If you're like most people, you're probably  tired of the negative campaign ads and slogans, the partisan sniping, and debates that don't answer the question, how are we going to fix this mess?  I know I am. If you only depended on ads and the sound bytes you get in the news, you'd have a hard time trying to decide whom to trust. I'm not going to presume to tell you how to vote in this election. What I am going to say is that it's very important that you study the issues and vote as an informed voter. If you don't vote, you really have given up your right to complain about what you get after the election.

For entrepreneurs and small business owners, elections are critical, particularly when there's always a sector of society that believes that business is the bad guy. But, as we've said in the past, things are not going to get better until businesses can grow and create new jobs.  Entrepreneurs are the wealth creators; government does not create wealth. So it's up to us to make sure that the business environment in the U.S. incentivizes the creation of new ventures, new jobs, and investment in the U.S. economy.

Like many of you, I've been preparing to vote in this election for several months now.  I've been reading everything I can get my hands on including both sides of all the propositions in my state.  I've made it a habit of going for original sources wherever I can find them--the candidate's actual words and voting record out of his or her own mouth--not spun or filtered through the lens of someone in the media with an agenda.  I want to know if I can trust this person.  I actually do the same thing in my business dealings--I learned long ago that the media don't always portray people and issues accurately--no surprise.  It's unfortunate, but the media seem to have given up their duty to provide the public with unbiased facts so that the public can make its own decisions.  Instead reporters feel compelled to mix opinion and fact, or--worse yet--ignore the facts in favor of opinion. Don't rely on the media; do your homework and draw your own conclusions.  It's vital that we all do our part in making sure that we get the kind of representation we want.

Remember--the government only has the power and money we give it.  If you haven't done it yet, be sure to get out tomorrow and vote.  If we don't exercise our rights as citizens, we will lose them.