Dear Mr. President
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| Dear Mr. President | Posted on Jan 11 2009 at 7:32pm by |
| Dear President Obama, Please accept my heartfelt admiration for your willingness to accept the role of leader as we make our way through these turbulent times and work together to strengthen our foundation for a strong and vibrant future. I believe that one of the strengths of every great leader is their willingness to delegate tasks and I offer this suggestion as a way to rally each citizen to participate in the revitalization of our country: educate and encourage each citizen to Take Care of Their Share of the country. Rather than providing across the board tax cuts or rebates, such as the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, consider offering incentives, rebates and refunds to citizens and businesses that are doing their part to create a better world. Instead of paying citizens for doing nothing other than filing an income tax return, offer substantial incentives to those who buy (or manufacture) hybrid cars, energy efficient appliances or compact fluorescent bulbs. Rather than providing mortgage bailouts to the banks and consumers who got themselves in over their heads trying to build bigger and less efficient homes, provide funding to banks and builders that focus their efforts on green building projects. The second step to this plan, of course, is ensuring that everyone knows the best way to Take Care of Their Share of the country. Each state should provide a central website that has links to the various government departments within their state that provide the information residents need to become effective environmental stewards. These departments would include natural resources, conservation, native plant societies, fish & wildlife departments, cooperative extension system offices, solid waste departments, water management, etc. Residents could be notified about this central site through handouts at building and utility departments, driver license bureaus and other government offices. The program sounds too simplistic to be effective but any parent that has ever offered a child a higher allowance for improving their grades or performing extra chores knows that it is sometimes very effective to provide incentives for doing the right thing. Our great country is built on the premise of personal liberty and freedom that allows each citizen to make their own decisions. We open our doors to the tired, the poor and the huddled masses and we should continue to do so. But we should also let every resident of our nation know that we don’t just expect them to take up space in our country, we expect them to Take Care of Their Share. Respectfully, Betsy S. Franz http://www.takecareofyourshare.com | |
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