The President of the Senate
The Speaker of the House
Members of the Executive and the Judiciary
Ladies and Gentlemen:
This is a most historic occasion, sentient of the times we are in, it is a unique and unprecedented event, and I am truly humbled to be standing at this podium to (and I will say this out loud for the benefit of myself) briefly address a Joint Session of the US Congress.
I will provide some background which I believe will benefit the target audience of my message. I am a new immigrant to the United States, having been here for less than two years. Like many in my situation, I have spent my youth in another clime, a different culture, different people, and different prospects. Like all, I have chosen freely to cast my lot with the promise of this nation, a country for all people world over. The American Dream is vivid and persuasive enough to attract highly talented and motivated people from far across the globe; it is also a beacon for many in several dark corners the world over. This American Dream rewards industry and enterprise and dedication. It negates the old doctrine that status was a birthright, and that the poor could have it no different. The American Dream that draws tens of thousands of legal migrants annually gives the assurance that there are no glass ceilings, nor trip ladders.
Today, from my vantage viewpoint as a fresh immigrant, I can see with clarity that the current debt situation leaves me instantly poorer (by $46,000) than I was upon leaving the shores of my native country. To compound things, the current posturing of the political and power blocs also rob us of all hope, threatening to turn the American Dream into a pipe dream.
One side seeks to conserve and preserve the wealth of the nation in the hands of the privileged; the other remains content to give handouts to the poor, but offer no prospect of self-empowerment.
In the last couple of weeks, we the People have been inundated, courtesy of the media, with reports of the US debt crisis, the debt ceiling of the US Government, the need for a congressional vote to raise this limit and the implications of a US
Government default on its major instruments of debt.
We have also heard the arguments from both sides, and we are gladdened that both sides agree that the ceiling needs to be raised, that government spending needs to be curtailed and the debt profile must be revisited to create a more sustainable trajectory. We are however mortified to learn of how radically different, and mutually exclusive the thoughts of the two sides are on how to carry out this common agenda.
Our esteemed leaders, perhaps, we need a few reminders at this juncture. That leadership is the ability to identify and correct a problem before it becomes a disaster. In contrast to the tenets of this adage, what we have witnessed in recent times is our leaders governing through crises and artificially created cliff-hanger scenarios, specifically to milk every incident for all possible political capital.
Perhaps our esteemed leaders need to be reminded of the plight and conditions of the majority of Americans – the very people they purport to represent, that the multitudes of employed and unemployed need social security, Medicaid, Medicare as well as the Affordable Care Act. And that the Investors and Business owners want tax breaks, subsidies and sundry benefits. That everyone in both groups, making these different demands on government, wants the same goals, ultimately – to live freely in the pursuit of happiness.
Perhaps the Honourable members of the US Congress need to be reminded that what we have is a representative government in which the bicameral legislature best reflects the composition of the Union. That no county district or constituency is either pure red or pure blue. That no congressman has ever been returned by 100%, thus to purport to stand only for the party line and to eschew all forms of compromise as this present House is wont to do is a disservice to the nation and an affront on representative government.
The United States needs to live up to its name; the political parties need to keep in mind that the real power belongs to the people, not interest groups.
It is at a sad juncture that we find ourselves today, where the world watches in amazement as the top two elected officers from both parties deliver their different spins on the same issue with surreal animation and affectations. It is probably one of the most humbling moments in the history of the Union when the joint session of the representatives of the greatest nation on earth suffers the preaching of an obscure immigrant from a third world nation.
Yet, it is from such moments that this Union re-invents itself and charts a whole new course for humanity. It is this resilience that has favoured the US in the past, we call upon it again for the task ahead, it is by no means easy, but it has to be done.
As I have unduly been granted this privilege to speak to this assembly, I see no reasons why I should not conclude with these admonitions from a my very sincere heart;
To the majority of the citizens of this country, many of whom are trapped in the rat-race so deviously crafted by the corporations, and have chosen to remain unconcerned; I say rise up
To the rich, who feel protected from the predictable financial upheaval (in the event of a default) by their accumulated wealth; I say, wise up
To You, the Representatives of the people, leaders of the Free World; I say man up
This is not simply about standing for what is just, and what is right, it is about doing what needs to be done, and doing it, just right.
Thank you for your time,
God bless us all,
God bless the United States of America.
(This speech is to be delivered by this presumptuous author to an imagined Joint Session of the US Congress on the eve of the very unlikely event of a default on the US Government’s debt obligations)
