Dear Obama

December 6, 2011

“It is not by any means the sole task of the presidency to think about the present. One of the chief obligations of the presidency is to think about the future…President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Dear President Barak Obama,

I appreciate you responding in regard to the twenty letters I sent to you, though I am skeptical and quite sure a campaign associate wrote me back. It was pretty obvious and evident when the letter information pertained to nothing that written, not directly at least. It sounded more like propaganda and promotion for reelection. I would like to assure that though I am well below the poverty line I am not stupid. As I stated earlier, I voted for you in 2008. This was my first election and I really was convinced that I was making a difference. It is crazy to me, to how all of these African Americans really think that you stand for us, when you have more in common with your counterparts. It is obvious that you do not represent us or any average American but hold your own political agendas at heart. I only wish that our race of people would wake up and realize this. It even more ironic how you spend your time trying to appease and please the opposite party instead of trying to please the people who helped you get into office. I have read the Audacity of Hope and it is pretty apparent that you have never lived the average American struggle. You will never the know the feelings of spending your last twenty dollars to pay postage to send to letters to someone who does not even deem you good enough or important enough to even get a true signature from the president. You probably did not even read my letter. Instead I get a polished stump speech which I have heard since sophomore college year.  That same speeches that remind me of nothing more than the lion and the fox. You are a smart man so why would not would you believe, that the economy is the most important element of democracy that we need to fix. Why would a legacy be more important than the economy? And by legacy I mean being able to pass a health care bill that Clinton could not pass. By legacy I mean making your stamp in the White House as president or being known for the “accomplishment.” Which if it were to get overturned by the U.S. Supreme Courts, would not that be a waste of your first term as president. I honestly believe if I were Bill Gates, I would have your attention and ear. If I could contribute a huge amount of money to your political campaign like Lady Gaga, you would hear me loud and clear. But all I will ever be is an American citizen. Not a Republican, nor a Democrat. I care about my fellow citizens. I care about education. I care about justice and injustice. I care about the next generation that will inherit the 17 trillion dollar debt. And since we are number 27 in education, will the next generation even be able to handle to this? Finally, I care about poverty. As I stated before I am a college student living in a homeless shelter in Independence, Missouri. I know this will not be my situation forever and that it is only the beginning to a new horizon. However, I remember the very days that I took time out of my very busy schedule to write you and all that I received was a letter of jumbled words I could have done very well without. I could not even get tickets to the white house. Nothing but a lousy letter not even in response to things I hold dear. There is a difference between speaking well and being able to accomplish things you set out and promise to do. You cannot blame congress for everything at some point in your presidency, the leader you were meant to be has to emerge. The system is made up of the majority and minority. The winners and the losers and to the winners goes the spoil. President Barack Obama you cannot please everyone and you really need to be more dominant and assertive, instead weak and easily manipulated. It seems as if you are a puppet for the Republican Party right now.  My dream is to is to be attorney who advocates for those without a voice. I would also like to run for the Senate and House of Representatives. To represent the peoples struggle who I know so very well. The people, who almost always go without representation in Washington.  It seems as if the gap between the American people and their elected officials has widened so far that nobody in congress actually has to care about the job that they have been sent to do by the American people. Congress does not have to care about the 8.6 unemployment rate because they have job and their jobs are secure by a 85-95 reelection rate. They do not have to budge at the housing crisis because their homes are secured. Their families are also comfortable and secured. All of Washington walks on the sunshine, while we Americans walk and live in a daily hell. When will anyone leave the party labels at home and work for the cause and benefit of Americans of today. I hope soon for I growing for tired of the same games and am becoming quite discouraged.

Yours Truly,

Brittany Ciera James

P.S. All votes counts.

Dear Congress

To Whom It May Concern:

Dear Congressman,

What happened to the traditional values that shaped, what once was a great country? When did the world of politics become so one-sided and bias? What does the behavior and action of congress say about the future? And what is in store for the next generation, who will have to lead by example? My name is Brittany James and I’m a twenty-two year old Political Science student and also a concerned on-looker of the bitterness, dividedness, and hatred we call American Politics. I am very disappointed and I know this is not the ideas of a democracy the founding fathers had. The main specific issue I am speaking of is the three-hundred-and-sixty- five-days of bickering back and forth between both democrats and republican. Does congress ever get anything accomplished? It would be understandable, if each party respected each other’s’ views, not agree, but respect. Instead of pointing the finger and using one another parties as scapegoats, point at yourselves. All of you. Who in Washington has not an agenda? I have almost given up on what used to be a very fine system. And when I was younger, I was very proud to be an American. I would like to be a politician one day but not if this is what it has come. I seriously believe that education, the economy, and American values are the problems that need our immediate attention. Our educational institutions needs repair without question. How will teachers inspire students to have a hunger for knowledge, when the right resources to reach their children are not made available? How can teachers improve their successes of teaching a child if they are constantly faced with the disposition of practically raising a child? Schools use to actually be a safe haven for abused and at risk children now, we cannot even send children to school without the thought of them being in danger. And for the most part, parental control and accountability has everything to do with how a child/adult associates in a society. It should not be a teachers job to teach and parent the children in their classrooms. Why are teachers penalized for a educational system they had no part in destroying? For example, some teachers are fired if a large amount of students do not pass standardized testing. Furthermore, how are these test fair when children learn in more than one way? My biggest concern is definitely about the next generation and their ability to handle this country. “They say there isn’t no hope for the youth and the truth is there isn’t no hope for the future.” Explained the late poet Tupac Shakur. The children are America’s future and it all ties into restructuring institutions. Children are like institutions and what we put into them is what we eventually get out. If we put half of our effort as Americans into fighting for better education, better jobs, and reshape the American values we were once true to, we could be the best nation. The economy is not a good excuse for everything. If this nation truly wanted to succeed we could. We had the ability to surpass the economical strife’s of the 1930’s under the terms of FDR. Why are their jobs being transferred across seas? Why hasn’t America produced anything other than cars in last century? Why isn’t there a better program for teachers, doctors, and police officers when they graduate from schools? They are the people we need to guarantee the success of our economy. How come students in those fields are not encouraged and recruited to join the career field with the promise of at least half tuition paid automatically and a guaranteed job?  Does it really take for two people on the city transportation to think of things like this versus the average congress member who is paid about $174,000 per year? This is ridiculous. Do not abuse your power and leadership by not doing what you know is right. It is like you all are saying we can get paid to not work and promote our personal view of the world. It really all center on American values. Finally, the root of the problems lies in the American system itself. It is old and it is definitely time to start reworking problems from the root. My example of congress fixing an issue or just the government trying to fix anything in general, is the analogy of trying to stick meat to dry bones, it just falls off. We need to restructure our system slowly but surely from the beginning, to the middle, and end. Quick fixes get us nowhere but relieved for the moment, to face the same problem again. American values have fallen short of what we originally stood for in earlier years. The Judicial, Presidential, and Congress branches are supposed to set the example for the people to live by. Instead, they spend a whole year arguing about why their party is right. What happened to consensus? The task of setting ones personal views aside to get to the business of resolving a greater issue at hand? Is it really that hard to be open minded or meet in the middle? What good is it to argue all year around? One of the biggest issues is when we as country focus on one problem, ignorant people  take us further back in history to revisit issues that have already been resolved and that should be laid to rest. It is like driving while looking in the rearview, you will never get ahead or worst you will wreck. I do not identify with either party because while I appreciate the “individualism” party identification allow us to feel as constituents, I believes it separates us more than it “represents” us as a nation and what Americans stand for. I believe we should have more independents in congress, those who do not hold agendas. In that respect, this political game has been more of ‘democrats versus republicans.” Instead of “republicans and democrats” those who we are depending upon to change this nation but who cannot seemingly do their jobs as professional adults. I think most of congress forget whose interest they are actually representing. In conclusion, I really would like to believe there is hope for our future. If people lose hope then there will be no reason to live or obey laws. I am not against the government and I do believe that we can create a better future for our children. The problem is most politicians are living for today and today only. This is very selfish and careless on the nation’s leader’s behalf. We depend on our government and its employees to do their jobs accordingly and as if someone were watching their every move. When I make it to Washington, I will fight for what I was taught America stood for. I will fight for our children to have the best education. I will fight for decency between the interaction of parties and sensitive issue. It is almost 2012, we are better than this.

Sincerely Brittany James

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