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