I am very disappointed in both of you, our Presidential candidates. Each of you had an incredible opportunity to give the nation a plan of action but all you did was brag on yourselves and give us more of your 'party talking points'. The Democrats won't quit spending more than we take in or let us drill and the Republicans won't stand up and raise taxes to fix problems.
The Democrats won't let our companies provide the oil and gas we have in the Gulf of Mexico and in Alaska and they won't stand up with a plan or come to a compromise because it wouldn't look good for the Democratic party. President Bush tried to solve the Social Security mess and was willing to raise taxes and compromise but the Democratic leaders wouldn't let the democratic members compromise no matter that it was obviously for the good of the nation.
I am so tired of hearing "I'll work hard for you", "I understand your situation", "I love this country". If you really care, if you have Integrity with those words, you will give us what we need, a plan. Give us an overview of our situation as you see it and what you propose to do about it! This country is in a much tougher situation than either of you show that you recognize. Don't either of you get it?
THE REAL SOCIAL SECURITY DEBT $11.1 trillion
That amount grew by $600 Billion last year! And it will continue to grow because our elected officials from both parties refuse to stand up and fix it by a combination of raising taxes and freezing or lowering benefits. It's obvious that we have to do both yet you don't have the courage to face it or tell the American people that we have to face it.
Year after year there will be more retirees and other recipients as compared to workers. By 2050 every worker will also have to pay half of the benefit of a recipient in addition to trying to raise and educate their own kids! It soon becomes impossible. Currently, only about 84% of wages in covered employment is within today's maximum taxable wage base. So we tax lower income employees at a higher rate than we do higher income employees. Is that fair? The longer you, our elected officials, refuse to fix this problem the more expensive it will be. Yet the Democratic congress wouldn't face the issue with President Bush and there is no indication that either of you guys care enough to be honest about it or will be able to do anything about it either.
IMPORTING OIL $800 Billion per year now and growing!
How long can that go on? Don't you get it? Well if you do, please explain it to the rest of us. We are going broke and yet neither of you demonstrate the urgency of the situation or proposes a specific plan. Obama at least set a goal of something in 10 years but no plan. McCain probably has the right idea with nuclear power plants but no specific urgent plan about how to get it done.
Here we have a private citizen, T. Boone Pickens, spending millions of his own dollars giving us a plan yet neither of you acknowledged him or his ideas or offered an alternative plan. He says we could build a lot of windmills to create electricity and use natural gas to power our automotive fleet which would be cheaper and cleaner and would last while we develop the alternatives. Why don't you have a plan? Is this too tough to face and decide?
EXECUTIVE ABUSES
What has made us a wealthy nation is that we had plenty of innovation and jobs and we were exporting our goods to other nations. Now many of our higher paying jobs for the average worker have been shipped overseas. And the Executives on the Boards of Directors are giving their buddy Executives massive payments from the stockholder's pockets. It's so easy to point to the abuses of others to justify your own actions. Yet we stockholders have no realistic way to hold them liable for their abuses.
Let there be no mistake about it. The companies are really owned by average people through our 401k plans and other investments. Yet, we have no control over the 'money managers' who don't take action and vote those shares in the interest of the shareholders to stop the abuses. And we have no realistic control over the Boards of Directors because the money managers 'own' so much of the stock. Both should have a fiduciary responsibility so that we investors can hold them accountable. 'Doing what is right' is getting the incentives right. At least Obama is saying to change the tax incentives to get jobs back here but McCain doesn't address this issue appropriately it seems to me.
But the really big immediate issue is our addiction to oil. There is almost a guarantee that we have huge reserves in the Gulf of Mexico and we already have nearly 4,000 rigs out there with 30 years of no problems and the transmission capabilities to get it to the refineries. But our Democratic representatives cower to their 'leadership' and refuse to let us get it. John McCain is facing the issue of drilling offshore but Obama stands with his 'party' with no plan. McCain quit trying to drill in Anwar because there is no chance of getting that past the Democrats.
That leaves the only alternative to keep buying from overseas and getting more dependent and more susceptible to attacks and losing more of our wealth. And why? There can be no doubt that the positives outweigh the negatives for this nation. But not for the Democratic party and its candidates.
NATIONAL DEBT $9 trillion
And we are already planning to spend $400 Billion more this next year than we take in! I know our 'wonderful' elected officials keep saying that as a percentage of the "Gross Domestic Product" that's not so bad. But what in the world does that mean? I don't care. Whatever it is, let's get our taxing and spending in balance! Each of you are promising more 'tax reductions to prevent a recession' but if we don't come to grips with overspending we'll hit a much tougher wall one of these days pretty soon.
Already over half of our total national budget is spent paying interest on the national debt and that is getting worse year after year! Think of all we could do with that interest money if we paid off the debt! How long can this go on? How long would it go on in your household budget? This is destroying our nation and our way of life yet neither of you have shown that you 'get it'.
McCain at least says he will reign in government spending but won't face more taxes. Obviously the rich are getting way too much of the wealth and not paying a reasonable tax considering our national situation. Yet the Republicans can't stand to face raising taxes because that wouldn't look good for the Republican party.
Enough is enough! Stand up with Integrity for our country! Prove it!
Jerry W. Willis - author of a new Purpose in Life book for all of us. see http://www.jerrywwillis.com
To receive the free E-Workbook: Starting the Journey - the first step in understanding your Purpose in Life which will help you and your kids build the life you've been dreaming of, visit http://www.jerrywwillis.com go to the Contact Us tab fill in the information, ask any questions and make any comments and submit. Jerry W. Willis
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