Your memo to the President

For the past several months, staff across the White House have been submitting memos to the President about the State of the Union.

They suggest new policies, share updated data, make recommendations for the year ahead -- and right now, President Obama and our team are going through those memos to figure out what will make the cut for the night of the big speech.

This year, we want you to play a part in that process, too -- and we're doing something we haven't done before. We're going to send a special memo to the President, sharing what the American people would like to see progress in during the time we have left -- and why. We're calling it a "Citizens' Memo."

The question is simple: What do you want to see get done in the last two years? Tell President Obama here.

Here's something a young woman from Tennessee named Caitlin wrote to the President in a letter:

"Things aren't always what you want, but you can make them what you want."

Here's the bottom line: President Obama will act wherever he can to make progress for the American people, but he can't do everything on his own. That's not how democracy works. It's going to take a Congress willing to work together, and American people willing to stand up and fight for the future they'd like to see for this country.

That's what we're doing here. And this isn't just a one-issue, check-a-box question. We want to know why that issue is personal for you, and what you're willing to do to see it get done.

You can do that here -- and we'll make sure the President hears about it.

Thanks,