Dear President Obama:
I would like to talk about hope. And I want to talk about despair too. Many, many Americans have hope but there are those who have gone from hope directly into the pit of despair. For them there is not hope left. What could they possibly hope for now? People in grocery stores having to put pack 2 gallons of milk and 3 boxes of store brand cereal can only hope that their children standing with them in line will stop crying because they wanted milk and cereal. The despair of the parent or parents is obvious. They apologize over and over to the people in line and the clerk because they had to hold up the line while they have food for their children put back. Sometimes it breaks my heart that I can’t quietly say to the clerk please ring those things on my bill. Oh I do it when I can but I’m a retiree on disability and a part time job that nets my husband and I have an income of about $1800 a month out which at least $400 goes into drugs, gap insurance and drug gap insurance.
But this isn’t about me because we have our home and we try to live within the money we get. My husband who is younger than me works part of the year for the State of Virginia in the Agriculture Department certifying cattle scales and that is now in question with all the state budget cuts. He has reached the “out of hope” frame of mind of landing any kind of work in his field of construction but as I said we hold on.
The people who can’t hold on are my concern. People who couldn’t afford to have a job while the oil industry played with the fuel prices, people who went to their factory job one morning and were told the plant was shutting down, men who used their last bit of money to pay for a course at a truck driving school being told this weekend that the school was closed as of TODAY because they had no money to fuel the trucks so some men who drove 2 hours to get to the school returned home with the feeling their tuition is just money they’ll never see again and they won’t be getting that job they had counted on when they received their commercial drivers license.
People are filled with hope that the Stimulus Package will bring them relieve but many are already saying that that “stimulus” will be spent by large companies on perks for themselves instead of hiring workers. Oh they’ll bid jobs but they plan on using the people they have or hire illegal aliens at cut rates to further enrich themselves.
Meanwhile the Republican Party of which I am a member plays games trying to stop forward progress in rescuing this country. To them it’s simply a game they play because they don’t concern themselves with 2 gallons of milk and 3 boxes of store brand cereal for their hungry children. In fact it appears many of our elected officials from both parties don’t even concern themselves with paying their lawful taxes until their tail is in a crack.
President Obama, Sir, I’m sure you are aware from your work in Chicago that when hope turns to despair the next stage eventually becomes anger. Anger with oneself for not providing, anger at the “system” because there’s no relief in sight, anger at Congress who had no difficulty spending trillions of dollars for war but can’t see that America’s people are close to losing their tiny hold on sanity and hope.
Please Sir I know you are a smart man and know these things but someone must now step up to the plate and ensure that the billions of dollars you pushed through Congress is not wasted in filling the pockets of the greedy and the corrupt. Somehow there must be a way and a means to keep the Stimulus dollars moving to where it needs to be.
Thank you for listening. I spent as much time and funds as we could afford supporting you when you were running for office and I shall remain steadfast in my support of you. Remember when things aren’t going as planned that there are millions who trust you and know you will do the right thing.
Sincerely,
