July 11, 2012

Dear President Obama, I voted for you in 2008 because I believed in your message of change. I wanted so badly the things you promised in that campaign including universal healthcare, public works programs that would improve our infrastructure and environment while creating jobs, the end of occupations and attacks on sovereign nations, the end of torture and the closing of Guantanamo, and the prosecution of those who lied us into the war in Iraq. Unfortunately, these promises were quickly off the table after the election. When the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy were scheduled to expire, you chose to extend them while millions of Americans were losing their jobs and their homes. That's not change we can believe in. Postal facilities are being closed and postal workers are losing their jobs. Why? So we can continue to give tax breaks to billionaires and to corporations that pay little or no taxes? I voted for you in 2008, and I want to vote for you again, but I need to see specific actions by your administration to make the following policy changes in the few months remaining before the election: 1. A timetable for the complete withdrawal of all troops and contractors from Afghanistan. 2. Strong regulation of the banking and mortgage industries, and prosecutions of bankers, corporate executives, and private equity managers, who have gamed the system to rob millions of Americans of their jobs and their homes for their own personal gain, must again become policy as it had been since 1933 until the repeal of GlassSteagall in 1999. 3. Universal healthcare by extending Medicare to cover all Americans. End the mandate that Americans must buy corporate insurance. I was touched by the story of your mother's battle with insurance companies while dying of cancer. It is time for action to make good on your promise of universal healthcare. 4. An end, perhaps by executive order, to the closing of USPS facilities and the loss of postal workers' jobs. This would be one palpable example, beyond the political rhetoric about jobs in an election year, that your administration is committed to protecting jobs for Americans, and helping to insure the preservation of our commons. Stand up to the hidden agendas of union-busting and privatization that are behind these closures. 5. Rescind the provision in the National Defense Authorization Act allowing for the arrest and indefinite detention without trial of American citizens. It is unconstitutional and a clear violation of human rights. 6. An end to torture and a recommitment to the concept of habeus corpus. Close Guantanamo detention center. 7. End the flying of drones and air-strikes into sovereign nations. 8. Be a strong voice of support for the movement to overturn the Supreme Court's disastrous Citizens United decision. Make it part of your campaign platform. Help restore democracy to America.

These are just a few of the policy issues on which we need to see action. Other areas of great concern I havent even mentioned include the environment, biochemical farming, education, and the bloated defense budget, but the purpose of this letter, without going on for many more pages, is to point out the need for real change and action. I am a veteran and ordinary citizen who dearly loves his country, but I fear the relentless abdication of power to corporate and banking interests that can simply buy influence. It's not too late. You can stand up to the forces that are destroying the hopes and dreams of ninety-nine percent of Americans who have no voice in Washington, or you can continue to favor the moneyed elite with your current policies. That is your choice. It will define your legacy. Millions of Americans like myself are looking for progressive leadership, but mere campaign promises will no longer work. In the few short months before the election, we need to see actions by your administration that demonstrate real change in policies. That would be change we can believe in. We will vote for that. Courage. Peace. Truth. Audacity. Yes you can.

Respectfully, Henry Cabala 213-389-6654 henrycabala@gmail.com