by Kentw007

I've never written a letter to an elected official before, but I couldn't let a man running for President get away with personally insulting my family so I sent him the following letter. The sad thing is that he would have actually had an outside chance at getting my vote if he had ever bothered to actually give any kind of details as to what his economic plan is aside from "I'm going to get America back to work."

Dear Mr. Romney,

Allow me tell you a story about two members of “the 47%”.

In 2002, immediately upon returning from our honeymoon, my wife started working as the receptionist at a commercial real estate company. In the span of 5 short years she had worked her way up to being a key member of the marketing team, overseeing the work of several designers and coordinating with dozens of outside agencies.

In 2008, my wife lost her job. She lost her job because her company’s multimillionaire president, rather than attending to the rapidly escalating challenges the company was facing at the height of the real estate crash, decided to spend his time yachting around in the Mediterranean. In the meantime his company, which employed over 150 hard-working Americans, crashed and burned. I should also note that this company was bequeathed to him by his wealthy father, not built with his own two hands. He didn’t “build this”.

Three months later, the nonprofit company I had worked at for 11 years—a company which helped abused women and children recover and learn how to live for themselves, a company which helped struggling drug addicts remain sober and live productive lives, a company which visited elderly widows and veterans, a company which spoke to thousands of schoolchildren every year about the dangers of drug use, date rape, and bullying, and taught them assertiveness and communication skills—also died, due in no small measure to incompetent, selfish management at the executive level during a time of fiscal crisis.

And oh yes. Our first child was born a few months before all this went down.

My wife and I worked our asses off (you’ll pardon the French). We gave our blood, sweat and tears, along with the best earning years of our lives, to our professions. We were repaid for this hard work by losing our jobs while our wealthy bosses shrugged off their paper losses and went merrily on with their lives, either oblivious or uncaring about the massive damage they had sown in hundreds of people’s lives.

During this desperate time, I am GRATEFUL that my government was there to aid us. When our “job creators” so spectacularly failed us, I am GRATEFUL that my government’s unemployment checks kept us off the streets until we were fortunate enough to find new work. I am GRATEFUL that my government was there to provide my 1-year old child with subsidized health care through the Healthy Families program—especially since he required emergency care twice during that time.

Would you like to know who failed us? Our millionaire bosses failed us. Our billion-dollar bank failed us when they stonewalled us at every turn as we persistently sought to work in good faith with them for eleven months, with a buyer in hand, to short-sell our home. Ah, but this bank had no problems foreclosing on our home within less than two weeks after our buyer finally decided that eleven months was too long to wait for a bank to get its act together, and backed out of the deal.

The very people who you lionize and hold up as America’s saviors are the very ones who nearly destroyed my family. And the institution you demonize as America’s worst domestic enemy is the one that saved us.

Lest I forget to mention, the notion that you believe I am lazy and irresponsible because I feel I was “entitled” to this safety net is appalling and deeply personally insulting. You’re damn well right I’m entitled to this safety net, because I HAVE BEEN PAYING INTO IT FOR MY ENTIRE WORKING LIFE. When times were good to my family, we paid into this safety net to help others who weren’t having it so good. And when it was our turn to go through the ringer, we graciously accepted the assistance being offered by our fellow taxpayers.

Now, as a direct result of our partnership with government in the form of our taxes, we are back on our feet and both gainfully employed again. And we are once again PAYING IN to the system to help those who haven’t yet been as fortunate as us.
And we are happy to do so.

I am proud to live in a country that doesn’t step on the necks of its downtrodden, and proud to live in a country that rejects the Darwinian notion that society should be modeled on “survival of the fittest”.

Mr. Romney, I am a politically moderate voter who has voted in my lifetime exactly 50% of the time for a Republican presidential candidate and 50% of the time for a Democratic candidate. Your comments last night have sealed the deal for me, and the balance of my voting record will now be shifting Democratic until at least 2016.

I’m sure you are a good husband and loving father, but your shameful political comments are a personal insult to me, my wife and our child, and a disgrace to your father’s proud political legacy. Not to mention an utter repudiation of the message of the One you claim to follow and worship. You have lost my vote and you will not be getting it back, now or ever.

-###-

Sincerely,
A Member of the 47% https://docs.google.com/document/d/12BJb32gsSpa8vrnXyW5j6Lat8KYjVFQFAinVAuQAl3o/edit