KCornett
10-21-2008, 04:18 AM
I would like to thank you all for allowing me to become a member of your forum. I have typed a letter to Obama, and I want max dissemination.
Please feel free to copy, paste and forward to whomever you can think of. I appreciate your help and support.
God Bless America!
The letter-
An Open Letter to Senator Obama et al.
Senator, I am a middle class American. I work hard everyday, and have worked hard pretty much everyday of my life since I was about 13. I have mowed lawns, cut firewood, sold kindling for $5 a wheelbarrow load, sat, topped, cut, stripped and hung tobacco. I have bailed hay, picked tomatoes; tasseled corn as well as worked fast food, worked as a waiter.
I joined the National Guard while I was a junior in high school, attended basic training, returned finished my senior year of high school and then off to AIT. I wanted to go active duty immediately but because of the rules in place I had to wait until the following summer. So, I worked construction with my uncle, and got a job as a Developmental Skills Technician at Muscatatuck State Hospital. I worked these jobs until I was eligible to go active duty the following June.
When I did go active, I was assigned to Fort Campbell, KY and a member of the storied 101st ABN division for three years. I was an infantry medic during this time and I learned that the men that I served with were willing to die for me, and I for them. When the time came for reenlistment, I opted for nursing school and attended the Army’s Practical Nurse Course. After I graduated, I spent time back at Fort Campbell, in Korea and then Fort Hood, TX. It was after my time at Fort Hood that I left the service so that I may spend time with my family.
I got a job and started working as soon as possible. I also started school for my Bachelor’s degree. I worked full time, went to school full time, was a member of the reserves and still managed to spend time with my family. After I completed my Bachelor’s, I almost immediately began my Master’s Degree. I completed that December of last year. Just for the record, I am an OIF veteran.
The reason that I state all this is merely to show that what I have, I have worked damn hard for. I wasn’t the smartest kid in school, and I did not always make the best choices. I can not say that I have had it easy my whole life. My Mom passed away when I was 11, my first step mother was abusive; and often it was a struggle for my Dad to provide us with everything that we needed. He did; however, and did so without the ‘help’ of the government.
I have provided for my family in the same manner. I have had help; but it was from my family, and it was almost always paid back, though there were occasions where the assistance was a gift to get us going.
All this is germane because I believe that your policies will rather than foster a spirit of American Independence and growth will create an attitude of entitlement. The Founding Fathers of great nation, and make no mistake, it is the Greatest of Nations, said that we are endowed with certain inalienable rights: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. I have not read in the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution that we are guaranteed happiness, or even the basics of food and shelter.
Americans have always been a charitable people. Giving of themselves to their neighbors since the first colonists arrived. That being said; a systematic redistribution of wealth forced by the government is not what most Americans have in mind when they think Charity.
I keep hearing “the top 5%” or “tax breaks for the wealthy,” it seems to me that these statements or divisive and are intended to incite class warfare. These statements like the classic “rich get richer and poor get poorer” lead individuals to believe that wealth is finite and can only be garnered by the poorer among us when it is taken from the wealthiest. I do not believe these ideals to be even remotely accurate.
I believe that an individual chooses their own destiny and fate. There is always a choice. I do not feel sorry for the individual that was driving under the influence; I feel no empathy for the cold blooded murderers on death row, or any for the other criminals within the system. I believe people choose how their life will go when they decide education is not important. When they would rather have a cell phone, cable TV (or all the other ‘perks’ that apparently they feel they are entitled), than to save money for college or for when they retire.
There are those among us that do need help, Senator, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Individuals that can not help themselves such as; the developmentally disabled orphaned children, the infirm, and of course, the only ones that society truly owes a debt to, our Wounded Warriors.
You keep touting change and hope. What, exactly, Senator Obama do you intend to change? Do you mean to increase the tax burden on those that already pay 95% of the tax dollars in the U.S.? Do you intend to increase the health benefits and wages to the point where it is cheaper for employers to fire employees rather than pay the payroll tax and benefits? Do you intend to withdraw from Iraq before the job is finished, to leave the country in chaos and erase the gains that we have fought for? That, Sir, would dishonor our fallen more than anything. At what cost do your ‘hope’ and ‘change’ come?
The United States is about equality of opportunity, not about equality of results. The only thing that a sudden and extreme shift to the left would ensure is that everyone is equally miserable. I thank you for taking the time to read this and I would appreciate an explanation as why I should vote for you and your apparent policy of socialism; instead of Senator McCain.
Sincerely,
Kevin Cornett
Please feel free to copy, paste and forward to whomever you can think of. I appreciate your help and support.
God Bless America!
The letter-
An Open Letter to Senator Obama et al.
Senator, I am a middle class American. I work hard everyday, and have worked hard pretty much everyday of my life since I was about 13. I have mowed lawns, cut firewood, sold kindling for $5 a wheelbarrow load, sat, topped, cut, stripped and hung tobacco. I have bailed hay, picked tomatoes; tasseled corn as well as worked fast food, worked as a waiter.
I joined the National Guard while I was a junior in high school, attended basic training, returned finished my senior year of high school and then off to AIT. I wanted to go active duty immediately but because of the rules in place I had to wait until the following summer. So, I worked construction with my uncle, and got a job as a Developmental Skills Technician at Muscatatuck State Hospital. I worked these jobs until I was eligible to go active duty the following June.
When I did go active, I was assigned to Fort Campbell, KY and a member of the storied 101st ABN division for three years. I was an infantry medic during this time and I learned that the men that I served with were willing to die for me, and I for them. When the time came for reenlistment, I opted for nursing school and attended the Army’s Practical Nurse Course. After I graduated, I spent time back at Fort Campbell, in Korea and then Fort Hood, TX. It was after my time at Fort Hood that I left the service so that I may spend time with my family.
I got a job and started working as soon as possible. I also started school for my Bachelor’s degree. I worked full time, went to school full time, was a member of the reserves and still managed to spend time with my family. After I completed my Bachelor’s, I almost immediately began my Master’s Degree. I completed that December of last year. Just for the record, I am an OIF veteran.
The reason that I state all this is merely to show that what I have, I have worked damn hard for. I wasn’t the smartest kid in school, and I did not always make the best choices. I can not say that I have had it easy my whole life. My Mom passed away when I was 11, my first step mother was abusive; and often it was a struggle for my Dad to provide us with everything that we needed. He did; however, and did so without the ‘help’ of the government.
I have provided for my family in the same manner. I have had help; but it was from my family, and it was almost always paid back, though there were occasions where the assistance was a gift to get us going.
All this is germane because I believe that your policies will rather than foster a spirit of American Independence and growth will create an attitude of entitlement. The Founding Fathers of great nation, and make no mistake, it is the Greatest of Nations, said that we are endowed with certain inalienable rights: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. I have not read in the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution that we are guaranteed happiness, or even the basics of food and shelter.
Americans have always been a charitable people. Giving of themselves to their neighbors since the first colonists arrived. That being said; a systematic redistribution of wealth forced by the government is not what most Americans have in mind when they think Charity.
I keep hearing “the top 5%” or “tax breaks for the wealthy,” it seems to me that these statements or divisive and are intended to incite class warfare. These statements like the classic “rich get richer and poor get poorer” lead individuals to believe that wealth is finite and can only be garnered by the poorer among us when it is taken from the wealthiest. I do not believe these ideals to be even remotely accurate.
I believe that an individual chooses their own destiny and fate. There is always a choice. I do not feel sorry for the individual that was driving under the influence; I feel no empathy for the cold blooded murderers on death row, or any for the other criminals within the system. I believe people choose how their life will go when they decide education is not important. When they would rather have a cell phone, cable TV (or all the other ‘perks’ that apparently they feel they are entitled), than to save money for college or for when they retire.
There are those among us that do need help, Senator, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Individuals that can not help themselves such as; the developmentally disabled orphaned children, the infirm, and of course, the only ones that society truly owes a debt to, our Wounded Warriors.
You keep touting change and hope. What, exactly, Senator Obama do you intend to change? Do you mean to increase the tax burden on those that already pay 95% of the tax dollars in the U.S.? Do you intend to increase the health benefits and wages to the point where it is cheaper for employers to fire employees rather than pay the payroll tax and benefits? Do you intend to withdraw from Iraq before the job is finished, to leave the country in chaos and erase the gains that we have fought for? That, Sir, would dishonor our fallen more than anything. At what cost do your ‘hope’ and ‘change’ come?
The United States is about equality of opportunity, not about equality of results. The only thing that a sudden and extreme shift to the left would ensure is that everyone is equally miserable. I thank you for taking the time to read this and I would appreciate an explanation as why I should vote for you and your apparent policy of socialism; instead of Senator McCain.
Sincerely,
Kevin Cornett