21.

Dear President Obama,

I was honored more than you can know to vote for you in November's election. As a young twenty-something, this is the first time I voted and truly felt happy with my decision.

I am writing this not to tell you what needs to be done to fix our broken country. I am writing this more to show you how things look from my point of view.

I am a single parent. I work out of the home full-time. I do not have a college degree. I rent an apartment, and do not own any property. I do not have stocks. My car was given to me by my mother free and clear. I am not struggling to make ends meet on a day to day basis, but we do live paycheck to paycheck. I am lucky enough to make decent money doing something I enjoy.

Despite, or possibly because of all these factors, my son and I have not been affected as badly as others by the failing economy. I have very little to call my own and as a result, have very little to lose. On the flip side of that coin, what I stand to lose is vital to the survival of my son and myself.

I have friends who have had to walk away from homes that they scrimped and scraped to buy because of foreclosure. I have family members who are in college and not sure how they will be able to afford to continue with the rumored cuts on financial aid and freezes on student loans. Small businesses all over are having to close their doors because they aren't making enough to cover their space rentals let alone paying their employees. People are losing their jobs left and right with no hopes of finding new ones with things being as bad as they are.

Families that are utilizing our social programs such as medi-cal, welfare, food stamps, and childcare subsidization are being sent notices that their assistance is being reduced or cut off completely. Violent crimes are already rising. Food and gas prices are rising.

What are we supposed to do? How much worse can things get? How long will it be before things begin to look up?

These are the questions I ask myself every day while driving to work, tucking my son into bed at night and balancing my checkbook.

I don't think that will you be able to fix everything that has gone wrong (it would be unfair to ask that of anyone) but I do have faith that you will at least be able to begin the healing process within our country and get things on the right track.


Thank you,

Nikki
San Diego, CA