March 24, 2009 - Just Before Obama Attends The G20

On the coal industry and so-called clean coal and ground water filtering, unconstitutional Patriot Act provisions, the G20 and corporate power, TARP used for toxic assets and the real Hoover comparison, student loans and education and healthcare.

                                                                 Peter Lawrence

                                                                 PO Box [redacted]

                                                                 [redacted]

President Barack Obama

White House Residence

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC 20500

3/24/09

Dear Mr. President,

Thank you so very much for halting those coal contracts. They, and the ones those corporations had already acted on, are eco-disasters. By now, even you know that there is no such thing as clean coal and even if there was a way to burn it with zero emissions (which is a mathematical impossibility) there is still the damage made from mining it. I believe all this coal that we have in our ground is also one of the keys to filtering our ground water. Without it I believe our water purity will suffer.

Robert Mueller asked congress to renew some Patriot Act Provisions, specifically section 215. In the past I have been against this and I still am. I do not understand how having to get a warrant after the fact keeps us from intelligence gathering. It's insulting to the Justice Department to say that they would stop anything that could protect us. 215 allows investigators probing terrorism to seek a suspect's records from third parties such as financial services, travel and telephone companies without notifying the suspect. FISA would not disallow this so there is no reason to have it. There is another provision that would allow roving wiretaps. FISA also allows this. I believe it is okay to wiretap an individual instead of a specific phone line but I also believe that agencies must still do the paperwork under FISA. The People's job is not to make it easier for them to spy, our job is to make it harder for them to take away our rights because without our rights we become "the people" instead of "The People".

I just hope that at the G20 next month you will do the right thing with all those other governments and break up those corporations internationally and remove their power permanently by disallowing them from growing "too big to fail" and too powerful to stop. The future Fascist world begs for your wisdom in stopping what will only lead us to worldwide civil war. This is what I truly believe will happen if corporations are continually allowed to grow.

I just spoke to a new friend minutes ago who was concerned about the power you are already giving back to corporations by allowing them to buy toxic assets with TARP money. I am reminded of a vacuum turned on itself. I also saw you putting the foxes in charge of the hen house. Those men do NOT have The People in mind when they make decisions. They are for the trusts. I see Hoover because he was the one who was blamed for it all because he took advice from those who would lead us all down the wrong path for that extra dime. I don't see any of it working unless you and the G20 truly bring about MAJOR change.

All the financial companies are wielding the Sword of Damocles over us when, instead, we should be holding it over those who hold the power. Rules have been changed for students where they are forced to begin paying their Sallie Mae student loans while they are still in school. What student will be able to learn with that sword over his or her neck? You say you are about education but this doesn't seem to be. Personally, I think college should be free - as it is in other countries that we compete with for jobs. Let's have a level playing field. And let us have an even more level field with free health care for all. Single Payer is a nice stepping-stone to where we need to be. The Right see healthcare as handouts to The People when in actuality it's hand outs to corporations and a return of taxes to the individual in lower health costs.

By the time you receive this letter you may already be at the G20. I wish you inner strength to do what's right and the power to lead the change to what's needed.

Very Sincerely yours,

Peter Lawrence

My 2009 Saint Patrick's Day letter

I began this letter by addressing the President in a special way. On minority voter's rights and redistricting, our prison system and rights of individuals, speaking out on other country's acts, CIA and torture and constitutional rights, White Hall emails and Downing Street memos, the upcoming G20 summit and corporate power.

                                                                 Peter Lawrence

                                                                 PO Box [redacted]

                                                                 [redacted]

President Barack O'bama

White House Residence

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC 20500

3/17/09

Dear Mr. President,

There are also those in congress who think that we no longer need to protect minority voter's rights. In a related issue the Supreme Court has said that only minorities in areas where they are 50 % or more can have voter protection. This is wrong and it violates equal protection. I would hope that when those Republican Governors decide to carve up those boundaries to make that "50% or more" less than 50% The People will see it as a voter's rights issue instead of a redistricting issue. If we are smart enough this will allow us to hold on to areas with 50% minority. In the mean time, those minorities in areas under 50% will be carved up more.

The laws are set up to keep ex-criminals in a place where they would return to crime. Those who have done time and want a normal life are still in a prison of laws that stop them from having a normal life. This is why the US has more in prison per capita than anywhere else in the world. Really, think about that statement, "More than anywhere in the world"! What makes it worse is the institutionalized racism that keeps more non-whites in prison. I know you are aware of this - you must be. The People who want a real life should not be forced to "do life". But that is what is happening here. One felony will stay on your record for life which, in society, means you will be in the prison of repression for life: You have to put it on an application, it may come up in court even if it's not supposed to, you may not qualify for loans because of it, you could be denied a bank account etc. There are hundreds of things a felony could affect. But you're certainly allowed to join the army as long as you don't want to make a career at it. I'm not begging for leniency, I'm begging for fairness for all those who must endure what society forces on them.

It's a world away but that still doesn't make it disturbing. I'm referring to the news of Eudy Simelane, the former star of South Africa's female football squad. Outside of Johannesburg her body was found after unspeakable atrocities were done to her. She was "out" in South Africa as a lesbian. I know it's not our country and I know we've had a long history with South Africa but I feel it would be important for someone in the administration to make a statement. Since she was a lesbian she was "correctively gang raped", beaten and stabbed 25 times. Men in the region seem to think that raping lesbian women will make them straight. Perhaps this is something The First Lady could bring up. Her voice would certainly go a long way. Our silence speaks loudly and the longer we remain quiet the louder we become in condoning these actions.

Other recent news from the International Committee of the Red Cross where information was released that said the Bush Administration used harsh interrogation techniques that "constituted torture." They strongly implied that CIA interrogators violated international law. Your administration again is defending the indefensible. So first your administration says that those who tortured should be defended and after that your justice department says that former detainees cannot sue. The current justice department is acting like the Bush administration's. They argue that ex-detainees don't have constitutional rights. And even if they did, Rumsfeld and other's are immune from prosecution because detainees’ right not to be tortured and to practice their religion without abuse was “not clearly established” at the time of their detention. That is entirely wrong. It was established but ignored by the former administration. It's been established at least since World War II if I'm not mistaken.

And finally, the Secret Whitehall emails released providing new evidence that the dossier making the case for invading Iraq was "sexed up". This on top of the "Downing Street Memos" and everything else and yet your administration chooses a blind eye.

I still worry about the upcoming g20 meeting and if our governments will be able to agree on how to reduce the size of corporations so they can no longer hold such a heavy sword over the necks of The People. This may be our only chance to suppress the growing Fascism in our world. I wish you great luck and courage.

Very Sincerely yours,

Peter Lawrence

My letter of March 10, 2009

On "burn pits", Pentagon oversight, walking and chewing gum, criminality of unchecked administrations, Binyam Mohamed, Paradise By The Dashboard Light, FOIA requests, Cheney and Bush treason, Congressional wage/minimum wage, TARP, Fascism, Banks, KBR and government contracting.

                                                                 Peter Lawrence

                                                                 PO Box [redacted]

                                                                 [redacted]

President Barack Obama

White House Residence

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC 20500

3/10/09

Dear Mr. President,

Health issues are very important to me, as I've stated in many previous letters - especially for our returning troops. The recent news of the "burn pits" in Iraq is of great concern. Just last week I mentioned Agent Orange and the case being closed for those who wanted to sue the chemical companies. Dioxins present at these burn sites where also present in Agent Orange. What will the army's excuse be this time? And how many times will The People have to suffer because of a lack of oversight by the Pentagon.

It is too late to oversee the former administration. I read your wonderful speech where you invoked great US leaders of the past and how they opened multiple reform fronts all the while fighting the core challenges of their time - walking and chewing gum. I understand how you must appear uninterested in dredging up the past but The People and I feel that we've been driven into a ditch. You brought up how presidents were able to do more than one important thing and yet you say that you think reliving the past by investigating and prosecuting the former administration would hinder our move forward. We must back out and make sure our Constitution and laws are intact. Moving forward could do irreparable damage. You don't have to waste your time on it. As president your orders to investigate will happen. You don't even have to think about it.

Binyam Mohamed was in the news again. He brought forth details of his torture and how he was beaten with a leather strap and held down by masked men and punched. His body was mutilated with a scalpel and that included genital mutilation. He was subjected to psychological torture by being forced to listen to loud music for days, including Meat Loaf. Not that I don't like Meat Loaf but one can only handle so many hours of "Paradise By The Dashboard Light." He was also renditioned. The US government says that we cannot allow release of information for security reasons and We The People feel we should not withhold the information for Constitutional reasons. In January, one of your first acts as president was to send out a memo that said FOIA requests "should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails. The government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure." If the reasoning is truly security reasons then I understand but I find it hard to believe that the reasons would not be because the government would be embarrassed. Many of those who I know feel the same way. Again I refer to when you said you cannot dwell on the past but I say that, unless we do a proper investigation, the past will feed on your administration and reduce it to shambles. Let The People see the truths of the former administration and we'll be able to move forward without being hindered by our history.

A so-called truth commission would water down any investigation and allow those who committed crimes to go free. I think we need a serious investigation for treason and other crimes. I believe everyone including Cheney and 43 should be punished appropriately if found guilty. That would include if they are found guilty of giving our enemies "aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere" during a time of war by outing a CIA operative who was working on nuclear non-proliferation in the area where we were at war. You have been passionate about searching for radioactive material that could get in the wrong hands. The outing of Valerie Plame may have set us back ten years. If she were working now we could know Iran's nuclear capabilities. The Senate Watergate Committee whitewashed Watergate and Ford pardoned all crimes by Nixon. If we had made the President pay for his crimes then the last 8 years may not have happened. The Tower Commission did not make sure documents would be available and, indeed, they were destroyed. And now Ronald Reagan is thought of as a good president when he should have been impeached. In addition, Bush 41 pardoned criminals and actually allowed them in his administration. The People are very angry that this has been allowed to continue for nearly 40 years. We must stop these individuals from thinking that they can return again and again to do The People harm.

I noticed that David Vitter wanted to do away with automatic pay increases and Harry Reid concurred. Great idea but as I mentioned before, they should have done it before this past January. I have a permanent fix that would be more than fair. I suggest that Senate pay be tied to the minimum wage instead of the cost of living. Senators and Congressmen already make entirely too much but I'd be happy if they limited starter pay to fifteen times minimum wage and their top pay for speaker and leaders to twenty times minimum wage. Then, let them give themselves wage increases whenever they want. After all, We The People are supposed to be what their job is all about. We are like the stockholders of our country and they are the ones who work for us. Their performance should reflect their pay and the more we make then the more they should make.

I was sickened to learn that two Fascistic countries, Dubai and China have received loans. They say it was for private sector but when a private company is in a Fascist state is it really private? Goldman Sachs used tarp money to buy their own shares, which boosted their value. Again, as I described before, that's like burning down the house so you can buy the land around it cheap and sell it at a profit. Bank of America gave almost 25% of its TARP funds to China. JP Morgan Chase invested a billion dollars in India - I guess to help pay for our jobs that were shipped there. All these monies used are from The People and I have not found one person who is not angry with those who would receive TARP money and not use it here. I am not all about anger; I also have a solution. Raise the taxes on all profits received from loans to foreign entities. Reduce taxes for profits from money due to loans from people and entities who/that are 100% in the U.S.

I also saw that you changed how we award contracts. I think we should also include something that says that any corporation who is found guilty of homicide due to negligence shall lose their contract immediately. Of course I am referring to KBR. For all this, you are acting "swiftly" but remember, I spoke of the Hoover administration that did NOT do enough to stave off impending doom. Don't let a promise to reach out to the other side stop you from doing enough. That's what "the other side" wants!

Very Sincerely yours,

Peter Lawrence

My first March letter. March 3, 2009

On the environment, a good Republican president, destroyed interrogation tapes, NSA and oversight, treason and the telecoms, state's rights on cannabis, the Fairness Doctrine and monopolies and freedom of the press.

                                                                 Peter Lawrence

                                                                 PO Box [redacted]

                                                                 [redacted]

President Barack Obama

White House Residence

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC 20500

3/03/09

Dear Mr. President,

I read how you were reversing 43's suggestion to review environmental policies. I also read some of your speech and it reminded me of a past great Republican President. I've always wondered why the Republican Party wasn't more into saving nature, as was Teddy Roosevelt. Without it there is no hunting or fishing. I truly love reading his speeches. In a speech Teddy Roosevelt said,

"Defenders of the short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things sometimes seek to champion them by saying 'the game belongs to the people.' So it does; and not merely to the people now alive, but to the unborn people. The 'greatest good for the greatest number' applies to the number within the womb of time, compared to which those now alive form but an insignificant fraction. Our duty to the whole, including the unborn generations, bids us restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the heritage of these unborn generations. The movement for the conservation of wild life and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method."

In one other speech on the New Nationalism he said,

"Conservation means development as much as it does protection. I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us."

This is where Republicans should be but instead they are in the back pockets of corporations of which both Roosevelts railed against.

I am not sure what to think about the CIA destroying interrogation tapes. They were told to do it by their superiors but that defense was used at Nuremberg and was unacceptable.

I saw that the NSA wants to expand its cyber security and most understand the necessity but also realize that a gun in the wrong hand can do much damage. There are many in the agency that cannot be trusted. I, and others I've spoken with, do not like that cyber spying happens to The People. We understand the need outside of the US to protect our liberties but cyber spying inside the US would leave us no liberties to protect. The purpose of our government should always be to maximize liberty. If the NSA is given that much power then they should have even more oversight to suppress abuse of that power.

As with those who destroyed the interrogation tapes, the telecoms must be tried for their involvement in the acts of an unfettered administration. We The People cannot allow this to go unpunished. If our government allows the telecoms immunity then our government is guilty of treason violations under 2382 of the treason laws and again, The Peoples voice was not loud enough. And yet, news is out that the Justice Department continues to stand behind a 43 era law meant to prevent lawsuits against telecommunications companies accused of illegally sharing private customer information with intelligence agencies. I read about the brief filed Wednesday by the Justice Department to Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker. They say that, without retroactive immunity, the private sector might be unwilling to cooperate with lawful government requests in the future. That is absolutely untrue. They are required by law to cooperate with "lawful" requests but We The People don't want them to cooperate with any other - as they are required under law! Mr. President, every person that I speak with wants the government and those corporations to pay for those crimes. Or has it come to this - The more powerful the corporation the less powerful We The People are at stopping them from trouncing on everything we hold dear? Is it because the government is too deep into the back pockets of the telecoms and other corporations? Are We The People going to stand for anything of value ever again?

I should thank you for acting like a true Republican in one instance. Republicans have always held the value of States rights but most recently they've been all too happy to remove them for corporate interests. I am of course, speaking of the Justice Departments decision NOT to raid those in states where marijuana is legal for medical or other uses. As I mentioned before about [corporation that created nylon rope for WWII-redacted-I'll call DP] DP and our antiquated drug laws when it comes to cannabis. Hemp should be grown throughout our country because it has so many magnificent applications plus it's great for the environment. In the privacy of one's home a person should have the right to cannabis use provided their air doesn't impose on others. Personally I do not smoke it (really) but we should allow it and start using hemp in the US. DP, [major frankenfood corporation-redacted-I'll call M] M, the drug companies and all of the big corporations stand to lose if hemp is allowed to be grown in the US and that is why it is still illegal.

I saw that The Senate barred federal regulators from reviving the Fairness Doctrine. I'm quite divided on this. For the last thirty years the FCC has removed ownership limits and relaxed laws. Big media corporations who own high percentages of any market will only present views that help them to keep market share and make money. This is not conducive to producing all views for The People. We all suffer when we don't know all our options. I believe that if any corporation owns more than 20% of ANY media in any market then they should be required to follow the rules of the Fairness Doctrine. Those corporations do not want you to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine so call it something else and let's maximize information to The People so that they can make their own decisions on what would be best for our country. If a media company owns less than 20% then let them have at it, provided they don't have agreements with other media outlets to limit information to more than that 20%. The airwaves belong to The People and should be there for The People, not corporate profit.

Last, this week, I really want to thank you for lifting the ban on photographing our military coffins that are being shipped from overseas. We The People always knew that 43 imposed the rule to strengthen his agenda. Anytime the government asserts such power we should be concerned.

Very Sincerely yours,

Peter Lawrence

February 24th, 2009

On teaching critical thinking, dissenting views and protesting, tax havens, Guantanamo Bay and the Uyghurs, Habeas Corpus and the imperial presidency, treasons and white house emails.

                                                                 Peter Lawrence

                                                                 PO Box [redacted]

                                                                 [redacted]

President Barack Obama

White House Residence

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC 20500

2/24/09

Dear Mr. President,

There was one thing you did mention in your speech that I saw as much more important than most realized. I haven't heard anything about it in the news of late. You brought up education and how programs that do not work will be removed. As I also mentioned in an earlier letter, teaching to the tests does not involved critical thinking and will only teach children how to follow and not lead. That makes it easier to control them as adults so government and corporations can have an easier time but I doubt that's truly what The People want. I would hope you keep your word on this.

I'm not sure what happened to advice and dissent. I am very happy you've tried to reach out to both sides. As I've said, dissent is critical for critical thinking. I would hope that dissent would also be eagerly accepted from The People. Luce Guillen-Givins and 7 other members of the group RNC Welcoming Committee, also known as the "RNC 8", were formally charged with conspiracy to riot in furtherance of terrorism. This has to stop! Dissent is NOT terrorism and if it were then I should expect to be taken and imprisoned on this day. The very idea that protesting or dissent is criminal is ludicrous and flies directly at the wall of freedom to crumble it. Please, I beg of you not to let this happen. This type of a stretching of the laws could tear The Constitution in half.

To me, those who are poor who skirt taxes so they can eat are not the criminals. Those billionaires who hide money in tax havens force the taxes of the poor up. They rob me, most of my friends and The People of those monies used for programs and infrastructure.

Guantanamo reared its ugly head again this week with the news about the Uyghurs. We all know that China is now a fascist state where the government is the corporation and there are no human rights to speak of. The Uyghurs are a People who wish autonomy and are our friends in our fight against Fascism. Since 9/11, Beijing would have us believe that The Uyghurs are terrorists because they don't agree with their Fascistic government. They were detained without any proof of any action or threat from them against the US. They should be allowed to be released in their region to continue their fight for autonomy or be released into the US population to be allowed to live relatively normal lives. I'm not saying you shouldn't also keep an eye on them because they could be angry after being jailed for years and for no reason but a little understanding of their plight could be helpful to us. It would be nice not to have one group completely hate us after what we've done for the last 7 years.

In January I mentioned about how closing Guantanamo is not important unless you halt the policies that went with it. The People and I know the difference. On Friday, your administration decided to keep the policies of the former administration regarding detainees in US bases. This means that detainees cannot have redress for their imprisonment or trial in the US or abroad because no external military base is part of our country or part of the country it is in. That means the prisoners are nowhere and have no rights! My friends, who I've spoken with about this, are very angry that this has been allowed to continue. The Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to hold detainees at Guantánamo Bay without giving them access to the courts and trial. I do not believe the Supreme Court meant its decision to be as narrowly defined to one base as your administration would claim and I do not wish to live in the year 1214. All people who have been detained should have a right to trial. If we do not give them that right then We The People are far worse than they and We The People are at fault since our voices have not been loud enough. We all realize the danger of allowing trial for those who would destroy us but personally I would rather die than allow The People's values to be altered. I'm sure you will find a way to protect us, and our values, very soon because the loss of those core values would mean we do not deserve protection.

We've already lost too many values, like the value of three separate but equal branches of government. In my letter last week I mentioned The People's fear of an imperial presidency and how, no matter what the costs, we must return those powers of the President and Vice President to what they were before the previous administration. Flying right in the face of those beliefs is the attempt to squelch those lawsuits that are trying to uncover the missing emails of 43 and his administration. We The People MUST know what happened and MUST have anything that will show us treasons. If indeed those missing emails are hiding treasons then withholding them is also treason and no administration should have the power to do that.

Very Sincerely yours,

Peter Lawrence

My letter of February 17th 2009

Democrats caving to Republican demands, whistleblower protections, the imperial presidency, requirements under 2382 of the treason laws, how corporations control The People and governments.

                                                                 Peter Lawrence

                                                                 PO Box [redacted]

                                                                 [redacted]

President Barack Obama

White House Residence

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC 20500

2/17/09

Dear Mr. President,

The first thing I heard about after mailing my last letter was of Senator Reid and Speaker Pelosi caving in to Republican demands by removing the whistleblower protections from the stimulus. With all due respect, Sir, that was a protection for The People and instead, those who I gave power to have again decided to protect corporations. We saw the malfeasance with the The People's monies supplied to contractors for Iraq and Afghanistan. And we saw what happened to those who came forward. If the administration ever again plans to protect The People I would hope something would be forthcoming very soon.

Another protection that others and I had been hoping for is that from an imperial presidency. Not that I don't trust you, but I've always held a grave concern over 43's expansion of powers and the lasting effects. The claim by Mr. Craig that you are, "...mindful as president of the United States not to do anything that would undermine or weaken the institution of the presidency" is a reason to be guarded.

If we starve our country of it's right to be safe and secure from those who would undermine the Constitution for profit, all is lost. Our requirements under law do not tell us that we should prosecute when it's convenient, it tells us that we MUST uphold the law even if it's inconvenient! And, in fact, our laws state that if one does not work towards prosecution for treason then he or she is not only complicit but also guilty of a separate treason.

This much corporate power in the world is unsustainable in politics. We've seen it in history when The People rise up against oligarchs and literally throw them in prison or kill them and their families. It will happen again once corporations gain too much power. We're at a crossroads - Save corporations by reducing them or have them die a painful death. Corporations' #1 tool is causing distrust between the people and governments, governments and governments, and people and people. That is the only way they can be stronger than government. The only way to stop corporations is by trusting each other and by making the government an arm of The People once more. Once a hand is offered to other governments then they, as a group, can create rules that could restrain monopolies from growing "too big to fail". The big businessmen will still make millions but corporations cannot be allowed to grow another ounce. All corporations should be limited to 20% market in each State or Country. If an existing oligarchy refuses to comply, they should not be allowed to participate in the world economy. I realize those implications regarding Saudi Arabia and China and other oligarchies or fascist states. No one person or entity should be allowed to hold stock in more than 5% of a market. As corporations grow they should be required to split which will beget more innovation.

Very Sincerely yours,

Peter Lawrence