You are here: Home » Uncategorized » Why I’m Golfing and Not Engaging in Presidential Race

Why I’m Golfing and Not Engaging in Presidential Race

by John on 05/31/2016

Granted, I have a golf and travel show so I love golf. But when I play golf, I play to be good or to get better.

Someone posted a motivating saying: whatever you are, be the best at it. I hope that is me.

I try to go low each time. I want to break par always. It is not easy for a guy who is a 9 handicap, but it keeps me motivated.

Too bad we don’t think that way when it comes to being US citizens. As a country, we do a lousy job of being informed citizens. An informed electorate is the foundation for a strong democracy, right?

Well, look at our presidential candidates and tell me you think our democracy is strong.

Frankly, this is why I don’t talk politics anymore. Yes, I write about it here. (Though clearly no one is listening.) But you will have a difficult time engaging me in any conversation about this presidential race. It’s not worth my time. The conversation among most people, online, and in the media is stupid. It is all about personality, incorrect information, innuendo, and the myopic needs of that person – never the nation.

In golf parlance, it would be like going to a golf pro and asking him to make you a better golfer. And all he wants to show you is how to hit a driver. There is a good TV spot by MetLife about financial planning where a golfer shows off all the great drivers he has and he says that is all he needs.

Sadly, that is our electorate. All bluster and no one solution!

Our discourse has nothing to do with solving the problems of our country – – – which are huge.

Go ahead and blame the candidates. But the real cause is us. These three candidates remain because you are uninformed and you refuse to attack the problems that face us. You are more interested in a reality TV show.

All three of the remaining presidential candidates are appealing to our special interests and needs – while feeding their egos and campaign coffers.

Trump is simply talking to people who are pissed off because they cannot compete in this new economy. Most of these people want to return to the 1980s. “Give me a job. Get rid of the immigrants.” The problem is: those jobs don’t exist anymore.

Bernie Sanders is no different. He wants free college tuition for everyone. The irony is he is railing at the big banks. Granted, the banks deserve scrutiny and criminal charges for the financial crisis.

But the bankers weren’t alone in creating the Great Recession. A lot of everyday people made stupid financial decisions. Sure, they were influenced by crooked and manipulating bankers, but that is just escaping responsibility to say only that. The joke in Las Vegas back in 2006 was you could stand on the street corner holding a sign saying will work for cash — and you could still qualify for a $200,000 mortgage.

Bernie is doing the same thing with college students now. They made bad decisions going to a college that provided no real job training. So now taxpayers have to bail them out. That makes little sense too.

Hilary has given us nothing novel either except for the quasi-liberal/moderate plan.

None of them appear to be real golfers. Yes, Trump has golf courses and he plays golf. But a real golfer would not aspire to the flash/trash he is offering.

No, a real golfer would focus his game on one thing: How do I get the ball into the hole in as few shots as possible.

Instead, these candidates are like the golfers who go to the pro and want to hit the ball 300 yards and that’s it. A winning golfer knows how to hit fewer shots with finesse and smarts. Everyone looks at Tiger’s great run. He hits the ball so far. No, he was the best chipper and putter in the game when he was on top.

None of these candidates are talking about the problems and solutions. That’s because you aren’t!

The problems are simple. If we took care of these, then all of the other stuff would go away. Veterans would be taken care of; The TSA would be able to protect us because their budgets wouldn’t be cut ridiculously in the name of smaller government rather than efficient government. Our roads, bridges, and water pipes wouldn’t be collapsing or killing us. These current problems all stem from these causes we have neglected for decades:

  • We face massive federal debt that could swallow our economy in the next 5 to 10 years. Too many folks laugh at conservatives when they say this, but it is basic math.
  • We have an aging society that will make that financial burden even worse.
  • We have an up-and-coming workforce that is not trained for the 21st-century economy.
  • We have income inequality that gives back way too much to the upper 1% and the poverty stricken portion of our society.

The solutions are there. They’re easy to explain but difficult to get everyone on-board. We need:

  • Tax reform. That would make the tax system fair again while also giving us a better idea of what our real tax rate should be. Right now the tax rate is high to take care of all the special interest givebacks.
  • Entitlement reform. Medicare will be a financial tsunami in five years as all the baby boomers will have retired, expecting healthcare. What they don’t realize is they have only paid in 1/3 of what they will use. The rest will be paid by younger taxpayers who are not ready for the new economy.
  • Job retraining. This has to be both public and private. Our colleges have failed to properly train our future workers for what is coming.
  • Investment in infrastructure. This not only includes bridges and roads but also Internet connections for commerce.

So tell me which candidate is mentioning all of these solutions?

None of them. Some pay scant lip service but not everything as a package – to help all Americans.

Why? Young people won’t vote for certain things; old people won’t vote for other things; corporations will control Congress with legal bribe money known as campaign finance and lobbying.

And yet we let this happen.

We’re not real Americans. No, we’re all in it for ourselves. And that is the reflection I see when I look at the three candidates and I hear the stupid discourse from all of you.

I’m going out to the golf course. I’m going to see if I can put the ball in the hole in as few shots as possible.

Meanwhile, work on your game while I am gone.

Comments on this entry are closed.

Previous post:

Next post: