1.) Whatever happened to individual responsibility? Presidents don’t create jobs. American people create jobs. I’d like to see a president who has the following economic policy:
A.) I want a guy who works tirelessly to hear the pulse of the small business community. I want a guy who makes his staff members sit in meetings with business people, walk through businesses, meet owners & employees, etc. in an effort to learn first-hand how government affects business. I want a guy who takes what he learns about business and applies it to his policies. Which regulations could be refined? Which regulations could be trashed? Are there policies that could be enacted to improve the efficiency of the business start-up process?
B.) What if we had a guy who said, “Bad news, America. I can’t create jobs for you. Good news: you can; and, I’m going to do everything in my power to make it easier for you to do so.”? I’d like that guy.
C.) I want a guy who tirelessly rallies the American spirit, inspires productivity, and leads by example. That’s one of the things that made Reagan so great. Shockingly, when a president focuses on reminding Americans why they are great rather than reminding Americans why he is great, the economy improves faster. When you focus on reminding Americans that they are the solution rather than convincing them that you are, the economy improves faster.
Side note: Obama has played 104 rounds of golf since becoming president (according to ESPN). Let’s say it takes him 4.5 hours per round. That’s 468 hours of golf. I’m betting that his economic policy would be different had he spent 468 hours (58 business days) meeting with owners of small businesses.
2.) Bill Clinton keeps reemerging to remind us all about how great life was during his years in office. The President of the United States had an affair, then lied about it to the American people while under oath. So, that wasn’t so great.
The economy? Yes, it was solid…but look behind the curtains. First, let’s ignore the argument that he rode on the coattails of Reagan and Bush policy. Clearly a prior president is not responsible for the success or failure of the next. Hmmmm. Anyhow, Clinton won the age-demographic-lottery. Baby boomers happened to be entering high-earning working years during his tenure. The percentage of the population that was of age for social security/medicare was minuscule by today’s standards. So, the guy had the largest workforce aged 30-55 in the history of America (i.e. higher tax payers) and a small number of senior citizens. When you’ve got the largest workforce in American history paying taxes, it almost doesn’t matter what your tax policy is. Tax revenue (and budget) numbers would’ve looked solid with any rational policy. Social security and medicare look great because relatively few people are in the “taking” years of the system. Long story longer: the American people were the reason for the solid economy; their leader was not (Are you seeing a theme here?).
Side note: Obama and Romney (if he’s elected next) are getting the age-demographic shaft. The largest tax-paying workforce in American history is slowly leaving the building. This is a huge problem…especially since we are on track for (according to Obama’s numbers) $20 trillion in debt.
3.) There’s been a surprising lack of talk about hunger. A record 46 million Americans are on food stamps. That’s unacceptable. For what it’s worth, I don’t think that either side has a logical solution. Again, what if we had a president who spent a little time each month in a homeless shelter…or at a food bank…or trying to fill out a food stamp application? Yes, I hear the argument. The president is too important of a person to spend a lot of time doing recon work like this. My counter-argument: I think the American people are too important for him not to. Is there abuse of the system? Absolutely. Do people truly benefit from the system? Yes. The problem: how in the world are we supposed to know where the benefits of the system stop and the abuse thereof starts if the people who create the related legislation aren’t willing to walk a mile in anyone’s non-Armani shoes?
Side note: What if Obama had spent 468 hours meeting with people who are on food stamps legitimately as well as people who have been found to be abusing the system?
So, there you have my 2 pennies. In other news, I’ll probably provide my election-changing endorsement soon…if I have time. It will shock no one. In the meantime, go vote.
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