Dear Mr. Obama
I am one of those people - middle age, catholic, white guy - you desperately need to convince that you have some substance behind your talk of change, and you need to do it quickly before we give up hope and mentally move into the relative safety of the John McCain column. A lot of us are getting tired of the never-ending campaign and will make our decision soon, if it hasn't been made already.
Six months ago I started telling everyone that you were going all the way: your broad message of hope and change was exciting; you were bringing new and younger voters into the political process; the media was on your side; John McCain is too old; Hillary Clinton is unelectable; the country, for the most part, seemed ready for big changes. Deteriorating economic conditions and the oil price surge make the need for change even more urgent today. But suddenly your talk of "change" sounds like more of the same old Washington politics. Where are the bold, inspirational initiatives that will grab the public's attention?
My own political experience is limited to the voting booth, so my opinions may be worth less than the cost of hosting this blog. But I do know about launching new businesses and competing successfully in the high tech field for the past 25 years. So I'm going to use this little blog to send you my ideas for disruptive innovations, and whatever else catches my attention. Best case, someone close to you notices something interesting and I have a minor impact. Otherwise I just learn about blogging and give my friends and family another place to criticize my ideas. Either way I get to express my opinion, and that's always fun.
Best of luck to you.
Dear Mr. Obama,
I have reconciled myself to believe that you will indeed be elected. Ours is one of those evil households with an income in excess of $250K. I wonder if you would consider regionally adjusting the propsed tax on people like me. I live in the NYC area---commute 2 hours each way b/c we can't afford to live closer. We live in a nice, 4 BR cheaply-built spec house. We drive 7 year old cars. We have 2 kids in college but have to do that on PLUS loans because 35% of our income already goes to taxes. I just bought scatter rugs b/c I can't afford to refinish the floors, and have put off the septic cleaning off for yet another year (corssed fingers!). I have spent $506 on clothing in the last 3 years. With an income of more than $250K in the NYC area, I am exactly the middle class you describe. Yet under your plan, I don't have a clue what I am going to do. We may have to sell the house. And I know I am not alone. Ben Afleck can afford to pay more taxes...but not me.
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I understand members of your campaign staff are looking to research into Franklin D. Roosevelt's first 100 days in office.
Let me suggest a book which covers this period. It is titled "How Capitalism Saved America" by Thomas D. Lorenzo, published by Crown Forum, New York, N.Y. Chapter 10 should be of special interest.
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Discrimination.. is alive and WELL
Yes I am talking about the health care system…. When you have health insurance that you or your employer pays for or helps subsidize, you do not think about the cost of health care. When you get an MRI and the cost is $1250, you get the EOB - Estimate of Benefits and it indicates that the amount allowable by your insurance company is $275 and your portion is zero, you say to yourself.. how can that be? …but… boy I’m sure glad I have insurance.
BUT, if you do not have health insurance and you get the same MRI… you are on the hook for the $1250 instead of $275 the insurance company would have paid. To me that is discrimination against the uninsured. What happens to the difference in the insured case… it is written off as a tax loss. This is the same case for doctors.. office visit $138.. insurance pays $50, co pay $25.. Uninsured pays $138 instead of $75.
The insurance companies vary in what they pay for services…but the providers take what they offer. If it is too low..then they will not take the insurance from the companies…….
WE NEED a insurance system that negotiates fair and reasonable rates for all services and drugs to all insured or not. We need at a minimum the same coverage as our elected officials have. All children must have preventative care as well as care for illness. What is in the way of this are state laws which are different in each state.
Allow group insurance for common groups… There are over a million realtors in the US, and they cannot get group health insurance, because they are considered independent contractors, but as a group with common interests and national affiliations.
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America has spoken. And America says it’s time for change. Whether we like it or not the democratic election brought Barack Obama to its highest peak. It's not much, but it's a start. Newly elected Obama promised us change, and hoping the next four years brings enough change. We’ve all heard of Obama’s “Blueprint for Change.” If you’re an employee of the federal government, and you want to see just how it will affect you. According to Eric Pianin and Lois Romano of the Washington Post, there are dozens of proposals in his Blueprint that could change the career path of many of the 1.8 million current federal employees. He plans to look at all the waste, and cut line by line. “I am not a Democrat that believes we can or should defend every government program just because it’s there,” he says. That may sound scary for some, and send others running for personal loans, but bear in mind that Obama has a broad domestic agenda that could move skilled employees from threatened divisions into new programs under his policies. He also plans to encourage young public servants with his sense of idealism to get involved in restoring the American dream through service.
Click to read more on Personal Loans
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I understand the need for bailout to keep the economy going and to save jobs but do not let the companies or CEOs profit. If you bail them out: fire the failed CEOs, no bonuses, no golden parachutes...and no increased credit card interest rates....people are barely surviving now...why should we have to pay more to save exceptionally poor management.
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Tax should be taken off of unemployment as this money is needed to buy gas to look for jobs and pay for food. When tax time comes and amounts over $2000 is required to pay tax on this money most of us do not have it if we have not found a job in 20 weeks.
Senators and comgressmen should not hold office more than 2 full terms as they become to powerful and when you reach 80 and 90 years old which has happened in the past good judgement is not there for the better of the people.
I do not understand how these auto companies can take away benefits that were lifetime for retirees We have lost all our med, perscript,dental, etc from Chrysler. and lost a lot in the stock market which we will never recoop in our lifetime, now 80 years old.
If many of us in Fla lose our pensions you will have a lot of people with nothing to live on. What is the quarantee for our pensions if these auto makers go bankrupt??? I think we have a right to know. These retirement packages were given to help these companies save money many years ago and now they want to take all of these away from us! What are we suppose to do.? Again these were life time benefits and
now they take them away . Weren't these put in secure funds for the employees? They should have been.
Everybody that gets a paycheck should have a minimal amount of money taken from their paychecks to pay school taxes instead of putting the burden on the homeowners. It is not the mortages that people can't pay but all the increases in taxes. Let face it many of the people who have children do not own homes but do have children in our schools. They should also carry some of these expenses.
A big one is to stop people from doing jobs and wanting only cash payment so they do not have to pay tax on the money they receive such as cleaning houses. Also businesses that take cash so no tax must be paid on the money they receive. It must be nice to clean houses and make $1000 to $1500 under the table to clean houses and not pay tax on the money!!!! We need to get some control on these situations.We who do pay our taxes carry the burden.
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The way to cut over 50% nation wide electric use is easy.In every state of this country cannabis is in production.If it is legalize people will shut off there lights nation wide and put there plants out side.Saving untold amounts of energy.Then make it like cigarettes and tax and regulate it.All of the country's money problems will be over in less than a year,remember grown already nation wide.As well then the oil from the seeds can run our cars,no more oil dependents.President Washington said is is every American duty to grow hemp in there yards.Our first president knew how important it was to the survival of our country when will we wake up founding presidents words?
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Without a doubt the present government legislative and executive branch are behaving as bulls in a china shop. Why are they incapable of targeting cash
Problem 1: Home Foreclosures - increase deduction on owner occupied homes to 200% of interest piad - to be phased out over 5 years
Problem 2: Auto Industry -Reintroduce car interest payment deduction at 100% - to be phased out over 5 years.
Probem 3: Failure of Banks to Lend: Federally insure all loans that are backed with a 10% down payment
Problem 4 Finance Industry - Government should let it collapse furthur and buy remenants on the cheap.
Voila problem dealt with.
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I suggest that you have MIT/IBM invent a computerised traffic system. If the average amount of time spent waiting at traffic signals can be reduced the USA would save about 1 trillion gallons of gas (imported) per year for every minute saved.
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Dear Mr. Obama,
Congrats.
Points to consider:
Provide every tax paying individual with a stimilus visa card. This will force people to spend not save therefore increase spending.
Stop bailing out corporations. Have government loan org.Fannie mae and Mac provide home loans/refy everyone who purchased their home in 2005 & 2008. Give low interest rate. At current market value.Yes eating the cost of dropped values. Big banks will not talk to u until u have defaulted on the loans. Ruin your credit then they will talk to u. follow this pattern to 2004 & 2007. Make money on interest in the long run.
Have govt. org provide low interest loans for solar & wind power for homes. All school & govt. build ing on alternative energy.
Balance power in palastine. Give palastine arms & aid like we give Isreal & then let them fight it out. OR stop blindly supporting Isreal. U want muslims to crawl to u just be fair in matters for palastine and others later.
Every public school should have a afterschool porgram for kids up to 12th. Offer homework help & snack. Offer parenting classes for parents. It is sad that if parents make money they dont get help for their kids. Parents who work our out of the house for 12 hrs. a day. What happens to the kids? When they come home they are 2 tired to help and cook dinner.
Provide schools with funds to: 6th grade camp in mountains, 8th grade tour around country on train, 12 grade tour world on part of it. Sad but most people only know their state. That is why they dont care about the world.
Companies that outsource pay high taxes their good considered imports. All imports taked at 100%. yes no more .99 stores.
Everyone holding govt. jobs can + their parents to health ins. living w/or w/o parents. Later every one can. Watch Ins. co. cry.
Start a mono rail system for transport. Give commuters a tax break.
Help the elderly with better health care. Access to public transportation.
I appologize for my shor hand. I want to write more. Got to go for now. May God Bless you and your family. I pray for your safety. May God shower his mercy, guidance and compassion to you and your family. I am willing to do all I can.
It is hard to do things for our kids when you have to pay for everything. If you are poor there is still help. I went to school in a poor area and they had programs such as upard bound for us. I tried to provide a better life for my kids and that is not available in my area. Even summer shcool is not available to everyone. Just those who are failing. Why cant we save kids befor they fall. Now my son is failing and I cant find help. Every thing I have to pay for. But a better house in a good neighborhood cost more money then we have to pay even for field trips for our kids. We are streched thin. Cant affor the mortgage anymore. Borrowing from peter to pay paul. Hoping things will change.
Best wishes.
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Dear President Obama
I Love what you are doing with this new Administration. You've announce cuts on top salaries for you staff. Now we need all top officials to pay for their own expenses. Car's,travel,food etc not middle class tax payers. That should help boost the economy and put money back into the Joe the Plumber picket such as mines and the not so middle class. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!
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Are you sending this to President Obama? Please add a suggestion about welfare. How about if you are on welfare, you must also be on birth control? If someone is unable to care for the children they already have, they must not increase the load, or they are OFF welfare?
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Dear President Obama,
I have been listening to the pundits this morning and it seems they feel that we need more consumers and more jobs. I remember in the seventies we could write off the interest on any consumer spending done by credit card. I know that credit is a problem for many of us, but I also know that if we could write off the interest charged on consumer items, there would definitely be more spending. Otherwise it is simply too costly to make purchases. The government gives tax breaks to business that purchase SUVs, trucks, and other "capital" equipment. For consumers, "capital" equipment is furnaces, roofs, automobiles, air conditioners, appliances, etc. Why can't the consumer have a tax break using the interest as a write off? Wealthy people can pay cash for their needs, the middle class needs a loan plan.
Thank you,
Donna Lock
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this is just a suggestion that i think president obama would agree with and perhaps make the changes to correct this unjust system.this is not my personal situation but i have alot of friends that fit into this criteria that suffer every day because of the system.basically i believe that a person should be granted the opportunity to get a decent job with a felony on there record providing they have not been in trouble for at least 5 years and should not be condemned for the rest of there life.i think everybody makes a mistake in life time to time and it is not fair to not offer them a chance to better themselves and have equal opportunity to the american dream.the prez says its time for change well this is just some food for thought...
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Mr. Obama,
We're making great progess but something I think you should consider is allowing folks to deduct credit card interest again even if it is for a limited number of years. With so many having to live off credit cards and the very high rates of interest, I think you will see even more improvement in our economy. Thanks!
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Mr. President,
I cannot claim this idea as my own, but it is one of the best that I have come across yet. Since it is planned to give out millions and trillions in stimulus payments over the next two years why don't we put those payments to good use.
There are approximately 55 million seniors over the age of 50 years old still in the work force because they cannot afford to retire. If you would give each of our senior citizens 1 million dollars a piece based on the following stipulations:
1. They are required to quit/retire from their present employment (opens up approximately 50 million jobs).
2. They are required to pay off present mortgage and/or buy a house (takes approximately 50 million houses of the market or out of foreclosure).
3. They are required to buy an American made vehicle (bumps up American made car sales approximately 50 million)
So, this would create more jobs, help the housing market and stop all of our car manufacturers from laying off workers. Also, if these seniors cooperate, it would leave money for their children (if there is any left when they are deceased).
Thanks for taking this into consideration.
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