It's tough not to tee off in a medium like email, but by the time one gets to letter writing there's an inherent frustration level. Exact transcript as sent through
whitehouse.gov contact page as follows:
President Obama -
It's that time of year again, to pay someone almost a 1% of my personal, pre-tax take home salary in order to negotiate the stupidly complicated and opaque tax code. Thanks in advance for making that a priority among your many tasks including browbeating China on their own monetary policy decisions, and pussyfooting around with oppressive jerks like Quadaffi, Somali pirates, and Mexican drug cartels.
Look, as a libertarian I just want to be left alone, also, I think other people should be left alone. But if you're going to get elbow deep in other people's problems, at least have the sense to deal with real issues that would engender goodwill. That means declaring war on pirates, and then doing something about it. Set up live training exercises for our maritime special forces on a proactive basis. The world doesn't need to know that the problem got fixed, or how, it'll just fall off the screen into the annals of time.
Also, put the pedal to the metal on these projects. We are past the point of needing a modern equivalent of the WPA. Incentivize work. I am deeply concerned that large portions of those hitting Food Stamps rolls will never leave them.
As for drug cartels, and Qudaffi: first, legalize marijuana. You've smoked it, you understand. Why not declare a war on allergies? Swap marijuana for ragweed, now that's a plant that sucks the fun out of a fine spring day. And secondly, get on TV and flat out say that it is wrong to impinge another's basic human rights. Our Bill of Rights applies to all people, and it is not wrong to express a strong belief in a well-worded, deeply logical document that has withstood almost 350 years in the modern era. It is the cornerstone of our way of life. If you want other people to lay down arms, tell them directly how you believe in what we have done here.
Back to the issue at hand: the idiocy of our tax code. My guy says that our IRA money that was withdrawn for reasons including: underperformance by managers, logical allocation of capital into a pay-down of the mortgage to guarantee a high savings rate, and because I want to control my own finances, will still be subject to penalties even though we used it to pay down the mortgage. So tell me, we've got a problem with foreclosures, underwater mortgages, and a rash of unsavory market practices, does charging that penalty make any sense to you? Over time the partisanship has gotten so out of hand that there is no "spirit of the law" anymore. It's a codification of daily life that wrongly incentivizes and disincentivizes activity without notion for the repercussions of those codes. Shrink government back to it's original purpose, to protect our rights and our country.
Good day, sir.
