Letter to the President: Tax Payer Money

Every day it seems there are new things being done in the White House and in Congress that I find difficult to accept. I'm sending out this letter today. If I were to write everything into one letter I'd like to say, I'd have a book before I was done.

Dear Mr. President:

People will find a way if they are determined enough.

Building a wall along our Mexican border with taxpayer dollars will not stop illegal immigrants. It will not make America great again. If people are committed to coming to our country, some will still find their way here.

The tax money you plan to go toward building a wall would be much better used in the following ways:

Affordable health care provided to all American citizens.

Placed in renewable and clean energy research and development.

To help provide healthcare to people in other countries who have none.

Help build schools and hospitals for countries that have none.

Used in furthering the arts, public broadcasting and other cultural outlets.

Providing better care for veterans.

Bettering public school systems across the country.

Creating more opportunities, support, jobs and homes for the homeless.

Developing sustainable farms and training programs for farmers.

Creating sustainable jobs for unemployed Americans.

So you see, Mr. President, there are many ways, and I am sure I have not thought of even a fraction of them, of how to use taxpayer money to really “Make America Great” again. Because if we want to be great, then we need to understand that caring for people, here at home and across the world, caring for the environment, and providing opportunities is the way to do so.

Demanding someone pay for something they did not want in the first place is a good way to create division. Isolating us from one of our closest neighbors will ultimately only lead to stress and strain in our relations with them. And there is no guarantee we will ever be reimbursed any of the money. So use that money instead to build America up by educating people, creating jobs, researching sustainable energy and farming, supporting the arts, and keeping its people healthy.

“A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members,” Mahatma Ghandi. Must we limit our capacity for greatness by blocking out the world’s weakest members? Immigrants and refugees have nothing, and yet you want to refuse them the opportunity to have a safe place and opportunity.

Sincerely a concerned citizen,

Katlyn Koester