Friday, February 13. 2009
Do you know anyone who can explain what is contained in the latest spending/stimulus/bailout (SSB) bill, or how it is going to specifically help your business? Now, I am not talking about the usual talking points that each side uses to defend or vilify the package, I am looking for straight-talk, actual detail, no hedging facts that really matter to those of us on the front lines of small business, the so-called foundation of the American economy. “Main Street” businesses are struggling to keep it together on a daily basis, while the representatives of “we the people” on every level talk in circles about what might help…them.
I grow weary of hearing sound-bites that have been wordsmithed to make a pet project or a pork barrel project sound like “assistance” for the small businesses they claim to represent. Now, I know that there are many great public servants, and dedicated elected officials who genuinely want to help our millions of small businesses across the county, so I am now imploring them to speak up, loudly and boldly, now more than ever! We need to hear from true leaders now…and not just politicians. I don’t care if folks are Republicans, Democrats, Independents or Libertarians, I just want them to be Americans and put the people above the politics! Please solve the problems you were elected to handle, and quit ducking the hard issues,crafting sound bites, and handing our problems off to future leaders, and future generations.
I do not have all the answers, and as you know by now, I am not a politician either, but I humbly offer just a few thoughts for you to ponder as you make decisions that will affect both the free market and the American Dream.
1) Consider the people first, not your political future
2) Quit asking politicians and beaurocrats for solutions and start asking the people who are actually doing the work.
3) Quit hedging your words and your bets. Talk straight and act boldly.
4) Remember that America is the land of equal opportunity, not the land of equal outcomes for everyone. Hard work and accomplishment should be rewarded, not punished.
5) Taxes are paid by “we the people” and are not your personal cookie jar
6) Remember Rome – it was the envy of the world, until it fell
7) Lying, cheating and stealing are wrong and will always catch up with you. Integrity and honor is what you do when nobody is watching.
8) You can’t go wrong when you do the right thing. Even when people disagree with you.
9) Listen more than you talk. Learning is a life-long process and can happen when you least expect it.
10)Remember that America has the most generous, hard-working, creative, and inclusive people in the world and we are counting on you, that’s why we elected you to represent us.
Please...Don't let us down!