The Most Deserving Group of Recipients Ever For years, I’ve written in this space about how the very rich live in a world that’s radically different from ours. It’s a world that’s removed from the workaday and that is characterized by a whole range of extraordinary advantages: a vast army of domestic staff, private helicopters, private jets, large and well-trained security teams, vast financial resources, and, of course, all of the luxuries that accompany this world. This is a world that’s built largely on inherited wealth and privilege—a world that is totally at odds with the struggles and concerns of working-class Americans. Just look at what the Koch brothers did to the residents of this town. They came in to ruin it. And then what did the city of Wichita do? It gave them a whole new baseball stadium! We’re creating monuments to this kind of wealth and this kind of arrogance. In 2008, I spent the week in the great American recession just as the economy was crashing, before we were on the cusp of the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression. And at one point, I got a lift from a FedEx worker, just a normal guy making minimum wage who was struggling to support his family. And he told me that he was so enraged that he felt like he had to do something about it. I just loved that guy. He reminded me so much of a certain friend of mine who’s lived this same struggle. He’s lived it, and he’s struggled, and he’s pulled himself up. I thought about that FedEx worker and the millions of working families who really don’t have the same luxuries that we have. They’re really struggling to get by. And so I came up with this idea for a proposal: What if we could do something that would help them? What if we could give them a chance to get to the end of the year just as strong and as healthy as our very best friends? So that’s what I did. The thing I’ve always loved about Ronald Reagan’s story is that he grew up in a neighborhood that was kind of tough. And he worked his way through college and then went on to become one of the most successful and admired men ever to occupy the White House. That’s why the whole idea of this proposal is so powerful. Because it’s not a question of trying to get more wealthy or get bigger houses and get fancier cars. It’s just a simple question: What if we could be just as good in our jobs and just as kind to the people we meet and just as helpful to the people who are doing the same thing we do? So, when you help someone like yourself, you have the chance to lift others up and make their life a little bit easier. And I think that’s the kind of world we want to live in. We want to be the kind of people who can give and who can create opportunity for others. The most important thing we can do to create opportunity for others is to get our debt-ridden nation back on track. And I think this legislation has the potential to do that. There are so many aspects of this proposal, some of which are really important and some of which are just a little less so. But I think the single most important thing we can do is to get this economy going. And I really think the president and Congress have missed a real opportunity here. They have just pushed the country to the brink of default, and they have really hurt working-class families. They have allowed a government to operate for two years—really, in a lot of cases, just a couple of months—without the tools they need to do their job. They’ve allowed it to occur again. And this is really the reason that so many people are just now realizing how important it is to support this bill. If we can get the job done, we can really begin to put our nation back on the right path. President Obama has made real, meaningful change, and I’m proud to say he’s a good friend. We have been working together to pass legislation that will help the people who need it most. These are the people who are losing their homes, losing their jobs, going into foreclosure. We want to be the ones who are helping them get back on their feet. That’s really the essence of our proposal. And the fact is, that will help our nation get back on track. It will create a stronger middle class and it will create a better kind of country. So, it is something I’m sure everyone who participates in this program and their families would agree with. And one of the things that I love about this proposal is that, in many ways, it really speaks to the best ideals of the people who first settled this great country. We have had these values in our hearts for so long, and now we’ve come back together and had a chance to use our shared values in some practical ways that will create value for all of us. In the end, the most important way that we can give back to the nation is to help it to become stronger. And so, I just hope that as you go through the process of evaluating this proposal and determining where your own priorities are in this election, that you keep those two things very close to your heart: The importance of giving back, and the importance of making this a stronger nation. And thank you. Note: The proposal appears in the introduction to The Greatest Gift, a collection of pieces from the president and other national leaders. Republished here with permission from the publisher. It is so refreshing to hear one of our government’s elected officials speak openly about the current financial situation in our country. It is unfortunate, however, that many of these ideas are just that – ideas. It takes the collective wisdom of those who put these ideas together to be able to bring them to fruition. I’m not sure, however, that our present government can put aside its special interests to do just that. So even though I’m a Democrat and believe in what he says – and I would love to have his thoughts on how to save money on our national debt – I think the Republican’s are better equipped to come up with such a plan. All this talk is great, but what you’re really telling us is: I want to be an oligarch! But… it sounds like that’s okay with you! I want to keep my wealth. And you’re saying… you can keep your wealth… and in the meantime, those of us who’ve been saving up in the meantime are screwed! (Sorry for the shouty caps, but this is the way that I see it.) I read a little about the “snowballing principle” this morning on Facebook. I agree with this “principle” but I think it could be worded better. As I understand it, it would look something like this: “As long as you have a dollar, don’t spend it.” (You can spend the little you have, but you need to save up to spend the big…) I think this should really say something like “As long as you’re working, you should save for a rainy day.” And as many of you have pointed out, many on this site will be receiving an increase in pay for this new “assignment.” You hit it dead on (except for the caps). The more we post stuff like this the more we give up our rights as Americans. We are in danger of being governed by non-representatives with their own agendas (be they right or wrong, just or corrupt) – all because they think they have a snowballing right to do it. Perhaps you missed it, but the “crisis” here in Michigan has actually gotten so bad that a Detroit city official is talking about going to court to seize the homes of people who are behind on their taxes and can’t pay them. As long as it’s possible for these people to get their mortgages paid off with their savings, they will. They don’t care. The city official said that some of these people are “gaming the system” by getting free money from the government. Of course they are! To a person! Why shouldn’t they? It’s what they’ve been doing and it works! Maybe the right to own property isn’t sacred. Maybe we can just give it up. (I’m paraphrasing.) And we won’t even have to give up a lot. We can give up the ability to buy second homes and other vacation homes, the ability to pay for them with a second mortgage on the home we already own, the ability to do them on easy payment plans. We won’t even have to give up the money for the second home or vacation home itself, because we already know that a lot of us are living like we can’t afford these things anyway. Our children, the people who “won’t have a chance” (in the words of the great Ronald Reagan), will have one less thing to worry about… they’ll no longer be able to buy second homes. It’ll be