1/31/09: Dear President Obama,

Well you promised to hit the ground running, and that you’ve done. 

1.  Lilly Ledbetter was ridiculously overdue.  Whether a person is male or female, gay or straight, black, white or a flying purple people eater should have zippo influence on the compensation they receive for a job well (or poorly, when you get right down to it) done.  The job done by Susie Creamcheese should merit compensation equal to that received by Billy Beefcake if all delivered measurables are equal and not subject to nepotism-fueled interpretation.  This one was too late for Lilly, shamefully.  Equally shameful is the fact that many companies have done nothing more than pay lip service to this issue: in an effort to reduce liability, documentation of policies and procedures exist within the company’s ethics outline but that’s all too often where it ends.

2.  Wall Street’s $20 billion bonus payout was an insult to every American taxpayer, and kudos to you for letting them know that.  How about McCaskill’s tirade?  She’s my new Superman.  Buy her lunch and bill it to me. 

3.  Okay, so I’m still not sold on the stimulus plan.  Maybe I just don’t understand it, but we’ve gotten zero cluck for our buck from the first go-round.  I’m not opposed, but I’m not gonna try to sell this one quite yet.  Perhaps providing an itemized receipt at the end of the year documenting how, where and by whom my money was spent would be a good idea.  I might sign on, then, particularly if I could request a refund if I’m dissatisfied with goods obtained and services rendered.

4.  Transparency?  So far, so good.  I’m impressed.

Keep the faith.