Repost of Letter to Senator Obama - 1.22.2007.1

This is a repost of the letter sent to Senator Obama, found orginally at Vass. Any response from the Senator will be posted unaltered when received.

January 22, 2007
Dear Senator Obama,

I am contacting you today as part of an ongoing series of letters that I am sending to many of those that are planning to run for President of the United States. To date I have written letters to Senator Clinton, Mr. John Edwards, and Mr. Mitt Romney.

I am the author/writer of several blog sites including Black Entertainment USA (www.blackentertainmentblog.com). My letter to you, as well as any response from you will be posted on these sites without alteration.

Senator Obama I am aware that you are a junior Senator, having served 2 years at this time, representing Illinois. As I am from New York I am not familiar with the platforms you were elected for. What was the main issue that you campaigned on, and what progress have you made in attaining that? What laws have you helped to pass, or prevented from passing, that have directly benefited your constituents and African Americans in general?

As a fellow African American I’m sure you are aware that there are several issues that are of great impact to the Black community. One of the most important may be the issue of education. What have you done to improve the number of African Americans that finish high school and/or seek higher education? If you were to be elected President, what plan would you follow that will improve the education system in America?

In terms of your own education I ask a question that has recently been in the news. It has been stated that during the 4 years in Jakarta you had attended a Madrasa. I wonder if you feel this has any influence on the education you received, or more importantly do you believe that having lived and studied overseas provided you any benefit that your peers may not have had?

It has also been stated that you are a smoker. If this is true do you believe that has any effect on your views on healthcare? In addition how do you feel about the current trend to leave businesses without a choice and disallow smoking? Do you believe that the smoking ban is fair to businesses, and does it make sense to have a ban while also allowing adult citizens to purchase cigarettes?

As a lawyer that worked on civil rights issues, what do you believe you can do, or are doing currently, to improve the rights of African Americans and Latino/Hispanic Americans or any other people of color in this nation? What do you feel is the largest obstacle and what plan do you have to remove it?

In terms of national healthcare, do you agree with the push for a national healthcare system? If you do how would you have this program funded? What would you do to motivate institutions and individuals to seek out new innovations with the profit motive removed? How would you ensure that a national program would not function in the same manner most feel other government institutions do, such as the education system (which most feel is a failure)?

What role, if any, do you feel religion plays in the government? Do you believe that the fact you have never served in the Armed Forces would have any effect on your ability to perform as Commander-and-Chief?

Speaking of the Armed Forces, at this time there is a general feeling that the war in Iraq is going badly. President Bush has just announced a plan that would elevate the number of troops serving in Iraq. The democratic party is generally opposed to this plan. What exact alternative would you implement in place of this current plan, and what plan would you establish to ensure the safety of Americans if Iraq becomes more unstable (thus promoting terrorist attacks on America)?

Do you feel that the fact you have little experience in the Senate, or with dealing with international politics, is a hindrance to your ability to act as President and if not why?

Recently there has been a growing apprehension among some in the nation about the number of immigrant that are allowed into the nation for non-European nations (as per Rep. Goode). How do you feel about this? Also there is a strong debate on what to do about the large numbers of illegal immigrants. What plan do you have to deal with this issue?

I thank you for taking the time to read and to respond to this letter. As I stated earlier this will be posted on several sites, particularly Black Entertainment USA (at the address noted above).

Sincerely,

Michael Vass
President – M V Consulting, Inc.
Author – Black Entertainment USA and Vass
info@blackentertainmentblog.com

Repost of original letter to Mr. John Edwards - 1.17.2007.3

This is an excact copy of my original letter to Mr. John Edwards, posted at Vass.

January 5, 2007
Mr. John Edwards,

I recently heard of your decision to run for President of the United States. I am owner and author of multiple blogs, one of which deals primarily with political issues and individuals. This letter is both based on my personal interest and that of my readers. [My sites include www.mvass.com and www.blackentertainmentblog.com]

I am a native American citizen, with my heritage coming from African Americans and Latino Americans. I was born and raised in the Northeast, though I have traveled and lived across the country and am a former Marine. The focus of the blogs are presenting news and events from the perspective of an African Latino American view; which I feel is under-represented in the media.

Given these facts, and that I am largely unfamiliar with your past, I have several questions for you. I have already asked several questions of Senator Clinton and am awaiting her response. I intend to ask similar questions of all (or at least most) individuals that intend to run for the office of the President. I look forward to your responses.

I understand that you have pursued initiatives in healthcare, education, social security and medicare throughout your time in the Senate, and previous to that to a degree in your work as a lawyer. In regard to your work in the Senate, what laws did you initiate, that were passed, that directly improved these issues for Americans in general, and Black and/or Latino Americans specifically? What exactly do you propose to improve the education system in America, specifically for those students in the inner city?

In regard to your desire to create a universal healthcare system in the United States, how do you expect that system to be paid for? In addition what do you believe will be a motivation for professionals and medical industries to work to current standards or to create new advances without the benefit of profit?

What exact plan do you have that will allow Social Security to continue to exist or to be modified for future generations as the baby boomer generation continue to age and existing funds continue to fail to meet the need?

In the 2006 mid-term elections, the democratic party won several seats in both the House and Senate with the cry of changing the current policy in Iraq. What is your exact position on Iraq? I feel that it is not possible to support the troops and question the mission that we have sent them on. I further feel that to remove the funding of the troops, while still engaged in the mission, is neither a show of support nor a plan to win. Do you agree or disagree with this? If you were to be Commander and Chief of our troops what would you have them do to complete our mission in Iraq? Do you feel that the fact that you have never served in the military is a benefit or detriment to the country?

Your party, as I have understood, has no stated plan to change the events and status for the war in Iraq or against terrorism, beyond the statement that change is needed. What exact plan do you wish to implement if you were to be elected that could prevent future attacks by terrorists against this nation?

In terms of the economy, what exactly do you propose that will help those below the middle class to improve their standard of living? It is often held that the democratic party believes that taxes, particularly for the upper incomes, should be increased to provide funds for programs that benefit those of lower income, do you agree with this position? As a business owner and member of the middle class I would like to know what are your economic plans for the country?

Considering events such as the shooting of Mr. Sean Bell, the Duke rape case, the Rodney King riots and other similar events have highlighted the racial tensions that continue to exist in the nation, what would you do to help improve race relations.

Perhaps one of my biggest questions is that America has apologized and made reparations to Native American Indians and Japanese Americans for atrocities and crimes made in the past. Given this fact, how do you justify that America has never made an apology or considered reparations for slavery, jim crow, and segregation. Would you as the President finally provide an apology for these acts? Would you make reparations, and if so what might those reparations entail?

I must mention that I intend to post this to the abovementioned blog. In addition to posting this I will post your response, unaltered, on the blog as well.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Michael Vass
President – M V Consulting, Inc.
Author – Black Entertainment USA and Vass

The joys of Will Ferrell, Ping Pong and the Police - 1.5.2007.1

With the new year started I’ve decided to add a few different thing to the posts for the site. One thing that I will be adding is specifically due to the up-coming Presidential elections. For those that have visited my Vass site this is not new news but I am planning to write letters to the Presidential candidates, hopefully all of them, addressing concerns and asking specific questions on their platforms. My letters to these individuals will be posted unaltered, and when I receive a response it will be posted unaltered as well. At this time I have sent a letter to Senator Clinton, and Mr. John Edwards. Neither at this time have responded. I will try to mention the status of the letters going out, and any responses received on this blog once a week, but definitely at least once a month. The leadership of this nation is our choice, this is an opportunity to learn what we are choosing.

A separate item I plan to add on a weekly basis is a bit of a calendar. I hope to highlight various dates of note to Black Americans, and Latino Americans. This includes birthdays of famous individuals, ground-breaking firsts, and other items.

In this week:
Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln
The first African American child is born in America in 1624. His name is William Tucker.
Congressional Black Caucus formed in 1974
The fountain pen is patented by William B. Purvis in 1890

Looking at other things happening in the last couple of days, there was good news for Mr. Will Ferrell and his family. Mr. Ferrell is now the father of his second child, a boy born just two days short of the new year. Congratulations and cheer to Mr. Ferrell and his family on this wonderful addition. I wish him the best.

In hopeful news there is a rumor that the band, the Police, will perform together again. It’s been some 2 decades since the band performed a tour and many have hoped to get a chance to see such a performance. While some of my readers may be unfamiliar with this band I believe they may be familiar with the lead singer and sometime actor Sting. For those that are unaware Sting did not start off as a solo artist. Actually they were not even a band at first, they were English teachers at a British school as I recall. (Yes Sting is British as are the other members of the band.)

It wasn’t until after the band had several chart topping hit albums that Sting went off to try his hand at a solo record. This lead to a very successful career. But there was never any reason why the band could not have continued. Unlike other break-up stories there were no frictions that would cause the band to end, as happened with the Beatles as an example. So a final performance tour would be a coup for fans who never got to see them together one last time. Keep your fingers crossed.

In the arena of the unusual there is news of a new challenge for Ping Pong players. If you thought you could take on Forrest Gump this is the next level for you. It’s called TriPong and the game is played with 3 players on a modified table. This is no joke, the game has been picked up and should be available for the next holiday season.

Perhaps it’s because I’m a city boy, but is there a real demand for ping pong? I mean I’ve never known anyone with a table, and only saw people playing the game at college. Call me sheltered but I never knew it was that popular. I suppose if you do have a table, this is a must have. I can definitely see how it could be good to give all the kids something to do besides playing a computer game. So if you are worried about your kids eye-hand coordination your wish has been answered. Except if you live in the city, I think.

This is what I think, what do you think?