For Our Youth

To the Youth of America and the 6th District:

Welcome to your future, today.

I don’t know what you are thinking, or why you are here, but I am honored you have taken the time to visit my site and read this message. The information superhighway did not exist a couple short decades ago, and the innovations and opportunities available to you now are truly astounding.

I am not a career politician; I am a businessman, a father, and a leader in my community. My decision to do my civic duty by running for Congress has nothing to do with me, but it does have everything to do with you. If my son, 24, and my daughter, 22, are to have a chance to achieve the American dream, someone will have to first clean up the mess this generation of politicians has created. I want and need to do my part.

Many of you have never voted. Many of you voted for the first time in the 2008 elections, and you made choices for many different reasons. Many young people took the time to really get to know the issues and candidates, but if poll numbers are correct most young people actually voted in 2008 with friends, or on image, but not true substance.

So now we have had four years to think about those decisions and to test whether they were the right ones. As responsible young adults, you should consider what has transpired since 2008, and watch to see if the promises made have been kept, and if your future will be better, or worse, for the choices you have made. No one has the right to preach to you about this; technology and the internet afford you all the tools you need to follow these events for yourself.

It was always my hope that when my children were ready to take on the world, they would start with a clean slate, and the world would take care of them the way I always had. From my family perspective, I think we have accomplished that mission, and I hope you have met the same success through yours.

But what people don’t always consider is the bigger picture. In truth, the slate is not clean, and is getting filthier by the minute. The nation’s debt was $9 Trillion in 2008, but is now $15 Trillion, and will be over $22 Trillion in a few years. If the country were to pay that off, it would cost every American (including children, the elderly, and the disabled who have no money) $40,000.00 each, and every Voter over $110,000.00. Even if the rich are stuck with the bill for the penniless, the truth is your share will cost more than that first house you soon hope to buy.

Since the government gets its money almost exclusively through taxing workers, who do you think, really, has to pay that enormous debt? Take a good a look at your paycheck, or your friend’s paycheck, and think hard about how much money is taken out every single pay period. Go ahead, add it up. The government takes 40% of the money from the average American’s wages, leaving 60% for you. When you really get into your higher earning years, you will pay far more than that percentage given the planned doubling of the debt since 2008.

So now ask yourself what you get in return for all that money taken. Thinking differently, consider what you could have bought for yourself if you had the choice to keep that money and decide yourself how to spend it. Can you afford that house, that car, and those things you grew up with courtesy of your family? Can you truly start your family and afford what you want to have without yourself going into debt to do so? This is money you will never see again, and if you really think about it, you should question whether what the government takes from you is truly worth it.

In my day, our government respected its people. Those who worked hard got to keep what they earned. That was money we could use to save, buy our homes, and start our American dreams. I believe that America owes you that right as well.

Well, welcome to the now and future America; this $15Trillion debt and all that comes with it is your bill to repay. And you didn’t even get to run up your own credit cards yet.

Promises cost money, big money. Forget about what it will cost you in addition to this $15 Trillion for all that national health care, green energy, fuel efficient cars, and other promises that haven’t even been billed to you yet. The only way we can keep this up is to continue to borrow money from the Chinese and Japanese, who now are owed over 44% of our debt.

The House of Representatives in Congress where I need to be decides how to spend this country’s money. Congress is full of career politicians, not business people, and frankly don’t care about you. On the other hand, I am a business man, a lawyer, and a bankruptcy specialist. I see where this is headed and know we have to put the brakes on while there is still time.

I am willing to stick my neck out for you, and fight to stop the bankruptcy of your country. You may not care, but I do. That’s why I’m running for Congress.

I will keep an eye on the people who their hands in your pocket. But I need your support, your vote, and your friend’s vote.

It’s your future, today. So, in 2012, choose wisely.