Weekly Comments: A Letter to the President #582

Dec. 20, 2009

My Dear Mr. President:

I hope you don‛t mind that I am writing this letter directly to you. The last time I did such a thing, it was to President Coolidge in 1926. Now when you read of my concerns, you may say, "Why didn‛t you write your Senator?"

Well, sir, I would have, but have you noticed lately how much it costs to get a Senator‛s vote? Of course there‛s nothing new about a Senator swapping votes. In 1930 I wrote, "A Senator learns to swap his vote at the same age a calf learns which end of his mother is the dining room." So I was not surprised to learn this week that Nebraska‛s Senator Nelson had swapped his vote on the health care bill for a record amount that could add up to Billions of dollars. Sen. Landrieu of Louisiana is crying that she was shortchanged because she only got $300 Million for her vote. The only way Nebraska could have gotten more was if Warren Buffett had donated his wealth to the state instead of giving it to Bill Gates.

So back to my reason for writing. This country is going deeper and deeper into debt, and you aren‛t helping. You have stated that if we don‛t pass health care reform, we‛ll go bankrupt. Then you favor a health bill that will add to the debt, instead of lowering it. You go to a global warming conference in Denmark (where it was snowing) and promise to give a Trillion dollars that we don‛t have to other countries (including China which has more of our money than we do).

I don‛t believe in annoying a President without offering a solution. Spend the next few weeks, while Congress is gone, digging up ways to cut spending. Then every day you announce a few of these spending cuts by stating, "My fellow Americans, I know you are reducing your spending to live within your means, and so am I." And then you announce the particular cuts for that day. Here‛s a few to ponder. Move the terrorist trials back to Gitmo. If an economist searched for the most expensive place on earth to hold a trial, he couldn‛t find one costlier than New York. Next, cancel the new prison for them in Illinois. Just say "We can‛t afford to spend $100 million to replace one we already paid for at Guantanamo Bay. We guard the prisoners there with a couple of hundred military; no need to hire 3000 in Illinois to do the same job."

Instead of giving $100 Billion a year to these other nations, think outside the box. They blame us for burning oil and coal and raising temperatures. If they want us to replace these cheap fuels with expensive solar and wind, let them pay us to do it. These poor flat island nations are concerned about the water rising; let ‛em sell their beachfront property and move to Tibet or Switzerland. We‛ve got millionaires eager to buy an island.

Then look around the White House and at the various departments spread all over Washington. There must be a few folks you could get along without. Check some old records of how many worked for previous presidents, like Jimmy Carter or Lyndon Johnson. I don‛t expect you to go back to Mr. Coolidge because he and Mrs. Coolidge practically ran the White House by themselves.

I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas. Don‛t be overly extravagant on the gifts. Ask Mrs. Obama what she wants, but if it involves travel remind her that you two just returned from Norway and Denmark. That‛s farther than most Americans can afford to go for the holidays.

Your accomplice in debt reduction,

Will

Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.