A friend just sent me the following admonitory tale:
John G. is 63 years old and owns a small business. He’s a life-long Republican and sees his dream of retiring next year has all but evaporated. With the stock market crashing and new taxes coming his way, John assumes now that he will work to his dying day.
John has a granddaughter. Ashley is a recent college grad. She drives a flashy hybrid car, wears all the latest fashions, and loves to go out to nightclub s and restaurants. Ashley campaigned hard for Barak Obama. After the election she made sure her grandfather (and all other Republican family members) received a big I told-you-so earful on how the world is going to be a much better place now that her party is taking over.
Having lost both roommates, Ashley recently ran short of cash and cannot pay the rent (again) on her 3 bedroom townhouse. Like she has done many times in the past, she e-mailed her grandfather asking for some financial help. Here is his reply:
Sweetheart,
I received your request for assistance.
Ashley, you know I love you dearly and I’m sympathetic to your financial plight. Unfortunately, times have changed. With the election of President Obama, your grandmother and I have had to set forth a bold new economic plan of our own…”The Ashley Economic Empowerment Plan.” Let me explain.Your grandmother and I are life-long, wage-earning tax payers. We have lived a comfortable life, as you know, but we have never had the fancier things like European vacations, luxury cars, etc. We have worked hard and were looking forward to retiring soon. But the plan has changed. Your president is raising our personal and business taxes significantly.. He says it is so he can give our hard earned money to other people. Do you know what this means, Ashley? It means less for us, and we must cut back on many business and personal expenses.
You know the wonderful receptionist who worked in my office for more than 23 years? The one who always gave you candy when came over to visit? I had to let her go last week. I can’t afford to pay her salary and all of the government mandated taxes that go with having employees. Your grandmother will now work 4 days a week to answer phones, take orders and handle the books. We will be closed on Fridays and will lose even more income to the Wal-Mart.
I’m also very sorry to report that your cousin Frank will no longer be working summers in the warehouse. I called him at school this morning. He already knows about it and he’s upset because he will have to give up skydiving and his yearly trip to Greenland to survey the polar bears.
That’s just the business side of things. Some personal economic effects of Obama’s new taxation policies include none other than you.
You know very well that over the years your grandmother and I have given you thousands of dollars in cash, tuition assistance, food, housing, clothing, gifts, etc., etc. But by your vote, you have chosen to help others — not at your expense — but at our expense.If you need money now sweetheart, I recommend you call 202-456-1111.
That is the direct phone number for the White House. You yourself told me how foolish it is to vote Republican. You said Mr. Obama is going to be the People’s President, and is going to help every American live a better life. Based on everything you’ve told me, along with all the promises we heard during the campaign, I’m sure Mr. Obama will be happy to transfer some stimulus money into your bank account. Have him call me for the account number which I memorized years ago.Perhaps you can now understand what I’ve been saying all my life:
those who vote for a president should consider the impact on the nation as a whole, and not be just concerned with what they can get for themselves. What Obama supporters don’t seem to realize is all of the money he is redistributing to illegal aliens and non-taxpaying Americans (the so-called “less fortunate”) comes from tax-paying families.Remember how you told me, “Only the richest of the rich will be affected”? Well guess what, honey? Because we own a business, your grandmother and I are now considered to be the richest of the rich. On paper, it might look that way, but in the real world, we are far from it.
As you said while campaigning for Obama, some people will have to carry more of the burden so all of America can prosper. You understand what that means, right? It means that raising taxes on productive people results in them having less money; less money for everything, including granddaughters.
I’m sorry, Ashley, but the well has run dry. The free lunches are over. I have no money to give you now.
So, congratulations on your choice for “change.” For future reference, I encourage you to try and add up the total value of the gifts and cash you have received from us, just since you went off to college, and compare it to what you expect to get from Mr. Obama over the next 4 (or 8 ) years. I have not kept track of it, Ashley. It has all truly been the gift of our hearts.
Remember, we love you dearly….but from now on you’ll need to call the number mentioned above.. Your “Savior” has the money we would have given to you. Just try and get it from him.
Good luck, sweetheart.
Love,
Grandpa.
I wonder how many similar letters are being written these days?
Love the sentiment but it’s a bit too pat to be real.
Clearly this grandfather’s “racial fear” motivated him to write this.
Am I the only one who thinks this letter is just a bit too fishy (sorry) to be real? Who writes to their granddaughter telling them to call the president for money?
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Ashley campaigned hard for Barak Obama. After the election she made sure her grandfather (and all other Republican family members) received a big I told-you-so earful on how the world is going to be a much better place now that her party is taking over.
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That might prompt a letter to the grandaughter.
/SIGH!
Of course that was tongue in cheek for those of you less gifted in the nuances of internet humor.
It was right on preppies.
Who are you kidding. what crap, Go Obama!
“With the stock market crashing and new taxes coming his way, John assumes now that he will work to his dying day.”
Poor John G. If only Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security had been adopted, he be in such better shape.”
“Ashley is a recent college grad. She drives a flashy hybrid car, wears all the latest fashions, and loves to go out to nightclub s and restaurants.”
And poor Ashley! Here she is, in her “3 bedroom townhouse,” living such a frugal life and — out of nowhere — economic catastrophe! But thank heavens she has such a caring family, who respond to her distress with a wonderful lecture and a “Good luck, sweetheart.” You’d have to have a heart of stone not to laugh.
What frightens me most about this (obviously fictional but all too realistic) story is the fact that enough parents do such a poor job of raising their children that obvious Marxists like Obama can even be elected dog catcher.
Cultures cannot be easily captured by the enemy when mothers and fathers teach their children the difference between right and wrong, and the truth behind Marxist lies.
It is easy to blame everything on Obama, but remember that he was elected. People like him will always exist. His ascension is the result of our decline.
Meh. I’m not a big fan of stuff like this. I nearly rolled my eyes right out of my head when it got to the part about the longtime receptionist that always gave candy to the granddaughter. Just a little too perfect.
But let’s play along! If I were that grandfather I wouldn’t have even bothered with a letter, much less lending her the money. As much as I too appreciate the sentiment, sweet Ashley would’ve probably found herself in such a situation regardless of who happened to be in the White House at the time, and that’s 90% of the letter right there.
Yes, because we all know that the economy was fine before Obama became President…oh wait.
Wow Karl Rove getting better at pulling the heart strings of hitting the right demographic, look for more of these come the mid-term elections, who falls for these, the same people who reply to Nigerian lottery scams??
Hahaha, Lee, you truly are funny. First of all, doesn’t sound like you ever read anything by Karl Marx. Second, sounds like you forgot to step off your soap box before writing this comment. Third, I actually agree that many parents do a bad job raising their children — they result in pompous philosophy-spouting (I studied philosophy, as well as economics actually, so I recognize the likes of you) narcissists who criticize, yet continuously fail to come up with a good alternative or solution. The economy was doing badly long before Obama became president. Find a different scapegoat.
Well….yes, this letter sounds phony…but the sentiment is real.
In our case, the letter’s recipient should be a daughter who’s children’s 529 plan can no longer be funded by their grandparents. I just haven’t had the guts to confront my kids about the results of their choice. Grandma and I just tell ourselves that this unfunded educational plan is “temporary.” That’s a lie in which we seek some comfort. We will never again be able to ensure that benefit to our grandchildren.
That Faux Grandpa got it right.
I’m a grandpa and all I got for attending Russ Carnahan’s Town Hell
beatingMeeting was a beating from some 500 pound SEIU T-Shirt.Are you kidding me?
This sorry collection of pimple-faced trolls is the best that PajamasMedia has to offer?
R.K. is an intellect to be reckoned with, and those of you who sit in your parents basement, tapping away on your mommy and daddy’s computer need to WTFU.
Over the decades, generations really, we’ve heard of “student” riots here, and “student” riots there. It’s time for more parents and grandparents to stand up for what’s right, and become PARENTS. STOP coddling your spawn, enabling them to spew leftist mantras. Make them earn their own way and pay their own damn bills!
Obama for the EPIC FAIL!
This girl’s grandpa is a racist sexist homophobic troglodyte.
But I’d still let him do me from behind if the price were right.
Sadly I do have a friend who is similar to Grandpa, and we spoke about the economy and Obama today after church.
He owns his own business and he is worried that he will not be able to sell it because of the coming taxes, that he will have to lay off part time employees, that he won’t retire and that he won’t be able to help his grandchildren as much as did in the past.
I think he has every right in the world to think that this might be his reality in coming years.
QM
BTW: we both think The One was born in Hawaii and is a natural born citizen.
It’s fake, but accurate.
We all know what this young lady’s problem is and how it came about.
Her parents most likely either were too busy working and doing whatever they wanted that they didn’t take the time to raise their daughter in such a manner to instill personal responsibility and other basic conservative values.
Or they were flaming liberals and there was nothing conservative that they believed in or passed on to their daughter.
Then of course throughout this young ladies life in our public (and private) schools, liberal progressive attitudes and beliefs were passed onto her and soaked her brain in those very beliefs and attitudes.
She was a cult follower just waiting for a great progressive cause and radical liberal leader to come along. In fact she was not just waiting but eager to work and worship this new progressive charismatic, hope and change, young black man who would change the world and fulfill all of her learned liberal expectations.
Is this letter hard to believe, no not really, I have six grandchildren and one of them is a flaming liberal. Don’t ask me how the others didn’t turn out the same way, it is a mystery because I tried with each of them to give them the my conservative take on all things and tried to instill personal responsibility with each one of them.
My two oldest grandsons are already serving this great Republic. One in the Navy and one in the Air Force. The third grand son wants to be a Marine when he is old enough. Two of my granddaughters are too young to have established much or learned much but the third is the flaming liberal I mentioned. I would never have to write such a letter to her, as I don’t have the resources to give her, but she does mooch off of others in our family and she has never worked a day in her life and I doubt that she could.
She is the perfect example of a young American girl who could be taken advantage of by Obama and the democrats…
and she was.
Papa Ray
West Texas
I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a look of misery and dejection on the face of my daughter as I just did a moment ago. She just couldn’t understand why President Obama would undermine the efforts of small business owners. “Even my Grandpa?” she asked pitifully.
I sat down with her on the sofa and (as calmly as I could) tried to explain to her why President Obama has rushed legislation, without allowing Congressmen to even reading it, that will hurt the backbone of the American economy, the small businessman. “And yes honey, even Grandpa is going bankrupt under the the burden of taxes and new mandates”, I was forced to say.
I tried to keep my voice steady, but it became increasingly difficult – the rage and feelings of helplessness were just too much. I think my daughter could tell something was wrong. I found myself at such a loss for words – nothing made any sense; nothing makes sense anymore. I finally had to admit, “Honey, I just don’t know – I don’t know what’s going on in this country anymore…”
When I finished her lower lip started to tremble and her eyes began to fill with tears, “Daddy” she said, “why are President Obama and the Democrats doing this to the country?” Well, that was it for me: I finally fell apart. She just fell into my arms and we both began sobbing for several minutes.
For once she had to comfort me and get me back on my feet. Sometimes I just think it’s too much, but seeing the strength in my young daughter’s voice helped me to get through.
For all the trolls who doubt the truth of this letter, I give you three words, paraphrased from the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/15/politics/campaign/15guard.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all):
Fake but Accurate
I thank you.
I’ve reported this hooligan to flag@whitehouse.org. He’ll be visited by some ACORN cadres real soon, and they’ll make sure he understands how much this country’s future depends upon him paying his share. Hope and change!
Meh. The story lost me at the point he described her as a college graduate driving a fancy hybrid car….and the part about the uncle going to Greenland to watch the polar bears every year…double meh.
A few years back, while my high school girl was working part time at a minimum wage job, she got her first check after the Rendell administration and the PA kleptocrats allowed local communities to raise their municipal tax from 10 dollars annually to 52….which they did. Happily.
Having a three dollar check was all it took for her to realize that Democrats will confiscate your wages, and it might be better to work ‘under the table’….a bad lesson to learn, but unfortunately, that is what happens when honest labor is punished.
Where’s jharp? This is the sort of “teabagger” stuff he enjoys to tell us we’re all stupidly and foolishly falling for…
Michelle, the highest unemployment rate under Bush without a Copperhead-controlled Congress was what again?
I see, based on some of the snippy comments above, that Leftists seem to think that they and only they have the market cornered on compassion, sympathy, and “pulling at heartstrings.”
What arrogance.
That’s why they’re called “Democrats,”* I guess.
* SEE ALSO: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/doesnt-the-left-get-tired-of-calling-obama-opponents-racists/
If you Dems dislike high income (not rich) people so much, why don’t you go get a job from a poor person?
One may call this letter fictional but I have to say these are my words exactly and even more
Those who call it a race issue have a big stupid cloud. I believe they have forgotten the KKK
belongs to the Democrats and now they are still promoting race as a way to excuse reality.
I am surprised at all of the educated people who have no clue of what is happening to the small business across America. It doesn’t have anything to do with race but rather with dictatorship.
Which side of race will you be questioning Mrs Jackson ? White or Black? or maybe you refuse to see beyond the race issue yourself .
There are many who know now to understand History and try not to re-live it.
You want to save the Earth and you can’t even see yourself and what you are saying.
Larryc.
Of course it fake, because there have been no changes to the tax code (save giving people a measly extra $14 a month). These type of fake, and stupid, letters have been coming out since last November when an e-mail went out about a “true story” of a CEO firing people with Obama stickers because of the new taxes (you know the ones that don’t exist).
The point, of course, is not whether it’s a fake. It’s a simple illustration of being too smart by half.
A second illustration of being too smart by half would be those here that assert there are no new taxes. There’s been an immense increase in federal government spending. Does it just end there? There are a finite number of ways to pay for new spending: new taxes, inflation, sell US bonds, and adopt strong economic growth policies. Mr. Obama either doesn’t know or refuses to acknowledge the last one; selling bonds and inflation will destroy our net worth as if it were confiscated, which leads us to the first. Perhaps you’ve thought of another way out?
Lee is correct, marxist teachers and media have seen to it the youger ones are blinded, except a few, when a few states cede from the unionjust maybe they might read up on the constitution and obamas actual legal powers (most of what he has done so far are unconstitutional)
It is simpler for me to see,it has already screwed my country of birth but you might ask why a brit knows more about your constitution than your african/muslim president.
What I read there was a tale of a young one’s sense of entitlement, because grandparents (and possible parents) thought that giving material things (and money) without conditions was showing their love. I see parenting (and grandparenting) failure here more than anything else.
These kinds of tall tales, where the blame is placed everywhere except where it belongs, just don’t resonate well. Reads too much like something a liberal would have concocted to counter the opposition.
Uh, Clem,
Yup, we’re all bozos on this bus.
What a crock! (to be delivered a la Bette Davis’ What a dump!)
I received this today. But I’ve received other similar letter with the same sentiment and oddly enough, the same style of writing. Are these all written by the same person? Or are they all using Strunks Elements of Style for Conservative Propagandists?
The accompanying pic I got of “John G.” (Why not use his last name? Because you can find out it’s a phoney) said he was 63. This guy is at least 73. And Ashley is his grandaughter? She’s at least 18. Do you know any 63 year olds with 18 year old grandchildren? That’s because this letter had to make him 63 so the whole “retirement” angle works better.
Dear Ashley,
I’m sorry that your Grandpa’s memory seems to be slipping in his advanced age, otherwise he would remember that the president he voted for turned a budget surplus into the biggest deficit on record and took the world’s strongest economy and turned it into a near financial catastrophe. Here’s a little news clip from August 2008: “An Economy on the Brink”: http://www.usnews.com/... In 2008, most people didn’t think the Dow would see 10K for years to come. We were lucky that someone managed to end the Great Recession in mid-2009. We are now seeing slight-but-positive economic growth. However, since Grandpa’s parents were part of the Great Depression era, his parents did instill in him hard-working and “save for a rainy day” values, which it seems our generation will now have to learn and put in practice.
Okay, let’s discuss that “oppressive” tax increase on high earners. There is no increase at all on income below $200,000. If, however, you make, say, $300,000, on that portion above $200,000, you’ll pay $38,500 as opposed to the present $35,000. (I just can’t imagine that additional $3,500 is what’s getting Grandpa’s panties in a knot and is the cause of him having to fire that sweet lady who gave you candy.) On the other hand, if you’re making less than $200,000, your personal income tax will decrease. So that means a few high earners will have to pay an insignificant amount more, and the other 95% will get a tax cut. I’m sorry that Grandpa hasn’t kept up with current events, otherwise he would know that taxes are lower now than they were during the Bush presidency. It’s okay, most Republicans don’t believe it either. http://www.cbsnews.com/... I guess they’re watching Fox News because it doesn’t sound like a bad deal to me.
In an economic recession, people stop buying things, so companies have to reduce their costs. Here’s a little chart that illustrates the difference between when a problem is created (Jan08-Jan09) and when a problem is addressed (Jan09-Jan10). http://data.bls.gov/... Charts always beat tables because trendlines are everything. Still, I’m sorry that Grandpa’s company can’t afford to keep paying his workers. I’m sure he feels bad that he couldn’t run a better business, and he probably needs someone to blame. I’m sorry that person was you.
I’m also sorry that Grandpa seems to have an issue with illegal Americans and the less fortunate. People of that generation sometimes have trouble accepting people with darker skin tones, which they assume most poor people have. The ironic thing is that most poor people are white. http://findarticles.com/...
Ashley, I seem to recall seeing this email in about June of 2009. Our current president was inaugurated in January, so it seems your Grandpa should give it more time than five months (or even now, 1 1/2 years) to straighten things out that took many, many years to create. However, Ashley, you have to realize that as people age, they do have less patience and are quick to blame all their woes on “the other side of the aisle,” so please don’t be too harsh on him. It’s also sad when our grandparents or parents use the age-old line of “I’ll disinherit you” or “I’ll cut you off” and feel that is the only reason we love them. Give Dear Grandpa a kiss and a hug, it seems like he really needs it. After all, he has done a lot for you in the past because he wanted to, it made him feel good, but as times change, so must we.
However, I have to admit that your Grandpa may be right about one thing. You can’t expect others to bail you out all the time. Get on Craigslist or Roommates.com and find someone to take the place of your roommates if you don’t have any other friends to take their place. Better yet, find something you can afford by yourself. Granted, it won’t be a nice three-bedroom place, but it will be something you can call your own. Learn to live within your means. Think about getting a job, or two if you have to, and I mean the kind of job that gets you up early and makes your bones tired when you’re done with your shift for the night. You’ll be better for it. You’ll also be better off than your parents were at your age…you’ll at least have healthcare. Now we just have to work harder on that minimum-wage thingy,
Finally, Ashley, I for one am proud of you. You have not only graduated from college, but you also care about the welfare of others….admirable qualities indeed! I’m sure if your Grandpa took a true look, he would be very proud also.
Good luck, Ashley.