1) Please stop lying to us. We say this respectfully, because we know that many of you think you're being honest with us, but we need to get your attention. What do we mean? Healthcare, for example, though important, is not on our list of top ten critical to-do's. We are more focused on the two wars currently being fought by our brothers and sisters in Iraq and Afghanistan. We should be talking about these first, everyday, whether or not we think they are a good idea or not. How will we continue to manage these two fronts and how will we pay for it? How will we defend Afghanistan's recent election and condemn Iran's? Do we want to continue borrowing from the Chinese to pay for it all, while they get Iraqi oil rights? ETC.
2) OMG. We don't have time to listen to those chattering cable-heads on the left and right or the network ones in the middle; we have homework and lots of texting to do. We don't have to be "socialists" to know that large corporations are not always honest and that their top people skim millions in so many ways we can't even count. But, we also don't have to be raving "capitalists" to know that Washington D.C. and state capitols are corrupt almost beyond our imaginations. Stop whining. Stop pointing fingers and name-calling. There is too much work to do.
3) Now that we have your attention, we propose that you start this way: we want an apology to us and our parents from the banks and others who caused the phony "recession." We studied recessions in class and none of them are like this one. This one is not part of a natural economic cycle, it was hoisted upon us by a few thousand reckless people, aided by the government. Some of our parents are over 50, and we want big banks and other corporations to start giving them some jobs. Our educations will be pointless, if we have to spend our futures taking care of jobless, moneyless, hopeless parents. Millions of them. Start hiring. Now.
4) Our education is also pointless unless you stop this deficit/borrowing roller-coaster. Also, get the tax code right. Now. Stop all the bickering about how to suck the rich dry (we call this Rangling, after the Congressman who doesn't like to pay taxes). You want us to study so we can be relatively rich, so why do you want to portray the rich as being evil. Only rich bankers are evil, others are perfectly okay. Make everyone pay some taxes, even us, even if it's a dollar. Paying taxes is part of our responsibility and paying no tax has become an entitlement for too many people. Collect universally and spend more wisely!
5) We read history, even though you don't. Every President since our grandparents were in K has wanted to be the Education President. All have failed. Face up to this. We kids watch what you do, not what you say. You say study, study, study, but you do not study yourselves. You seldom read books. You put dumb people in charge of important institutions. You are captivated by TV, which is just another vending machine. You talk incessantly about sports and watch sports all the time. When we're not too good at sports, you get disappointed, as if it was your life and not ours. You encourage the "best" colleges to emphasize sports over every other area of learning. We never see a town announcing something like, "Centerville. Home Of the State Champion Math Team." Do what you say!
6) You have been stealing from Social Security for decades and now you have to stop. Quit lying to our parents that WE can afford to take care of them. You already used their contributions for a million other dumb things, and we can't assume that burden. You sound like you are preparing to spend trillions more on new things. Are you telling us to study harder just so we can take care of you all for our entire lives? Fix Social Security before you do Healthcare. Or, dump it. But, stop stealing!
7) Mr. President, many of us would have voted for you, not just because Sarah was more than a little scary. Also, we are pleased to have an African-American President. But, we respectfully must say: Start Over! your only real opposition is on radio and cable TV. Their audiences did not study very hard in school. They have weird ideas about science, eat really unhealthy food, don't exercise and wear funny clothes. Don't be so worried by these people. Also, don't be mesmerized by your fawning cable admirers; they're dangerous too. Get your priorities straight. We would have voted for you because of who you are not what you promised to do. It's about Trust and Honesty. Focus on making the country honest again; that will be a huge accomplishment. We've been lying to each other for so long, we believe our own hype. We need to get to a place where we can have an honest national conversation. So, shoving Healthcare through will only make matters worse in the long run, because our national moral infrastructure is rotted. And, did we happen to mention that we're totally broke?
8) Consider allowing us to vote and pay taxes. We're being really serious. We look at state legislatures, Congress, corporations, universities. Honestly, we think that we could do as well if not better. How could we screw up Albany? How could our votes mess up AIG, Citi, or Fannie (love that name)? Less than half the eligible adults bother to vote (more talk and not doing), except in Illinois, where twice the number of eligible voters vote, like in Afghanistan. We'd rather share our allowances than take more from China, which does not even like us one little bit. Be bold. Do it. Lower the voting age to 10!
9) Please say hi to the Secretary of State, wherever she might be. She's a Whirlwind, kind of like one of those satellites that used to circle the earth over and over again. Do her trips cost a lot? How many pantsuits does she own?
10) We know that you want us to study hard so that we will have great futures as individuals and together. You want us to have prosperous, healthy lives. Want to know our biggest fear? Our biggest fear is that we will become you, that we will live in a dream world in which we can say one thing and do another. CEO's say they value stockholders first, while many hold them in contempt. Congress says it wants to take care of us, but they want to take care of themselves and their lobbyist friends first. Presidents want what's best for the country, but they overvalue what their own legacies will be. Corporations love capitalism until it hurts them, then they want socialist investment. Parents stop learning as soon as they can and pretend that they know everything anyway. Get real. Or get lost.
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