Letters to the Rockville Centre Herald Aug. 11, 2011

Mr. President, are you listening?

The following is an open letter to President Barack Obama.

When Bill Clinton left office, we had a surplus. His successor proceeded to get us into a war that was a sham. George W. Bush lied to us and spent a billion dollars a day looking for weapons of mass destruction that did not exist. Then he declared “Mission Accomplished” when it was not. Worse, he shed American soldiers’ precious blood, lives and limbs in an exercise in nonsense. He failed to avenge Sept. 11. You did that!

Now we have a severe deficit and a credit downgrade to deal with. Part of that is from eight years of Bush mismanagement. Some of that is the business cycle, and no president has much to do with that.

But here are some things you can do to help. Stop all outsourcing. If jobs are the answer, there are thousands of jobs to be had by simply repatriating them. Tax every major company that outsources.

Create a flat tax that taxes all Americans and corporations fairly and evenly. Eliminate all loopholes. That includes you, billionaires and Exxon Mobil!

As for Wall Street, let’s regulate it, big time. Increase penalties for white-collar crime. Get rid of all these absurd derivatives that turned Wall Street into Las Vegas.

Let’s reintroduce the draft. Let every young American who is mentally and physically able serve his or her nation for two years right out of high school. At the end of two years, discharge them unless they wish to stay. They can then go to college or get vocational training, and Uncle Sam can pay the first two years if they pick a major that serves humanity.

As for health care, those who are legitimately ill and legitimately poor should be taken care of, and we all should pay for it. This is what a great nation does. Those who show up in ER’s with running noses should be sent home. Those who have jobs should pay for their own care.

As for education, some children must be left behind — the ones who do not warrant promotion. We need to start raising the bridge and not lowering the water. Work hard, do your best, and you’ll do well. And if not, then there’s nothing wrong with being a sanitation worker, a truck driver (we need them badly) or a laborer. Not everyone needs to or should go to college.

End teacher tenure. Teaching is a sacred trust, not a job for life. Do your job well and you stay; do it poorly and you’re fired.

As for energy, spend that NASA budget on figuring out how to drill domestically without creating a biohazard. We have the resources. We need to tap them sanely and safely.

And a word to the ladies and gentlemen of Congress: Get to work. Work 10 hours a day, 5 days a week 48 weeks a year like the rest of us. Pay for your own medical insurance and contribute to your own 401(k)! Who the hell do you think you are, making 170,000 a year and working part-time?

As for term limits, how about no more than four terms in the House and two in the Senate? That’s enough. Do some good and then leave. Our representatives were elected to make this nation work, not to seize the machinery.

The bottom line is this Mr. Obama: I like you. I believe in you. I’m ready to give you another four years to get it done, but I need to see some action now. In the end, we’re not Democrats or Republicans, we’re Americans. That’s not some jingoistic pablum. We are close to veering way off the course the Founding Fathers had in mind. Get us back on track, Mr. President, and we will be a better nation, you will have made history, and even S&P will take notice.

Ted D. Gluckman

Rockville Centre