Hello America.

As you know, things are pretty tough and getting tougher. I've been working on getting some things going to help you out, but it's not going well. Now that the Republicans in Congress are off the hook for actually getting anything done, they feel even freer than before to talk up their stupid ideas as if they made sense. And unfortunately, many of my Democratic friends seem incapable of running Congress like they own the place. I could go on and on.

But never mind all that; here's my proposal.

Forget the "giant stimulus," with its creepy-sounding idea that if we just spend enough we can mysteriously jumpstart demand for stuff. You all know deep down that you can't pay for any more stuff anyway.

Forget bailing out the banks. They want you to wait for prosperity to trickle down to you after they're all taken care of, and if that means that your house is foreclosed on and you go bankrupt in the meantime, tough luck.

Let's do it the other way round. The banks can dammned well wait until you're stable enough to start making your house payments again and prosperity trickles up. Keeping you and your neighbors in your homes, humble though they may be, is the first step.

Forget this giant omnibus bill stuff. If the Republicans are going to pick the thing to death, let's give 'em something to pick at. From now on, we are going to propose single-issue bills based on doing the right thing for ordinary Americans. I will veto any bill that comes to my desk with an add-on of any kind, as well as any bill that smacks of having been written by industry lobbyists. We'll get this fight out in the open for your approval. Republicans will threaten to fillibuster, and I say let 'em go ahead. It will be fun to watch them try to explain, hour after hour, why a bill plainly in the interest of ordinary Americans is actually an insult to Democracy itself.

Gradually, things will start to get done, because all of you will be calling your elected representatives to say "Hey, that's a good bill--get it passed," or "For crying out loud, stop blocking the bill for energy-saving light bulbs in schools."  It's a hard way to do it, but it will work.

It's hard to say where we will be at the end of all this. Given that much of what passed for prosperity over the last eight years was fabricated, some of us may not be as rich as we thought we were. But if we, as a government made up of human beings, act in the interests of most of us, we will end the next few years as a better, more stable, kinder nation. 

Please--I can't do this alone. Your patience and your advocacy are required here; you need to keep making calls and knocking on doors if you want change, more now than ever. Just keep asking me, Congress, and your State and local officials to focus on doing what's right.

Thank you.