To Jack Schlossberg:
My name is Bryan Jacoutot. I’m 23 years old, and a second year law student at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia.
I recently had the opportunity to read your opinion piece on CNN that called on our nation’s youth to reelect Barack Obama this November.
I wanted to reach out to you because I believe you make a very valid point on the importance of citizen participation by our generation in this election. However, I think that your lofty portrayal of the accomplishments of President Obama mischaracterizes what will ultimately be his long term effect on our generation.
You touched on many domestic political issues, but failed to even mention what are undoubtedly the two greatest domestic issues of this election: Unemployment and fiscal responsibility. Your statement that President Obama has been our generation’s “biggest ally in Washington since the start of his presidency,” seems particularly misguided, and it ignores the economic realities facing young Americans as a result of the President’s policies.
One of the most important things to America’s youth is the ability to secure employment upon graduation. It is essential to our well being. It keeps us from a life of debt and dependency, and allows us to pursue the fundamental American ideal of self-determination. In this regard, President Obama has utterly failed our generation. Taking into account the dismal level of work force participation for people ages 18-29, America’s youth unemployment level is 16.7%.
For young people, high unemployment such as this carries with it unique challenges. Many of us, myself included, will graduate and enter the workforce with 6-figure levels of student loan debt. But the workforce President Obama has cultivated for us through his policies has little need for unproven graduates when men and women with years of experience are still receiving pink slips.
The only option for many of us will be to languish in our childhood bedrooms, provided that we’re fortunate enough to have parents who can afford to take us back in. I have heard over and over again from this administration that “America is on the right track.” But how long must we continue on a track producing unacceptable results until we finally realize we’re going the wrong way? How long can we justify blaming previous administrations for our current failures?
Young Americans are particularly vulnerable to the consequences of this systemic buck passing. Even if a new graduate secures a job and slowly begins paying off their private debts, what awaits them still further around the corner is a relentlessly increasing level of public debt. While this debt is attributable to both parties, it was President Obama who said back in February of 2009 that, “today I am pledging to cut the deficit we inherited in half by the end of my first term.” As we approach that end, it seems clear that he never had any such intention.
The American national debt surpassed $16 trillion last week, thanks in part to the $5 trillion that was added in the course of President Obama’s first term. While I’m aware that in our lifetimes we’ve always lived with trillions of dollars in national debt looming overhead, we must realize that this is not some imaginary number destined to perpetually accompany American government. It is real, and our creditors will someday call our debt. It won’t be Barack Obama who has to pay them back, it is our generation that will be charged with this task. This reality is overlooked all too often, but it is one of the greatest dangers facing our generation.
Instead of focusing on these issues, you spoke about topics like green energy and climate change as reason for reelecting President Obama. These areas of policy are clearly important ones, and they rightly deserve a place in our national conversation. But more so than government mandated energy efficient vehicles and climate change awareness, the single most important thing to our generation should be ensuring that America as we know it survives for the generations that will come after us. America cannot be a global leader in green energy production if we can’t even pay our own bills.
You also spoke about women’s rights, as if it was something Republicans wish to deny the many honorable women who comprise our ranks. Talk to any conservative woman, and you will realize that is simply not the case.
Unemployment and fiscal responsibility, although not as flashy as media manufactured “wars on women,” are the true issues of this election. On these issues, President Obama has failed our generation.
I believe that America’s youth will see that.
So, like you, I too hope that our generation comes out to vote this November. But I hope it does so to elect a new President. One who can do more than deliver well worded, but ultimately empty promises. Most of all, I hope that young Americans realize that a generation of privately indebted, unemployed, college graduates will be incapable of paying off the crushing public debt that will await us should we grant Obama the reelection he seeks.
A nation dependent upon our creditors was not the America we grew up in, and it certainly doesn’t have to be the America we grow old in.
Sincerely,
Bryan Jacoutot
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Comments
Nicely done!
I worry about the future of our great nation but knowing that the forthcoming generation contains young people like you, Bryan, makes me worry a little less.
Bryan, your letter to jack schlossberg, a privileged side shoot of the privileged Kennedy clan, is well reasoned, logical and above all factual. Schlossberg will not respond because the currency of the leftist progressives is emotional clap trap, by which they appeal to those who are unreasonable, illogical and who live in a fairy tale world.
Keep up the good work. You will influence many of your peers; you are the future of the USA.
By the way, I’m just about to finish “Letters to a Young Conservative”, published in 2002 by Dinesh D’Souza. Chances are, you’ve already read it. If not, I do recommend it.
Good letter.
Bryan: Well done, Lad. May I strongly urge you to read David Mamet’s beautiful memoir-meditation on ‘coming over’ to our side,”The Secret Knowledge:On the Dismantling of American Culture”(2011,Sentinel-Penguin Group).
Mr.Schlossberg: Be assured, sir, that your Kennedy grandpa would be thoroughly horrified at what has become of his old party and would, without hesitation, vote for Mitt Romney. Of that, young man, I am 100% certain. Your Great Uncle Teddy, of course, was an Obamahead, but I’m comforted in knowing that his big bro, JFK, is slapping the heavenly snot outta him even as I write this.
Three questions, Neocon.
“Mr.Schlossberg: Be assured, sir, that your Kennedy grandpa would be thoroughly horrified at what has become of his old party and would, without hesitation, vote for Mitt Romney. Of that, young man, I am 100% certain.”
1. Does Kennedy grandpa refer to Joe Kennedy?
2. If so, who do you think you’re kidding?
3. How could you possibly be 100% certain of that?
logos: Answers to your deeply in-depth queries:
1.)John F. Kennedy, his Mom’s Dad.(Duuhhh..)
2.)No one whatsoever.
3.)’Cuz, when pamphleteering(which is what this is,’Yo)I can exaggerate. This ain’t Chem Class, Kiddo.(-:
Not drinking. The Kool Aid about John F Kennedy.
Further,
“Bryan: Well done, Lad. May I strongly urge you to read David Mamet’s beautiful memoir-meditation on ‘coming over’ to our side,”The Secret Knowledge:On the Dismantling of American Culture”(2011,Sentinel-Penguin Group).”
I read The Secret Knowledge. it is gratifying to read AN OLD MAN’S ACCOUNT of how he became a NEO CON after 9/11 and a lifetime of ultra left politics.
logos: “Old Man”…?!
Was that gray in Andrew B’s hair & beard or was he just glad to see ya? My old ‘coot ‘godfathers’ in the Evil Neocon Cabal wouldn’t qualify for your validation either,’Yoot. Ya know, Irving Kristol and Norman Podhoretz?
Irving and Norman’s sons have done pretty well for themselves, too.
My favorite Red Diaper Baby is David Horowitz.
My hair is pure silver – between my hair salon appointments.
🙂
I liked Mamet’s book. I do think a 23 year old torch bearer would identify more with D’Souza’s Letter to a YOUNG conservative.
My apologies to you Neo; I’ve been quite out of sorts with the media turning the story of four murdered Americans to Romney’s comments. but, still not a JFK fan.
logos..Your generosity of spirit is appreciated. ‘Nuff said.
Funny, my skin, too, has been getting thinner with the shameless, loathsome collusion of the MSM and The Boy King’s regime. As a 40-year entertainment industry vet, I can’t help thinking that Mitt has literally unlimited video/audio material at his disposal. The 2 or 3-dozen(or more)best pieces need to be used with a mailed fist REPEATEDLY by the Romney-Ryan campaign and their surrogates. The blather & vapid nonsense of Obama’s ’07-’08 campaign, plus the flim-flam quotes of his first year in office…juxtapposed with the delivery(NOT)of nearly 4-years of this catastrophe…MUST be hammered over the airwaves without mercy.
Yes, D’Souza’s book is wonderful for the ‘yoots…AND us ‘coots, as well. Mamet’s book had a deep effect on me for several reasons, not least of which is his truly gigantic talent and, naturally, the industry where I’ve spent so many years.
Warm agreement with your mention of Horowitz. I reached over on a nearby shelf and grabbed,”How to Beat the Democrats..and Other Subversive Ideas”(2002) and plopped open a marked page re-JFK worth quoting:”The politics of JFK are not really different from the politics of Ronald Reagan. Kennedy was a militant anti-communist and a hawk on defense, authorizing the biggest expansion of the military since World War II. He was in favor of a balanced budget, a capital gains tax cut and half the cabinet he appointed were…Republicans. If he were alive today and held the same views, the media would describe him as ‘a right wing’ Republican.”(p.67)
I have a ‘soft spot’ still for President Kennedy. I shook his hand on Sept.27, 1963, at a convocation of my college and our cross town rivals where he spoke. I was a frosh and he was the president. Less than 2-months later he was gone. Which would explain the gray in my beard & head.(-:
Vry interesting and enlightening. Thanks for taking the time to educate me, Neo
Kick to Schlossberg’s nuts. I hope it wakes him up. Good job, Bryan.
Excellent analysis, and I particularly appreciate the fact that you, Bryan, are willing to point out that Obama made campaign promises that he never intended to keep. We have a fraud in the white house, who lied to get there: few are willing to call him out on that.
Schlossberg: Dreams of college life
By Jack Schlossberg
“First of all, I hate my mattress. Way too firm. So that’s one reason I’m awake. I also have a habit of eating sweets before bed”.
Is he asking for a Marrress Donation, The “Poor” Kid?
I am sure his Great Grand father still has a few Bucks stashed away from his Bootlegging days…Let him get his Mattress there.
Nicely put.
“today I am pledging to cut the deficit we inherited in half by the end of my first term.” As we approach that end, it seems clear that he never had any such intention.
President “I Lie” cannot reveal his true intent on anything, it would seem. He said the seas would stop rising, I could keep my health insurance and costs would go down, the Muslim world would now like us, Bill Ayers was just a guy in the neighborhood, and he never heard Rev. Wright make those anti-American comments.
I can’t imagine there has ever been a president more exalted and protected, while being so inexperienced and incapable. “Campaign Obama” is fictional, the man who never was.
My experience is that many in their twenties are misled by idealism (I was), till they are toughened by doing time in real life. It is good to hear you sounding more rooted in reality than dreams, putting idle promises to the test. 🙂
He didn’t have to go into mundane things like employment because he has that tax free family trust in Tahiti to fall back on.
Bryan, Peter Q. Richkid is not listening. Those of us who have had to work for a living, and those who will have to do so, are. We do outnumber them.
It is very true, the Nov. elections winner will be determined based mainly on those 2 issues: Unemployment and fiscal responsibility. Yet this is not all, the USA always had great interest & is very much involved in strategic World affairs,some Nations look at the USA as the World’s Policeman…for good or bad.
It is just unacceptable for a serving President not to have a clear and direct Foreign Policy Agenda and plans, This President(and his closest advisers)has None of these.
True, European leaders are in economical difficulties yet they look up in total amazement & amusement at this Young man at the white house who entered his post on a wave of change promises & they wonder…were his supporters drugged before OR during the ballot. The USA has lost all its credibility thanks to Obama’s Naivete & Inexperience in World Affairs. A known Proverb teaches us..” It takes a mighty long time to obtain a Good Credible Name, but only a Minute to forsake”…We look Bad, We feel Bad, and with no better future if he remains in his post.
I hope you sent your outstanding letter to CNN so they get a different view.
Well done.
NeoConScum
Are you talking about the JFK who okayed public employees having their own unions. That in itself is enough to rank him way below par. Or was it the JFK who cheated on his wife relentlessly. The press hid these facts from the public as per their usual tactics. Or the JFK who was dinged by Kruschev in the Cuba matter. Or maybe it was the JFK who hid his physical problems from the electorate. I, too, thought JFK was wonderful back in the early 1960s probably based entirely on looks and youth. It couldn’t possibly be because of knowledge and integrity. But I was youth obcessed like most young people and fell for this Camelot theme. I didn’t know he was the son of a gangster bootlegger. Information has come out since then that refutes the idolization of this guy. He was just another Kennedy with an eye on the main chance just like the present brood. It is offensive to me for the media to play the music from Camelot when this guy is mentioned. In the end he was just another democrat who lied and hid his radical beliefs because if they were known he would not have been elected.
Yes, Barbara, THAT John F. Kennedy. Yes, massively obsessive womanizer, Addison’s Disease recipient and Speed Junkie. “Camelot” mythology was not manufactured during his brief presidency. Only posthumously by Mrs.Kennedy, Teddy White and others. He made foreign-defense policy mistakes–which, GASP, he admitted–and learned quickly from. He favored a strong America First foreign policy, tax cuts, standing up to communist despots and firmly defending-helping America’s Friends. He would have never permitted LBJ’s massive expansion of gov’t through the War on Poverty and Medicare. The Berlin Crisis & building of the Wall were arguably the result of his tepid-amateurish response to Khrushchev at Vienna in Spring ’61. He didn’t repeat the weakness impression. He had near nothing in common with what brother Teddy became, politically & philosophically.
THAT JFK. Baa-Daa-Bing. Like dat.
My father was born in Quincy, MA. His father (my grandfather) drove bootleg whiskey Trucks for patriarch, Joe Kennedy.
My father was a fan of Barry Goldwater. He had to be one of a very few who cast a vote for Goldwater in 1964 in the small Southern – and very Democrat – county we lived in.
Had Goldwater won…well, he didn’t, so no point dwelling on “what might have been”.
And remember Ted Kennedy fell from the same tree as JFK. The family is corrupt.
AOL recently had an article on the fact that there are 5,000
juris doctorate holders who work as janitors. The professor has cautioned young people about getting law degrees from 3rd tier law schools and there are articles about the law students that are suing their alma mater because the prospects of employment are so poor.
I salute you, son on your excellent article and hope you get a well paying job in your field like legal advisor to those liability prone Kennedys. I pray for your success.
Bravo! Well said.
Was the piece written for Schlossberg by the grandson of the man who wrote Profiles in Courage for JFK? It would be nioe to keep up the family traditions.
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A great response, from the 99% to the 1%.
I’m 23 and live in the metro Atlanta area. Not voting for Obama.
Bryan, got anything for Carter’s grandson?