Today I was working around the house and I was reminded that the 2010 Election cycle is upon us.  I had the pleasure of chatting with Will Kraus running for State Senate for the 8th Senate District of Missouri.  A week ago I met with Brian Whitley running for Lee’s Summit District 2, and I get regular Twitts from Jacob Turk about his upcoming campaign to take over the seat currently held by the Congressman  Emanuel Cleaver, II in the fifth Congressional District of Missouri.

All of us will be having to make a decision either locally here on April 6, 2010 or nationally November 2nd 2010.  What a momentous occasion it will be to cast a set of ballots this year.  Things that worry me and I used to judge candidates by are:

  1. What is their fiscal background?  This economy had the potential to be as bad as the Carter years, but the spend here, spend there, spend everywhere mentality of our Congress and Senate in Washington over the last 24 months (that’s going back to the end of the Bush Administration) has set us up for a far worse economy.  I remember the days when Stagflation was impossible till the Carter administration proved it wrong.  Do we need to see it again?
  2. Do they believe in smaller more focused government?  The Clinton Administration tried it, and now the Obama Administration is moments away from the possibility of taking over a staggering portion of the economy.  They will have us start paying now, and then we can pay later while we get “who knows what” health benefits.  Is this truly the best thing our Government should be doing now?
  3. Do they believe in Strong National Security?  Many of us, just like I did, lost friends on 9/11 and we must not let that happen again because we are looking the other way.  Government is at its best when it makes sure we all have a reliable balanced playing field for business to grow, and a safe environment to work in without the fear of attacks that can cripple a business: no matter how good the Catastrophic Recovery Plans are.

I will be looking to see who best answers the serious questions of:  A) How, specifically, will you help create jobs?  B) How will you specifically help to fight large government syndrome and cut it back to a realistic and powerful size of active economic recovery practitioners, and C) How will you specifically navigate the financial difficulties and still support a strong national security?

You may think these don’t apply to Lee’s Summit District 2 or State Representative District 48, or even Missouri Senate’s 8th District, but I beg to differ.  I believe that the Federal Government at this moment could not care less about Missouri, Jackson County or Lee’s Summit.  Lee’s Summit will have to figure out how not to participate fully into the current and coming recession.  Jackson County will have to do the same.  Jobs are going to be hard to come by, and if we don’t get entrepreneurs going in Lee’s Summit, or in Jackson County we’ll feel the full brunt of the recession.  If Missouri does not fight to avoid all the unfunded mandates from the Federal Government, and if Missouri does not fight to get more than its fair share of entrepreneurs investing in our state, then the great state of Missouri will suffer deeply.

We at the local levels may not be heard enough in Washington: That’s fine.  That is a fight for another day.  But we surely can have our local and state representatives working for us and not for some ideological government grandness that calls for us to more like Greece than the Greeks.  We need to control spending, control taxes, control the size of government, and put the free enterprise entrepreneurial capitalists back to work in Lee’s Summit, Jackson County and the state of Missouri.  The rest of the country?  Well the rest of the country can follow our lead.

Call your Federal Senators, and Representatives, let them know who you are and what you want them to do; even if you think they’ll ignore you.  Why?  Simple, that way they won’t be surprised in November when you pull the lever for the other person.

More immediately important, talk to your local and state elected government officials and let them know that you believe in fiscal responsibility, smaller government, and a free market system that has powered our nation for generations.

Respectfully submitted,
The Lee’s Summit Conservative.