Monday, April 6, 2009

A Letter to the Federal Government

Dear Mr President, Your Cabinet, Members of Congress and The US Senate, with all due respect . . .

You were not elected by nor do you serve any particular ethnic, economic or religious group or any particular political party. You were elected by the citizens of this great country and you serve us all equally.

This great nation was created over 200 years ago by leaders with vision, courage and humility. They created a nation based on freedom. The freedom to fail and the right to inherit the consequences of failure, the freedom to succeed and the right to enjoy the benefits of that success and the right to speak out without fear of criticism or retaliation.

You are all dangerously close to trashing over 200 years of blood, sweat, effort, passion and patriotism. I strongly urge that you let go of your arrogance, shortsightedness, special interests, stupidity and lack of courage and recognize that you enjoy your position at the discretion of your employer, The Board of Directors of America, its citizens.

When the President of the United States believes he has the authority to fire the President of an American Corporation, regardless of whether that organization was the beneficiary of US Government funds or his effectiveness as a leader is not consistent with the purpose under which this country was founded.

When members of the President’s cabinet refuse to accept responsibility for mistakes, poor judgment or poor vision this is not acceptable behavior by your Board of Directors.

When members of Congress and the US Senate continue to play politics while denying that they are doing so, do they really believe that the average American citizen doesn’t see through their behavior?

When our government in general acts as if it is not accountable to all of us but just a few of us.

When your Board is treated with disrespect, lies, misrepresentations and manipulation, we do not treat these lightly.

As the signer of this letter I am only speaking for myself, but please keep in mind that I am a member of your Board and you do serve only at my discretion and the discretion of my fellow board members.

Here’s what I suggest.

1) You stop worrying about keeping your jobs and start doing your jobs.

2) Recognize that you are responsible to all of us not some of us and that includes all of the people who will be members of your future Boards for years and years to come.

3) Start acting with integrity and not party affiliation. You are Americans first - don’t ever forget that. Although many of you say the right words, but your actions continue to be partisan. We are not stupid.

4) Recognize that this country, in less than 250 years, has become one of the greatest countries in the history of the world. And this greatness was accomplished by us, your Board and not you, our leaders.

5) Get back to the values grounded in the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. Stop apologizing for our greatness, our spirit and our goals. We want to be good Global neighbors, but in the end, we are your Employer not other Countries.

6) We accept that we are part of a Global Village, but we are entitled to out unique values, rights, economic lifestyle and individual future regardless of the views of other Countries and their temporary leaders.

7) Stop patronizing us and treating us like children. We are adults and we can handle truth. We might not like it, but no matter what, we will deal with reality and we will overcome as we always have for over 200 years.

8) Stop rewarding failure and punishing success.

9) Accept the simple fact that increasing the money supply will not rebuild our confidence in this economy or your ability to manage it.

10) Stop dealing in fear tactics and threats.

11) You wanted the job. You ran and were elected. Stop blaming the previous administrations or people for your problems. Grow up and deal with them without blame.

12) Take responsibility for your actions, decisions and behaviors and stop hiding behind anyone who is willing to act as your shield.

Therefore; Mr President, You’re Cabinet, Members of Congress and The US Senate, with all due respect . . .

We want you to recognize and accept that your position is only a temporary one and that if you continue to try and shove bad decisions, poor judgment, a lack of integrity and allegiances to only a few of us rather than all of us, down our throats, we will terminate you.

Remember, you report to us, we don’t report to you so start acting with all of our present and future best interests and not just a select few of us - in mind or you will be fired.

Feel free to contact me if you would like some other recommendations for improving your behavior.


Sincerely,
an American Citizen
Member of the American Board of Directors