7.

Dear Mr. President,

First things first. I like you. If you lived on my street we would be friends. I wouldn’t ignore you like I do that one creepy couple with the mean dog down the street. I get the feeling that you're a good person, light shines from good people and we were in the dark for a good 8 years. So I am excited about all of this. With that said, I wanted to say a couple things.

You are fond of saying and reminding us that you “inherited this mess.” I thought it was appropriate the first few times, but I’m worried that it will become a catch-phrase that you wield too often, and soon catch-phrases become excuses, and excuses become our problems. When people make a mistake as large scale as the over sight that occurred within our banks we are the ones that feel it. What the heck is going on up there on Wall Street? It’s like a pack of mad scientists gone wild, and they don’t realize that their inventions of these schemes and illegal money machines are creating massive amounts of hungry confused monsters, that are going to eventually turn on the system. You have to shut these freaks down. You have to do more then hard talk with these Wall Street bozos (which I totally appreciate that you aren’t afraid to show disdain for them, and it does make me feel a little better that you don’t smile their behavior off). But come on, grab one of these bankers by the neck and drag them across the White House lawn and give him the beating of their life. Make an example.

I get that you have surrounded yourself around a solid brain trust, and I dig the way you went about it. But just be sure you have yourself a good mix of reality in your ear. Because like the very rich, the very smart tend to shrug off the little man, and just does right by his/her own kind. All I’m saying is, I know you have ‘Fighting Joe’ at your side, and he does well to remember the common man, as have you. You served the middle class with great love and attention during your rise. I am just reminding you not to get lost in that sea of intelligencia that can get caught up in proving that their theories are right... and sometimes forgets how much we are hurting while we wait for answers.

I think it would serve all of you well to pretend that you have an entire country of drowning citizens, and right now we are watching that water line rise up to the necks of our families and watching you all put Wall Street into safety boats, and sending them to higher ground. That doesn’t feel good to see that stuff. If maybe the decision makers of Washington could move with the urgency that we are drowning, things might start to spark. I know you have that fire inside of you. I see it in your face when you have to explain to us why things are taking longer. I know that it kills you to have to deal with the stubborn old Washington and you are dealing with it. Just remember you’re the new President and you have a big wall of people behind you. Stir things up a little. Don’t worry about courtesy when you have a Nation to save.

All the best – Your friend