BY SHARON MARTIN
An open letter to President Obama:
My husband and I are staunch supporters of you and your administration. We haven’t agreed blindly with every move you’ve made, but we think you’re a good man and act in the best interest of the American people.
This isn’t the first crisis of ideology and it won’t be the last. This time, we urge you to stand your ground, no compromise. You can’t negotiate with terrorists, and holding the country’s economy hostage over ideology is terrorism.
Just so you know where we stand, we think the Affordable Care Act didn’t go far enough but what you got was a good start. You compromised with those who opposed you, even wanted you to fail, and you didn’t get their votes. So, no compromising now until this issue is resolved.
And when the crises are resolved – a clean Continuing Resolution, the debt ceiling raised so we can pay the bills already incurred – it will be time to negotiate.
Here are some things I’d like you to consider in the negotiations:
– The Keystone XL Pipeline is still a bad idea.
– Tweaking the tax on medical devices for new companies is better than repealing the tax outright.
– Scrap Race to the Top and start all over on that one. If the Tea Party doesn’t like Common Core, remind them that they must work in their home states on that issue. Promote the kind of education you want for your own daughters, the kind we all want for our children, rich in not only math and technology but also in the arts, music, literature, and life skills.
– Make campaign finance reform a priority so that rich corporatists cannot buy their minions into office.
– Consider changes to the way districts are formed so that the Congress truly resembles the country as a whole. No more gerrymandering!
– Continue to make climate change an issue. Mileage standards are a good start. Tax breaks for alternative energy production are something both parties should be able to support.
Work with the other side, but don’t give away those things that reflect on your core principles. That’s like spending down your savings instead of using the interest.
And one more thing: continue to rely on the good sense of your lovely wife. She may be the smartest adviser you have. She knows that the real issue is the health and wellbeing of our children and of families. All your decisions should work to that end.
– Sharon Martin lives in Oilton, OK and is a regular contributor to The Oklahoma Observer
I think the same way that you should stand your ground about not letting the pipe line go through, in OKlahoma we don’t need something else coming through our state that could up hurting the ground.
The things that you spoke about that definately struck up strong feelings in myself was when you brought up education for our children. So far, sadly, our children’s education is becoming less and less of a priority in the eyes of our “great” president. Without a strong education our children are set up for failure from the get go. How sad is it that we are so consumed with pushing more and more money into prisons and less into our children’s educations. The priorties are definately our of whack.
I disagree totally. Obama does not have the best interest of Americans. The Affordable Care Act is a joke. How is it going to help us?? People aren’t going to have enough money for groceries and other necessities if they’re having to pay for insurance premiums that are through the roof. I thought Obama was supposed to get us out of the mess we’re in. But we are still in debt and now the government is shut down because the President doesn’t want to negotiate with the bogus healthcare plan.