Mr. Straub, of Straub Manufacturing Solutions, appeared on one of the commercials between innings.  The Indians are winning, tonight, but have had a rough time of it lately.  Mr. Straub, a Dayton area business owner, would have you know that Ohio manufacturers are also struggling.  The Indians suffer from a lack of talent.  Ohio manufacturers suffer from wasteful job-killing regulations.

“Call Sherrod Brown”, the announcer intoned.  The National Association of Manufacturers sponsored this ad.  They don’t really expect you to call.  They just hope you will vote for whoever is running against Senator Brown.

I wish I knew who to call.  Yesterday, Labor Day, I wasted 6 ½ hours on my annual Medicare certification training and exams.  That was followed by over 3 hours today on the computer completing Anthem’s required training and testing.  This wasteful, job-killing regulation, the kind the Republican’s are always complaining about, was a gift to insurance agents across the country from; you guessed it, the Republicans.  This silliness was buried deep within the legislative mess that created Medicare Part D (Rx).  

Unnecessary, job-killing, wasteful regulations can be found in the legislation sponsored by Democrats and Republicans.  And sometimes those rules, like equal pay, child labor laws, and pollution regulations may have a cost but may also have a perceived social value.  Yes, sometimes one man’s regulation is another’s protection. 

Call.  Call Sherrod Brown to complain about the Dems.  Call John Boehner and ask him what he was thinking when he was the Speaker of the House with a Republican Senate and a Republican President and we ran this country into the ditch.

The Rasmussen Right Direction / Wrong Track poll recently had over 60% of us believing that the U.S. is on the wrong track.  Are we on the wrong track because of President Obama and the Democratic Senate?  Are we going the wrong way as a country because of the Republican lead House and the filibuster-happy Senate Republicans?

I suspect that it may be all of the above.

Call your elected official.  Tell him/her that you’re tired of this.  It isn’t a Democratic problem.  It isn’t a Republican problem.  It is OUR problem.  And it needs to be solved.

Call your elected official.  Today.