How dangerous is an uninformed voter? When asked about the power of voting in a democratic government, Abraham Lincoln replied, “A ballot is stronger than a bullet.” As Americans, we are all armed with bullets to fire in the upcoming presidential election, but it seems many voters don’t even know what they are shooting at.

Recently on the Howard Stern Show, a correspondent went out to Harlem to interview Obama supporters and ask which policies of his they agreed with. Many of them were recorded saying they thought Obama’s plan to stay in the Middle East for as long as it takes was spot on, and also that they supported his decision to select Sarah Palin as his running mate…What? While this hardly stands as a litmus test for the entire country, it has to make you wonder: Just how many people are voting without knowing much more than their candidate’s name?

The semi-famous interview of Matt Damon ripping on Sarah Palin has accumulated over 8 million views on youtube.com. Add that to the number of people who tuned in to the SNL episodes guest starring Sarah Palin and John McCain, 15 million and 12 million respectively, and you have an audience well over half the size of the 57 million viewers who tuned in to the last presidential debate! Is it possible that people are making decisions on who to vote for based on sketch comedy or celebrity endorsements?

The bottom line is this: If we, as a people, choose to elect our next president based on anything other than the issues that matter most to us, then we have done our nation a disservice and should not be surprised if things do not go the way we would like them to. People are turning out in record numbers this election season to cast their votes and fire their democratic bullets. I just hope we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot.

If you have any question, feel free to contact me anytime at rclaylee@yahoo.com or 979-255-1839

Clay Lee

College Station’s #1 Luxury Lifestyle & Real Estate Expert for over a Decade!

If you have any question, feel free to contact me anytime at rclaylee@yahoo.com or 979-255-1839

Clay Lee

College Station’s #1 Luxury Lifestyle & Real Estate Expert for over a Decade!

1.  He wants to take away all the tax cuts for big earners and give tax cuts to the middle class.  My concern with this is the money available to hire those middle class earners.  Am I crazy to think that if a company has to pay higher taxes that they won’t have to reduce their payroll?  Would this not mean lower salaries and fewer jobs for the middle class?

2.  He claimed to want to pump $70 billion dollars into the countries infrastructure to help upgrade roads and bridges immediately.  While this sounds like a lot of money, when you divide that by 50 states, that is only $1.4 billion per state.  Now it probably would not be split fairly among states, but for the most part, it would give states less than $2 billion each.  A road widening or replace for roughly 5 miles can cost anywhere from $10 to $20 million.  When you add on Major Bridges, those can reach $100 to $150 million very quickly.  At $15 million per 5 mile stretch, that would only fix 500 miles per state with $500 million in bridge repairs.  The number that will be reduced even more by costs for analyst, management, and other costs associated with distributing government funds.  It really is a joke.

3.  He stated that he wanted to give bankruptcy courts the ability to reduce mortgage balances and reset rates to keep people in their homes!  I value home ownership as much as any other American; however, if he thinks this will increase home ownership and stabilize the housing economy, he is strongly mistaken.  If bankruptcy courts have the ability to reset balances and interest rates on home loans, banks will react in their lending practices.  It will cost more money to get a loan, and it will be harder for borrower’s with questionable credit to get a loan.  Those borrowers with less than AAA perfect credit may not even be able to get a loan or will have to pay interest rates that will be the highest we have ever seen.  It would essentially remove a lenders ability to foreclose on properties and protect their assets.   If we think Fannie and Freddie are in a bad place now, imagine that all people have to do to save money on their mortgage is to file bankruptcy, have their loan balance and interest rate reduced and watch the mortgage company sit back and drown to the bottom of the lake with their hands tied behind their backs.

While disagree with the Republican Campaign’s stance on many things, I have to look past those personal preferences to the issues that will affect me for the next 20-30 year as I work and save for retirement over the next 4-8 years under a new regime.  If the economy is made even worse, my ability to save for my retirement and the future is diminished which means I would not have enough money for a wedding anyhow!

If you have any question, feel free to contact me anytime at rclaylee@yahoo.com or 979-255-1839

Clay Lee

College Station’s #1 Luxury Lifestyle & Real Estate Expert for over a Decade!