Our New President wants our input!!!

This is amazing! President-elect Barack Obama has a website dedicated to getting OUR input on what WE THE PEOPLE feel is most important. Like many others, I have just recently begun to take an interest in politics, in the face of the worst presidential administration I have seen in my lifetime. Barack Obama may not be perfect, and I'm sure he will make mistakes, but since the first time I saw him on the national stage I felt that this is an honest man, one who truly cares about the kind of world his children will inherit. With our economy broken, two pre-emptive wars and a government that has become OF THE CORPORATIONS, BY THE CORPORATIONS, our new president has his work cut out for him. We need to stay involved, and make sure our leaders continue to hear OUR voices. I have been writing to my congresspeople and senators for a few years now. This is the first time I have had the opportunity to write to the president and feel that there might be a chance of having my voice heard. Please join me in writing a note to Mr. Obama.

Here is my letter:

First of all, congratulations on your historic victory. As an ardent supporter of yours, I feel honored to be a part of history at this time.

As the first successful campaign to be overwhelmingly supported by small donations from millions of ordinary American people like myself, I hope that you will always work for us and repudiate the influence of special interests and lobbyists. This must start immediately in terms of regulating the expenses of all the companies which received bailout money. It is unconscionable that any executives of these companies be receiving multi-million dollar payouts, or throwing lavish company parties at the expense of taxpayers and shareholders.

Job creation should be at the forefront of your efforts. Give generous tax incentives to companies which create jobs here in the U.S. and raise taxes on those which are offshoring jobs. Raise import tariffs on goods that we can produce here.
"Green-collar jobs" should also be a huge priority. More tax incentives to producers and consumers of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Any bailout for the auto industry must also be accompanied by strict requirements to dramatically increase efficiency in a very short time frame.

Health care is of course another very urgent need. I know it is a complex task, and we don't necessarily want socialized medicine, but start by regulating the insurance industry. Require companies to provide coverage and to pool clients either by state or region. Institute caps on premiums. All premiums should be fully tax-deductible to whomever pays them (employers or individuals). Here is an idea: institute a nominal (1% or less) national sales tax on unhealthful items such as tobacco, alcohol and fast food to offset the tax deduction. Preventive medicine and integrative/holistic healthcare and education should be the cornerstone of a healthy society.

Of course one of the biggest concerns, and the largest drain on our national resources are the wars being waged in the Middle East. We need to get out of Iraq immediately while working on a withdrawal plan to get out of Afghanistan. If we MUST stay there longer, we need to work with our allies to get more assistance from them rather than shouldering the entire burden ourselves.

And most importantly, NO MORE PRE-EMPTIVE WAR!!! STOP the military-industrial complex. This goes back to being beholden to the people instead of the corporations that are profiting from the blood of innocent people.

No more unconditional support for Israel. They are our allies, yes, but as I see it they have been calling the shots. We need to use diplomacy to get them to play nice with their neighbors and renounce their actions when they overstep their boundaries.

These steps are just the beginning, but there is so much more to do. The system has been broken for a long time. It truly needs to be torn down and rebuilt so that Government once again becomes a servant of the people rather than of the corporations.

Once again, I am very happy to see that there will be sane and rational adult supervision in the White House. I will be paying close attention to your work as it unfolds, and am committed to doing my part in my community. I look forward to seeing the United States once more fulfill its promise as a beacon of hope and prosperity in the world. Yes we can!

Best regards,
Suzanne Ledo

Let's talk about Politics

I’m going to climb on my soapbox for a minute. Senator John McCain, who recently announced his candidacy for President in 2008, posted a question on Yahoo Answers asking for feedback on how to reduce government waste. Though there were some great, thoughtful answers, and some not so good, I was mainly appalled by the number of people who posted answers in the vein of “we elected you, it’s your job to fix it”.

Whether or not I agree with him on the issues, I thought it was awesome that the Senator posted a question on a public forum asking for our feedback. We have a representative Republic, and it IS our job to tell our representatives what we think and what we would like them to do. We are not supposed to sit back and let these folks decide everything without our input! With democracy comes responsibility.

The first part of that responsibility is to VOTE. I cannot believe how many people I have come in contact with who don’t vote. Statistics show that only around 50% of eligible American voters show up to the polls. If you don’t vote, you are letting other people decide for you. Before you cast your vote, it’s also necessary to find out about the candidates and the issues. Don’t rely on the TV media. Go to the candidates’ web sites, find other articles about them online. and if they’ve been in public office for a while, find out about their voting record on the issues you care about.

A good non-partisan resource I have found is congress.org. It’s a grassroots citizen’s forum with tools to help navigate the confusing political process. You can find out who your representatives in the House and Senate are, you can sign up to get a weekly e-mail update of upcoming legislation, and find out how your representatives voted. The e-mails will often include a form that you can fill out with a couple of clicks to write a personal e-mail to your Senators or Congressperson.

Besides Federal representatives, we also have State representatives. I have written several e-mails to my two state senators, and every time I have gotten a personal response, sometimes the same day. I believe that the best way to effect real change is from the bottom up – start with your local city council. Find out what’s going on in your neighborhood. It’s all about getting involved.

I have a real life example to share. My friend Debbie lives in an older neighborhood here in Scottsdale AZ. The city provides grants for public art projects. As my friend thought it would be a good idea, she got some of her neighbors together and they applied for an art installation in the neighborhood. The city chose an artist who proposed a fun and funky design to liven up a dirt lot at the main street leading to their enclave. They held neighborhood council meetings to get feedback from the neighbors. Not many people showed up, until the city actually started breaking ground for the project.

Then, several neighbors decided they did not like the artwork. They contacted the newspaper. They attended city hall meetings. They wrote to the Mayor. In the end, they got what they wanted. The project was cancelled. My friend is disappointed, but she realized the power of just a few voices.

We may not have a perfect system, and the current two-party political system leaves much to be desired. But we do have the power to change and influence it, IF we decide to get involved.