Reply #131: I care [View All]

[American liberal]

Before I even read this thread, I just sent off my first-ever e-mail to the president. Not that he'll see it or care, but at least I took some action. It feels good. I will do it again and again and again.

Peace,
AL

*************

Dear President Bush:

I am writing because I am growing more discouraged every day with the direction you have been taking this great country. Your administration is the most secretive in recent history. Your tax cuts and huge spending bills are bankrupting the Treasury. We have the worst budget deficit in U.S. history! Trade deficits keep growing, the dollar grows weaker, I personally know many people who have seen their jobs outsourced to other countries, health insurance premiums continue to rise, environmental protection policies have seen the worst rollbacks in more than 30 years...and all the while the "Haves and the Have Mores" are enjoying record-setting profits!

It has to stop! With all due respect, Mr. President, your policies are running this country into the ground. Those of us at ground level and with our eyes open can see it plain as day. You call yourself a Christian and yet you are bent on destroying the U.S. middle class, the environment, and anything else that gets in the way of corporate profit motives.

I am writing because it is breaking my heart to see this country that I love so dearly be brought to its knees because of greed and fiscal irresponsibility. Shame on you, Mr. President.

Please get off your soapbox and your PR blitz that force feeds us daily installments of social security reform that we don't want. Please open your eyes to what's going on and listen to your detractors. Listen to your critics, also known as We the People. There are millions of us who are extremely disappointed in the choices you have made these last few years. You and your administration are destroying us. In the name of liberty and democracy, you must alter the course and bring this representative democracy back around to serving We the People, rather than the bottom line.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
My Name Here
City, State
USA


PS Here's the article that finally compelled me to write to you personally. Although I'm sure this correspondence will not make it to your desk, at least I can feel as if I'm doing something to stand up to the insanity.

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American Economy Threatened by Historic Deficit

"PA"
The US deficit in the broadest measure of international trade surged to an all-time high last year, increasing a potential threat to the American economy as the country sank deeper into debt to Japan, China and other nations.
The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the deficit in the US current account increased by 25.5% last year to a record 666 billion dollars (£346 billion). Forecasters said the 2005 deficit could be 100 billion dollars higher than that as the US continues to buy record levels of foreign consumer goods and oil.

Analysts worry the deficits are now so high that foreigners could at some point lose their appetite for dollar-denominated investments. That could lead to a rush for the exits, plunging the value of the dollar and stock prices while causing interest rates to soar.

Under that scenario, the higher interest rates would act as a severe drag on the US economy. They would forced up borrowing costs, for example, for home mortgages, auto loans and the investment spending businesses need to expand.

Analysts noted that the current account deficit is a record in dollar terms and in relationship to the total economy: 5.7% of the gross domestic product last year, compared with 4.8% in 2003.

“We can’t keep running current account deficits at these levels. It means we are borrowing nearly 6% of our GDP from the rest of the world and the gap is growing,” said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor’s in New York.

A Treasury report this week showed that foreigners now hold 1.96 trillion dollars in Treasury securities, 45% of the total that is publicly traded. Japan has the largest holdings at 701.6 billion dollars, followed by China at 194.5 billion dollars.

Democrats blame the Bush administration for the record trade deficits. The lawmakers say the country has not done enough to crack down on unfair trade practices that, the Democrats contend, have meant the loss of millions of US manufacturing jobs.

The dollar has fallen significantly over the past three years against the 12-nation euro, the British pound and the Canadian dollar, but that improvement has not shown up in an improving trade deficit because of the currency manipulation in China and several other Asian countries, analysts said.

Economists worry that the current account deficit could at some point trigger a dollar crisis.