Dear Mr. President:
I can't say I really wanted to write this tonight--not because I didn't want to write to you, but more because I didn't want to have to go mucking about to see what all you've been up to this week. As per usual, you've been pretty busy--from foreign policy to national emergencies in Oklahoma and Texas, (and Portland as well, I hear;) and then there were the little things, like congratulating NASA and posting some videos of you and Jen answering some twitter questions. I must admit, the latter was my favorite when it came to catching up this week. These things humanize you. They help us get to know you, and it is greatly appreciated.
I see we officially rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement, and I heard you were interested in working with Iran on the nuclear deal again. I also saw you were flexing some military might down in the China Sea. These are all good things, I think, but I do think we need to be looking into those SolarWinds hacks--figuring out just how bad they were and working to ensure that national security information and infrastructure is, if not impervious to hacking, at least strengthened to better ensure our safety.
There was also the national emergency situation with the cold weather in Oklahoma and Texas this past week, and just hearing from my parents about their own difficulties, I can assure you that any help the government can give is a good thing there. But it brings to light some of the problems in our current infrastructure--things that we really need to address. With the climate changing, this kind of weather isn't going to be as strange as it seems to us now. Colder winters. Hotter summers. Wetter Springs, and drier autumns. We need to look at our roads, our buildings, and our green technology and ensure that it is climate-proofed for the future. For far too long we've taken shortcuts and looked only at the short-term gains rather than considering the long-term efficacy, reliability, and sustainability of the things we build. That needs to change.
As an aside, my parents are on well water, and their well froze over. Most of the small towns near the big cities (like where my parents live,) ended up being raided for water, and my parents were lucky my dad's a volunteer firefighter. They were able to get some water from one of the stations where he works, but otherwise, they might well have had to do without it. They managed some water from HEB (local grocery store) on Friday, and they're hopeful that their well will unfreeze soon, but...that's certainly not a given.
A lot of people who aren't your most ardent supporters have been talking about your immigration plans, and a lot of them are pretty upset about the fact that we've closed our borders due to COVID but see that we're still accepting people into the country seeking refuge and help. It's frustrating to see their words and feel a twinge of understanding. But I also know that there are problems at our borders, and maybe it's time that people saw that. Maybe help them understand what's going on at our borders and then try to explain better our policies in that regard. I didn't catch anything about it during your Town Hall; so, I'm mentioning it here, because as I said, I've been seeing a lot of that coming from your opposition.
So much has happened this past week that I don't know if I mentioned my disappointment with the whole impeachment last weekend. I expect I might have said a thing or two, but I think a lot of us were disappointed at how glib, smug, or downright derisive some of our public officials acted. A lot of people are still angry, sir--on both sides obviously. But from where I'm standing, the House and the Senate look like giant piles of crap right now. Not only were there no repercussions for elected officials for their conduct (while regular people are standing trial for their actions,) but COVID relief feels like it's stalled. And sure, we get that things don't move fast in Washington D. C., but our lives don't just stop while we wait for laws to get made. We've got bills to pay, and mouths to feed; and frankly, most of us just want to see some parity. What are we paying taxes for if the people who are taking that money as payment for their service aren't actually doing anything to serve us? It gets ..old, Mr. President--really old.
And I get that you've been working to salvage things as you can--especially with mortgages, foreclosures, and student debt. You're doing what you can, but Congress needs to get their heads out of their behinds and start doing the work that's going to help the people. Also, I wanted to congratulate you on getting more work done on vaccines and getting them to the states. I know there's still more work to be done, but on this count, at least we are seeing that progress is coming--if not necessarily here yet.
I want to touch on something I read the other day though regarding student loans. You mentioned during your town hall that you weren't willing to go beyond forgiving $10,000, and I really think that's a mistake. Check with your Treasury Secretary; look at the figures. The people hardest hit by debt are lower and middle income families, and they can't afford it. And if that's holding together something in our economy, then there's something wrong with the way we're running our economy. I'm not saying you have to do more than the 10K now, but don't discount doing more, please. There are a lot of people struggling right now, and words like never and not possible aren't things we should be saying. Not to mention that the more educated we are, the better prepared we'll be to deal with hardships and setbacks, Mr. President, and that's a worthy investment, but it's not worth a lifetime of debt. It just shouldn't be.
I'm pretty sure I had a lot more to say to you than this, but I guess there'll be more in the weeks and months to come, hopefully. One thing I did want to highlight was the call you made to NASA about the Perseverance Rover landing on Mars. It sounded a little stilted on both ends, by the way--the video that was released of it. But nonetheless, I am grateful that you did it. The men and women of our space programs deserve a lot of respect, and the fact that their hard work merited your attention, respect, and congratulations was important to me. So thank you for honoring their work and achievements as you did.
I'm actually a lot more excited to hear that you want to visit them and see the work they're doing. If you do, you can rest assured I'll be following all the news about it.
I have to say, that's one thing I am really glad to see you doing--listening to scientists and inviting experts in their fields to offer you their thoughts and opinions. I hope I get to see a lot more of it in the coming weeks. I am also looking forward to hearing about your wife's media appearance on Thursday. I hope she does a lot to lift up marginalized voices and highlight the work and accomplishments of not only great people, but also great people of color--and also women. I know there are a lot of girls and women who were excited by your choice of Kamala Harris as your running mate, and I really hope that Jill Biden will continue to build on that rapport that your Presidency has built with the women of this country and abroad. Your wife has a chance to advocate for us, and I really hope that she'll speak about the inequalities and injustices in this country (and also the world.) If we can't talk about the problem, there will never be a way to solve it. When you name a thing, when you point it out--when you see it for what it is--only then can you truly understand it. So I will wish her luck and look forward to seeing what she has to say.
Also, congratulations to you and your staff on your first full month in office, Sir.
And with that, Mr. President, I believe it is time to go and feed the cat his treats. He's been very patient since about the third paragraph of this letter to you, but I don't know how much longer he can be patient. Also, I don't want to incur his wrath. He has claws.
I look forward to writing to you next week and seeing what you've got on the agenda. Stay strong, don't forget your coffee, and keep the pineapple off Jen's pizza. Until next time, Mr. President!
~~ Jenni
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