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August 15, 2008

I Met with an Obama Rep Today

I MET WITH AN OBAMA REP TODAY

I had the opportunity today in Eureka, IL to spend about a half an hour with a representative from Senator Obama’s office on concerns that citizens may have about the federal government. As always, I could not turn down a good opportunity to voice my opinion. As it turned out, I would be the only citizen to show up during my time there.

As we were about to begin, a member from the Woodford County Journal arrived to cover the story. Shockingly, the rep explained to him that these events were closed to the media. The journalist exclaimed his surprised that the press would not be allowed to cover the story in a publicly funded building. Good thing the journalist was not a liberal and the senator’s rep not a conservative or we would have had a federal lawsuit on our hands.

I intended on sharing only two concerns, but since I had the entire time allotted, I shared my most important concerns.

Oil. Oil is my largest near term concern, not just from a price standpoint, but how the liberal media and politicians are judging how it is being traded. For more information, see my blog ( ). If we are not prepared to adequately gauge the problem, how are we going to be able to implement a proper solution?

Social Security and Unfunded Liabilities. With $80,000 in school debt and my kids generation facing a $300,000 tuition bill for a private college education, I need all the money I can get right now. Unfortunately, I am paying $230 per month in Social Security taxes! That’s especially shocking for someone who’s never going to see a dime of it! I expressed concern with the Obama camp that the government has mismanaged Social Security to such an extent that I may have to pay additional taxes just to relieve the debt burden of the Baby Boomer generation.

Social Security accounts for over $50 trillion in unfunded liability. That’s four times the nation’s gross domestic product. How are we going to finance this? I suggested that it would actually be better if the government mandated matching 401(k) programs for companies. Under this method, the money would be invested in private enterprises and not sent to government to be switched with bonds, creating $1 trillion in national debt.

The Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve has faced an increasing amount of political pressure over the past year. I believe that if elected, Barack Obama would actually make public statements dictating what he believes the Federal Reserve should do. The fiscal policy of government and the monetary policy of the Central Bank must remain independently separate and the government should stay completely removed from monetary policy.

Unions. The time for labor unions has passed. Areas dominated by labor unions have the highest wage demands and the highest unemployment. It does not matter if labor is cheaper in Nebraska or China, if it has the opportunity to leave the rust belt, it will leave. In a market economy, when a region is struggling, wages must ease and labor costs must fall to boost employment, consumer spending, and then the local economy. Unions are a big reason why this is not happening.

It was nice to sit down and discuss these issues and I hope Barack Obama’s office seriously considers the free market point of view before proposing new economic policies.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Oil: How are the liberal media and politicians judging how it is being traded? Fix your link, because I really can't imagine what lunacy you have come up with here.

Education: I graduated with 80K in loans outstanding. It took me 3 years to pay it back. Thanks to rampant inflation, 300K in debt will probably be paid by a Taco Bell Salary by the time our kids graduate...

Social Security: I don't have a problem with mandating 401k employer matching.

The Federal Reserve: Abolish it. You don't think McSame will continue to pressure the Fed? Or your point is just that a Democrat will do it wrong?

Unions: You're insane. Let's just shit on all workers everywhere while we're at it. Who needs vacations or weekends... You're insane. We should all sustain ourselves on crappy rice and ride bicycles too, but until that happens, we need unions.

richgoldstein13 said...

The easiest way to get out from under the burden of heavy student loans is to take your education and leave the country, that's what I did. I'm not paying back a cent of that money... or at least, I wouldn't if I didn't have to go back to America, turns out the education isn't worth shit and it's almost as hard to get a job anywhere worth living. I wonder if that means I can decrease the amount of money I owe based on the poor value of the delivered goods.

I generally like and admire your blogs, that's why I come to read them; however, it saddens me when you says things like "the liberal media" as that kind of chicanery is beneath you.

I don't understand why the media was bared from such an event... which is actually a lie, I do understand, I just don't want to understand. It's about time that we had a president who actually talked to people because they aren't afraid of real life.

Sex Mahoney for President

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