Boosting The Morale and The Economy of America

We may be required to move this letter from the organization because many would consider this a political one. I personally hope that we will be allowed to keep it here.

The Letter

White House
The President of the USA
President George Bush

My name is Eytan Katz. I live in Honolulu Hawaii.

We are at war! The economy is part of that war! We have no choice but to win the Economy war by all means - even if it requires extra commitment from those at the top. After September 11th you even addressed the nation with the need to help the local tourism and the economy. I took your call very seriously.

More so, there is also a need to improve the morale and confidence of the nation whenever there is a crises. Additionally, we need to take major steps in order to deal with common fears of our time. Inspired by your call, I developed a program that would help solve many of our problems.

Mass number of people will visit the tourist locations and by that infuse the travel industry. I estimate the program to directly provide more then one million travelers a week nation wide for a period of 6-10 weeks. This should inspire at least 3 times more people to visit the travel/entertainment facilities in their own communities.

At that time I assumed and trusted that you with your leadership and concern - would develop an atmosphere in which the public would take extra measures and make sacrifices in order to improve the economy. My commitment was based upon that trust.

Today, almost two years later I am frustrated and must admit that my trust in you was in vain. My trust in you led me to take actions that brought me rejections, failures and more frustrations. During that process, I squandered all of my resources, energy, self-esteem and morale.

Yes, it is true that you made a call to the nation and asked them to do their best. However, at the same time you failed to set the same expectations from the political and financial leaders that are close to you. By setting very low expectations from them you failed to inspire the whole public and as a result, so many ignored your call.

The whole program relies on the involvement, generosity and patriotism of the American corporations. One of the most common asked question I hear is "what is in it for the big companies?" This question by itself is a sign of defeat. Lets turn this question around: You asked the common people to go and dine out in order to help the restaurant industry. Lets ask "what it is for them?" I mean, why is it that whenever we ask something from a major corporation it is legitimate to ask what it is for them, but it is not legitimate to ask this same question when we address a carpenter who makes $12 an hour?

I believe that at time of war both the carpenter and the corporation need to make a switch of attitude and be willing to do above their normal standards. Mr. President, it is wrong to expect only the carpenter to do extra and let the corporation off the hook. It is morally wrong and also it is counter productive because if the rich will not scarifies then one cannot expect the common person to do the same (and I do NOT count acts of short term excitement). Good leader will inspire them both!

Many have warned me from the very beginning not to dedicate my time to the program because nobody at the Federal, State and City level and none of the financial leaders really cares about the situation. They predicted that I am doomed to fail - even when they told me that the program itself is positive and important. When I asked them regarding your call they said that it is just a media thing with no real meaning behind it.

Could the problem with the program is that it was developed to help the employees as much if not more than the interest groups? (the program does help the airlines but they would rather receive bailout funds then get involved with this program)

Could the problem be that it puts most of the short-term burden on the companies?

At time of war society needs to make an attitude switch. The reason the American military, police, firefighters and medical organization preformed so well after September 11th was due to their ability to make such switch. As a result, they as a group and as individuals performed at their best.

It was your responsibility to inspire the whole public to make the same kind of switch mode. Unfortunately, you were unable to do so. As a result, it was me who ended up struggling against closed doors.

During the past two years I have spoken with dozens of government officials, CEOs at different banks, hotels and businesses who were in a position to help the economy if they had just cared - yet they did nothing! I was frustrated with their lack of concern and blamed them for not winning the economy war. However, today I realize that they are not part of the problem but rather the symptom of it. The problem was the lack of leadership. They just had enough experience to realize not to take your call seriously. Sadly, their attitude - NOT mine - was the common one among the nation.

Mr. President, I blame their attitude as being a result of lack of leadership that failed to inspire them to realize that September 11th was their problem as much as mine and the rest of the public. They acted within the level of inspiration they received and therefore it is hard to blame them. On the other hand, I do not appreciate them standing by when I was struggling to bring so much good to the American people. I am sure that the American people will not appreciate this either.
They made you look bad!

Due to my respect to you I chose a strategy of double standards. On one hand, I claimed that the economy and morale could have been much better while on the other hand I tried to downplay all the mistakes that had to be corrected. After all, I did not want to embarrass you but rather to contribute my best in order to present you as the best possible leader. Therefore, I insisted on providing the information to those who are considered your friends and concealed it from those who are considered your political opponents.

Many warned me from choosing this strategy. I have to admit today that I made a poor strategy choice. It is now that I finally realize that for the sake of the common people and the travel industry I should take every measure in order to bring my suggestions to the public - even if it is in opposition to you. It is the time for me to seek others that will be more successful in inspiring the whole public. After all, without the switch of attitude my effort will be doomed to fail again.

Let use the airline bailout as an example for a big mistake: I show in my program that with just little more care it would have been very easy to modify the airline bailout in a way that would not only benefit the stock holders but also every person who is part of the travel and entertainment industry.

Could it be that the bailout was developed with lack of care and attention towards the common workers while giving much more care to the big interests groups? I am very concerned that the way the bailout was set up just encouraged the airlines NOT to fly - something that made the economy even worse. On the other hand, my suggestions encourage the airlines to fly even more then normal.

I determine to turn the war on the economy into a decisive victory.

I am not economist. My approach to the issue was more as a warrior who goes to battle in order to win. It was, and still is, your duty to encourage fellow soldiers to join me (talking about switch of attitude). Due to lack of the same commitment on your behalf America never really won that war on the economy and left millions of people without employment and security.

I tried again to operate the program just before the war in Iraq. My concern at the time was not only that businesses in Waikiki were slowing down before the war even begun, but that the morale was also getting hurt. My goals were to boost the morale and improve the economy. People within your administration and the state of Hawaii failed to make the same commitment and therefore my goals were never achieved.

I am NOT seeking professional ad. I am seeking leadership that would inspire the Bill Gates and the Coca- Colas of this nation to take part in the program. Once they join in, they will have all the professional know-how and the character to make it the best program possible.

People assume that I want the Bill Gates to join the program because of their wealth. This is only part of the reason. I want them to join with because they are very creative and energetic people. They are fighters and winners and their personal involvement will benefit the nation significantly. I think it is a waste of resources when they just give away checks without getting personally involved in fighting the war. This is NOT the way to win wars!

It is your responsibility to present to the companies owners the importance of the program for the whole nation.

I believe that the American corporations traditionally are very generous at time of crises. I developed the program with high level of confidence that they will step up to the challenge when there is a specific call. I do NOT blame them for not doing enough after September 11th. On the contrary, I praise many of them for doing even more from what they were initially asked. It is just that in my opinion they have not been asked to do enough. This is a leadership issue.

Mr. President, lets ask them!

Is that too much to expect the Mayor of Honolulu, the Governor of Hawaii and other dignitaries to join us with such request?

Hundreds of people told me that the program is excellent but not realistic. Mr. President, this program is realistic as much as you will make it so.

I know that my letter is very harsh. Yet, I believe that it is easy to understand my frustration that such request has not been made yet - almost two years after I introduced the program.

Regarding my personal damage: I believed that you were serious with your address to the nation. Therefore, I gave more priority to your call than to my own projects and as a result I neglected promoting my own books. I dedicated all my savings, energy, concentration and most of my time to heed your call. Worse, I developed a reputation of being some kind of freak. Living two years of rejections has its effects.

This letter is not about me. Yet, I have every right to save my reputation and recuperate my losses. It is time for good things to happen to me to.

I want to believe that your address to the nation was serious and that you have every intension of winning the next war on the economy. This is even when so many people tell me to the contrary. I offer my help as a friend in order to make this program the most successful one possible.

Respectfully
Eytan Katz