Mr. President:

Enough is enough. I write this not as a conservative Republican (I am one), or a white middle-class businessman (I’m that as well), or even as a citizen…I write as one father to another.

Like you I have two beautiful daughters, although mine are now young adults, and I love them with all my heart. Since their birth I have changed my life to insure their safety, education, health, and moral foundations.  But even this isn’t what I want to share with you.

I would ask that you and I build a metaphor for our country using fathers and daughters. In fact lets use our own daughters so the parallels are as real as possible.  In this metaphor we as fathers represent the federal government and our daughters represent the citizen we serve.

In the beginning we provide everything for our daughters. We feed them, we house them, we comfort them, we clothe them, we protect them, we teach them, and we love them.  However, our most important role is to prepare them to live independent and responsible lives away from our protective control. In the end, our ability to let them go and make their own lives is the greatest gauge of our success as fathers.

There comes a point in the lives of our daughters where we not only stop protecting them we also stop supporting them. We don’t continue to pay for their clothes, their food, their housing, their cell phones their utility bills, their health care. Yes, we are there when they get in trouble or need help but we no longer provide everything for them, do we? Wouldn’t you agree that it would be unproductive for our daughters to grow up believing that Dad would always be there to bail them out?

To make our children dependent on their fathers and mothers for everything in their lives, and for their entire lives would not result in positive, self-reliant adults. Therefore, back to the metaphor why do you believe that government should take care of the citizens from cradle to grave? I’m certain that you wouldn’t want the government making all the decisions for your daughters, would you? You know that part of growing up and maturing is to struggle with life on your own and having to make your own decisions and taking responsibility for those decisions.

We teach our daughters to be fiscally responsible by our own actions as well as encouraging them to avoid credit and to spend within their means. Yet you and the government continue to spend beyond your means thus sending a negative message to the country.

We teach our daughters to be self-reliant by encouraging them to take on responsibilities, by finding employment as baby sitters, etc. If they want a new purse, and girls really love those expensive purses, we challenge them to set a goal and to save for the designer bag. If they put in the effort and come up a little short we are happy to close the gap. We honor their effort and affirm them as individuals.  When the government hands out well fare checks they devalue the individual and stifle their ability to care for themselves. You could just buy the purse for your daughter but done often enough that would spoil the child.

My point is that as a father I must get out of the way of my daughters to let them succeed or fail on their own. We as a country must stop thinking that government, “Father,” has all the answers for the citizens, “Daughters.” We need to follow the constitution and create a safe environment for that success and failure and we need to be there in a limited way to help our countrymen in tragic situations.

So my challenge to you, Mr. President, is to stop acting like a politician and start thinking and acting like a father. Stop trying to control our lives and let us succeed or fail on our own merits. Start encouraging the people of this great land to take responsibility for their own lives and the consequences of their choices. Start teaching them how to live purpose driven and responsible lives.  Show them how to live within their means.

It is not possible to legislate behavior. Just think about your daughters. Do the stern lectures and ultimatums really change their behavior? No, it is the example of your life and the kind teaching you provide that makes the real difference, the real impact. Even though I don’t support any of your ideas for the country I do believe that you have the gifts required to help the people of the United States to be encouraged, uplifted, inspired and challenged to create a better America!

In closing I would say then, as a father to a son (Because I’m old enough to be your father) let go of ideology and approach your job as President in the same way you approach your role as father. Consider every policy you champion from the perspective of how it will affect your daughters.  Will this public policy help them become independent, self-reliant, responsible citizens? Is the policy congruent with what you teach your daughters? Is the policy supported by the constitution?

Love your Country as you love your daughters.