An Open Letter to the American Public

Since I wrote a letter telling Congress (http://sxydork.blogspot.com/2013/09/an-open-letter-to-congress.html) what I thought of their job performance it seems only fitting I let everyone else know what I think about the current budget fight and very vocal viewpoints.

*WARNING* This will not be nice.  Some people may will be offended *WARNING*

Dear Fellow American,

It's nice to see so many involved and interested in what is going on currently with our government.  Wish it were like this all year.  

A number of you are very vocal about shutting the government down.  You've expressed how it would be a good thing, how it wouldn't have that big an impact on people, and how everyone should be for a shutdown because it would be good for the country.

Here's my response to this.

What arrogance!  I apparently missed the memo naming you God, able to determine for a large segment of the population that it's ok to take away their livelihood in the name of the greater good of the country.  Last time I checked I didn't elect any of you to represent me.  So who the hell do you think you are to decide what I can and can not afford to deal with financially?  Who the hell are you to decide it's no big hardship to take away my paycheck, especially those of you who aren't losing yours.

Tell you what, since you don't feel paychecks are important I'll make you a deal.  For each day of pay I lose from a shutdown you send me a day of your pay.  Seems only fair.

An Open Letter to Congress

Dear Sirs and Madams:

First, let me introduce myself. I am an American citizen and a voter, also known as a constituent. There are a lot of others just like me in this country though it would seem some of you have never actually met any of us.

So the purpose of my letter is to tell you a little about us, ‘we the people’ of this great county. Maybe if you actually got to know us you would have a better grasp of our expectations, because truly, your job is all about our expectations. This is non-partisan so please don’t see it as focused on one party or the other. I hold you both at equal fault.

Here’s the thing, we, the people, elected you into office for one purpose and one purpose only. That would be to represent us, our desires, our expectations. You work for us. We pay your salary. In general we don’t care about your power plays, your fundraising, your campaigning or your grandstanding. Heck, most of us don’t believe 99% of what you even say.

The sad, cold, hard truth though is you have failed us miserably. You have failed to act in our best interest. You have failed to work together to improve this country. You have quite simply failed at the job we are paying you to do. Shall we take a look at your failures?

1. You have had a year to put together a new budget yet you once again wait until the 11^th hour and then use the budget as a weapon in an attempt to get what you want. Have you even given a single thought to how your procrastination and partisan politics will affect people? Have you thought about the people who will suddenly be without paychecks but will still have mortgages, car payments, electric bills and groceries to pay for? Do you seriously think these people are more interested in your moral high ground than they are their own financial hardship caused by you? So the question begs to be asked, why haven’t you done your Constitutional job yet and finalized a budget? It would appear you have failed to do this job.
   
   
2. We have a system for passing laws as well as repealing them. Obamacare is a law, passed and upheld by the Supreme Court. This is true whether you like it or not. If you don’t like the law you’ve had three years to get the support to repeal it. So why wait again until the 11^th hour to try and circumvent the law, particularly to the detriment of the very people who elected you? Again, it’s real easy to hold your moral high ground when you personally have nothing to lose. So now the question is why haven’t you been able to get the support you need in three years to legally repeal a law you don’t like? Is it easier to make grand sounding speeches and get press time than to actually do your job? It would appear you have failed in this as well.
   
   
3. We are at war on more fronts than I think most Americans can even keep track of. Yet oddly enough I don’t think most us have any desire to be in these wars. We did not elect you to Americanize the world. We elected you to take care of our country. Yet, while we face constant economic meltdown, violence, deteriorating infrastructure, homelessness, joblessness and countless other problems you have been sending our people, our money and our supplies to help out other countries. We are supposed to be your first priority. The question is simple.  Why does the rest of the world come before us? It would appear you have failed to do this job.
   
   
4. One of your main jobs per the Constitution is to protect our borders. Based on the heated debate over this you have obviously failed to do this job.
   
   
5. Our Constitution was written to give us, the constituents, the power over the government. Your job is to uphold, protect and defend that very Constitution. Yet you have twisted, perverted and even out-right ignored it in the name of ‘national security’ or protecting us from ourselves. We are a strong and resourceful nation. We do not need our government to take care of us. It is simply not your job to tell us who we can love, sleep with, marry, what we can drink, eat, smoke or chew or what we can or can’t do to our own bodies. To be treated as a criminal just because we want to ride a plane is insulting. So I ask, why do you feel you are above the very document you swore to protect and defend?  When it comes to upholding the Constitution, it would appear you have failed at this job.

I fear you have lost sight of who you are and what your job is. You have come to believe your own press and the sycophants around you who tell you how wonderful you are so they can curry favour. You have come to believe that power is what your job is about and you pursue that power over all else. You hold elaborate parties, fundraisers and inaugurations while the people who you are supposed to work for are jobless, homeless and starving. You appear to not care about us, we the people, the voters at all. And that is your biggest failure.