In Philadelphia, 2008

Friday morning and I find myself in downtown Philadelphia only a few blocks from where it all happened at Independence Hall. While these men did not have cars to drive, TVs to watch or the Internet to communicate on, they were very much like us today. They felt oppressed by a government that was insensitive to their needs and aspirations for a better life for themselves and their families. The men that wrote the laws were a long distance away in physical terms, where as today the men that write the laws are a long distance away in mental terms. The leaders proclaim a sensitivity to the plight of the “Middle Class” (I feel your pain), but year after year a significant portion the middle class is duped into believing that issues like abortion, gay marriage and stem cell research is what is important in America today. Well this November, we will see what is important and to whom.

The Founding Fathers of this country knew they had a majority of the people behind them and that fact gave them the courage to go forward and revolt from mother England. Not all of those that lived in the 13 colonies were of the same mind. A sizable group wanted to remain loyal to the king and remain good subjects of the crown. But the king and his advisers were out of touch. Economically, it became necessary for the child, who was now no longer a child to cut the cord, to move in a new direction. That made the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War a necessity. Today, many people feel that the leadership in Washington is too far away and insensitive to the needs, hopes and aspirations of the people. Again, this November we will see what the people think.

My money is on change, and not the kind in your pocket. It is time to put a president in office that is from the middle class. Someone that knows first hand what it means to live and work and raise a family in the America of today and not the 18th century. We can be a strong, independent and well educated nation, but the leaders have been listening to the men that would keep the middle class down and moving most of us in the direction of lower and poorer economically. We have the resources and the brain power to free ourselves from the dependence of foreign oil, just as we had the courage to free ourselves from an insensitive king.

History presents new challenges to each generation. The challenge for us today is to get control of our dependency on foreign oil and to slow the decline in the value of the dollar. Both of these issues are tied to each other. Oil and trade policies are not working for the middle class. Take a look around, it does not take an Einstein to see what is happening. As a nation we are moving in the wrong direction. For those that know on what side their bread is buttered, I have no illusions, but for those of you out there that may soon not have the money to buy the bread to put the butter on, I hope you will join me in November and vote for a change. King George's time is past, a new fresh intelligent leader is needed now to clean up the mess and get the middle class back on track. Stay tuned.