Dear Mr. President

Dear Mr. President,

When I first heard about your interview with Jessica Yellin on CNN, I thought I misunderstood what you said. So I checked.

You really did say that you hadn’t done enough to develop relationships with members of Congress so you could do your job properly because you wanted to be home at 6:30 in the evenings to have dinner with your daughters and help them with their homework.

So would every other mom and dad in America.

But we can’t just choose not to do our jobs properly so we can fulfill that wish, unless we want to either lose our jobs, or lose our homes.

Perhaps you just don’t understand what life is like for middle-class Americans, and how your failure to do your job has made that life more difficult.

Let me give you just one example.

When you began your administration, the average price of a gallon of gasoline was $1.78. Today it is $3.82. It now costs each of us an extra $24.00 every time we fill a 12 gallon tank. So a parent who is making minimum wage has to spend 3 extra hours at work to earn enough to cover the difference, and he has to spend that much extra time for every single fill-up. That parent would like to be having dinner with his kids every night.

The effect of higher gas prices doesn’t end at the pump. Every product that is made or delivered using gasoline is affected. That includes things like office supplies and equipment. Businesses with salaried, professional employees are seeing their profits eaten away by the increasing costs. They respond by telling those employees that they have to work longer hours for the same pay so the company can stay in business.

Those parents aren’t working longer hours to increase their earnings, they are working longer hours just to keep their jobs. And they, too, would like to be having dinner with their kids every night.

For many Americans, the job disappeared despite their efforts. When companies like General Motors moved manufacturing plants from America to China, thousands of American moms and dads had to find other work. Many of them needed to take two, or even three, lower-paying jobs to replace their incomes since the mortgage didn’t change when the employment did. They would also like to be having dinner with their kids every night.

Perhaps the problem is that you didn’t understand what the job of the President really entailed.

But Mr. President, you asked for that job, and you promised us that you would fulfill its requirements.

Now, you are telling us that you chose not to do that. In your interview, you said that you hoped that your daughters would need less of your time in the next four years so maybe you could actually honor your commitment to the American people, and spend enough time at your job to get things done.

I am sorry, Mr. President, but that is just not good enough.

We all have children too. We all love our children just as much as you love yours. You do not have the right to hurt our children because you can’t be both a good father and a good President.

And frankly, Mr. President, it is insulting to ask us to allow you to continue to do so.

Very respectfully,

An American Mom