand he does not qualify for your "Vow to Hire Heroes Act". There are many, many Vietnam era Veterans who need jobs as they close out their earning years and you are not helping them. I am pretty well educated and my wife has been working hard at her job for the past 7 years while I work hard to build an online business and income. I am getting closer to earning the kind of income that should allow my wife to retire this year. For these past seven years I have spent any and all profits from the business and a good chunk of her income to get better educated in my field and build better websites. I teach and help people build websites and ask for nothing in return. I am concerned that while I have been sacrificing and barely getting by for the past seven years that when I become a high earner, you are talking about balancing the fairness of my coming high income toward spreading it to people who have not worked as hard as I have to build a good income. I am concerned that those people who have decided to not sacrifice and instead "settle for a job" or live on welfare or attend Columbia University, and now (according to you) should be given a share of my wealth just because it is "fair". Mr. President, Why are you jumping all over those who sacrifice to favor those who do not? Why do you want to take away my hard earned income to give to those who do not work as hard as I do? Where is the fairness in my risk taking that you give what I earn to those who aren't willing to take the risk? Remember, this is the land of equal opportunity, not equal distribution of wealth. Russia and several other countries tried that and it did not work. It is said that you are trying to be the next John F. Kennedy. You are not even close. JFK railed against FDR because FDR was preaching "Rights" instead of "Accountability" and you are doing the same as FDR. JFK was considered a conservative by the Democratic party and admitted as such when asked. JFK "asked" Americans to volunteer and contribute to bigger things for the country. You and Nancy Pelosi tell us to accept healthcare as you set it. You tell the Church what to do. You are in the process of going against a primary tenant of JFK who was a student of Winston Churchill in that he believed that a strong military was a deterrent to war. Neville Chamberlain slept as Germany built it's war machine and you are the acting sedative for America. You're dismantling of the armed forces takes away the very bargaining chip JFK fought for and is why he wrote the book "Why England Slept". Everyone has the right to work hard to earn and save and keep the wealth they are willing to work hard for. You received an education while I could not qualify for the tuition to attend Columbia (or any college) because I did not fit the same demographic profile as you. If you want to talk about fairness, When Abraham Lincoln "asked" for volunteers in 1861, My 3rd great-grandfather volunteered and died in Nashville, Tennessee during the Civil War serving in the 13th Michigan. We have never found Uncle Girden's body as he was likely obliterated by a canon canister that was shot directly at him. She died a pauper and is buried in an unmarked grave in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Another Uncle volunteered and Died at Cold Harbor. Over 400 of my family members volunteered during the Civil War because Abraham Lincoln "asked" for volunteers. My Great-Grandfathers’ served in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and one 2nd Cousin is at the bottom of the Atlantic in a WW2 Submarine. My 8th Great-Grandfather came over on a ship called Mayflower. One of my family members (Henry Reed Rathbone) was in the box at Ford’s Theater with the Lincolns when President Lincoln was assassinated. One of my family members was the midwife who helped Abraham Lincoln's mother deliver baby Abraham. Abraham Lincoln as a child played with some of my family members. One family member was the first Secret Service officer to interview Charles Guiteau after he shot one of our finest and most honorable Presidents, James A. Garfield and his interview removed suspicion of a larger plot. My uncles in WW2 walked into the German concentration camps at the end of the war. Another uncle (US Marine Corps) drove a troop transport delivering US Marines (ship to shore) for over two days without a break to the shores of Iwo Jima and then crawled 150 yards to continue the fight after is last trip to the island. He personally witnessed the Mt. Suribachi flag raising and continued the fight as they removed the Japanese from the northern sections of the island. My family suffered and sacrificed for our country to keep opportunities equal. They did not sacrifice to make us socialists. They did not sacrifice to make us like Europe, they left Europe to make us like Americans - different but equal in opportunities. An America where we can go about freely, a place where we can learn, a place where we can accomplish the remotest of dreams and a place that allows a man like you to become president. History tells us that when you "Draft", you get rebellion. The "New York Draft riots" and Vietnam proved that Americans do better when asked - not drafted. If a "Europetopia" is where you are headed, you need to be "fair" and restore the family farm to our family, compensate our family for the income lost because so many died preserving the Union. My 6th Great-Grandfather's name is engraved on a boulder overlooking the Atlantic on Block Island because he wanted a free and better life for his family, not an under the thumb rule that takes special interest money and runs the government based on campaign contributions. You need to provide reparations to our family because the farm was lost and you need to place a government headstone on my Grandmother’s grave. If you are thinking that I am a bigot, my Grandson has a little less Black genetics in him than you do and like my Great-grandfathers', I would die for him. If you want to use the word "Right"... He/she is a person who should have the "Right" to succeed as an American citizen and not just because he is part of any minority. He/she should have the "Right" to be accountable to his maker and to work hard to do something special with his life. He/she should have the "Right" to build his dream and grow it without someone in the government saying that he is greedy for living a nice life he or she worked hard for. He/she should have the "Right" to decide how to share that life and wealth with those willing or unwilling to work hard for it. He/she should have the "Right" to tell the government to stay out of his pocket. And He/she should have the "Right" because he has worked hard and Marx and Stalin are dead. He/she should not have the "Right" to be a non-contributing member of society and live off those who work hard and take risks to become successful. My name is Alan Teelander, and you can call me at 616-634-3296 if you want to talk about it. Note; I posted this note late January (the post date is on this page) and so far I have not received a response. Mr. Obama, I posted this because I want a response! Please respond! |
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Dear Mr. President...
