Over the last week, when not circulating petitions, I had the opportunity to go to several Town Hall meetings; some to just listen and some to listen and share my thoughts.

At one event, I had the good fortune to listen to a financial professional who very clearly outlined the sequence of events, literally dating back over a decade, which lead up to our current financial crisis. There are many lessons to be taken from this situation but one is clear: we all must take responsibility for the financial decisions we make. From top to bottom, from the United States government to our personal credit card use, we must re-examine what we need and what we can afford. My wife always asks herself (as I do now) “is this a want or a need?” Sometimes wants need to be postponed so we can be sure to have the means to buy the needs.

This lesson was confirmed by another presentation that night on the chaos of the Federal government’s finances. Between the size of the national debt ($59 trillion) and the inability of the GAO to account for where it has all gone, we must change our ways. We must be creative and learn to do more with less; identify problems which are not solved simply by money (education for example) and stop just throwing money at them. We must devote our resources to where they will do the most good. President Obama pleaded as much yesterday. I don’t know if Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic Congress will cooperate with him in cutting programs that don’t work; they’ve got too much vested in the system. I want to bring my belief in the Republican basics, which includes responsible spending, to Washington to help President Obama cut unnecessary spending.