Living the American Dream

This letter was submitted to Paul Hodes as part of his Voices of the People Initiative.  Bob Clegg is a NH State Senator and candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2nd Congressional District.

Dear Congressman Hodes,

You recently requested your 2nd Congressional District constituents write you to tell you personal stories about gas prices, the economy, the war, healthcare and other issues that affect them. As your constituent, I thank you for that opportunity and hope to hear my letter chosen to be read on the floor of our sacred US House of Representatives.

I personally have experienced the American Dream.  This land of opportunity gave me the ability to go from a poor kid in a big family, shining shoes and mopping floors to help my family make ends meet, to a successful businessman and elected volunteer for my community. I think every day that in no other country on this planet would I have had the opportunities this nation afforded me.  In my appreciation, I have dedicated my life to public service, both in my hometown and on the state level.  In doing so, I have had the chance to meet and work with people of all walks of life. I convey to them the chances this country gives you if you are willing to work hard and keep moving ahead.

Sadly, in the past couple of years I have seen that message of hard work, dedication and choice be clouded by visions of government handouts, socialistic ideas and the Robinhood concept. Indeed had someone told me I could just sit back and someone would hand me life on a silver platter, I may not have seized on my own opportunities and I would never have achieved what I have today.

This is the lesson we need to teach our next generation so they too can live the American Dream.  We, as a nation, cannot enable our citizens to believe government will support them; we must enable them instead to realize their true potentials and the opportunities this nation, through its government, provides.  And we must lead by example.

Gas prices are relentlessly high and working people have trouble simply filling their cars to get to work.  The answer is not a quick fix release of strategic oil reserves; the answer is long term planning and personal responsibility. That personal responsibility includes conservation, where people are able, in their homes and also includes the personal responsibility of America, to become independent of foreign oil. We need to look ahead at self-sufficiency through renewable and alternative resources of energy. We have no energy plan and we need one. We may not be able to drop gas prices tomorrow, but we need to make sure we do not face this again next decade.

The economy is slumping and people are having difficulty paying their mortgages and at times don't know if their jobs will remain.  The answer is not a quick fix check passed out as a virtual PR stunt from Washington- right before it votes to give us the biggest tax increase in history.  The answer is again, long term planning. We need to empower people to be self-sufficient and stop the draining of personal resources through increases in taxes and various hidden fees to subsidize pet projects of DC colleagues. This country was not created on the concept that taxes should be taken for the social good of hippy museums in New York.  It was created to break free of the demands of an overpowered government.  People excel personally, when allowed to do so.

Healthcare costs are stifling. Families and small businesses cannot afford to keep up. The problem isn't that government needs to be in charge. When was the last time Government did things cheaper or more efficiently? The problem is that everyone, from the top down, is being so stifled by taxes, by fees, by government intervention that costs are prohibitive for doctors, for families. We need to run healthcare that is not bigger, but that is wiser.  Preventative care will reduce costs dramatically in the future. This is long term planning.

Congressman Hodes, I thank you for the opportunity to allow me to tell you my stories; my stories of success and achievement; my stories of being raised in a country that made me work for what I have, but allowed me to work for all I could; my stories of being taught very young by my family and by the role models of my government that, as Ronald Reagan said, "Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives." Thank you for the opportunity to express to my fellow constituents that self reliance is the greatest lesson and opportunity for achievement.

Regards,

Robert Clegg

Citizen

Hudson, NH