Jeff's Bio

When Richard asked me to join him in creating a quasi-political blog, I was intrigued to say the least. As a 30-something US citizen that is on the tail end of Generation X, my political perspective is vastly different than that of my Canadian counterpart. Even as I type this, I marvel at the fact that I am using a MacBook Pro to blog while I imagine Richard, sitting in his den, using a Dell PC. Although we do not agree on everything, we can agree that the landscape of American politics is dramatically changing. Now the real challenge placed before each of us is to figure out how to move a seemingly immoveable object like the US government.

With that said, allow me to introduce myself...

Born in a suburb on the northwest side of Chicago, I was raised in an extremely Republican family. My grandfather was a political activist for the Republican around the Chicago area and was well respected in his days as both a politician and a businessman. In fact, he created a township in Illinois known as Elk Grove Village as a snub to the democratic mayor of Chicago, Richard J. Daley. Mayor Daley was charging excessive tax rates to businesses trying to export/import goods in the city of Chicago so my grandfather created a township right next to Chicago and O'Hare International airport that did away with these taxes. To this day, Elk Grove Village continues to be an industrial center for businesses to set up outside of Chicago with convenient access to rail and air. My father was equally impressive in his political ways by heading the Parks & Recreation board in a suburb called Rolling Meadows for 15 years, earning him the key to the city. I respect my forefathers tremendously and owe a great debt of gratitude for what they instilled in me.

Me? I am a husband and a father. Family comes first. I coach soccer teams and baseball teams for my kids. I volunteer on the Alumni Board of my alma mater. I am actively engaged in the community through other non-profit organizations ranging from environmental concerns to the film industry. I work in finance/operations and tend to look at myself as an efficiency expert of sorts. I have been employed at the same job for over 10 years and may be for 10 more. I like to drive my wife's Prius to work. 55 MPG and free use of the carpool lane is hard to beat.

I am a Mormon from an "Irish Catholic" family. My father was not a very religious man. Believed in God and felt that my decision to join the LDS Church at the age of 20 was a good one. He always told me that it would provide me the foundation and guidance for a great life. My mother is a bit more religious than my father was which is probably why I ended up being a Catholic child as opposed to more of a general Christian like my father. I never had any issues with Catholicism. I attended church somewhat regularly, especially me catechism classes. Was confirmed a member of the Catholic Church at the age of 17. My decision to change faiths was not easy or quick. It was deeply personal to me and was not done for any reason other than my personal quest to find God. The LDS Church is a difficult faith to follow in terms of lifestyle and belief sets. I tend to believe that there are three gospels in this world; 1) The Lord's True Gospel, 2) False Gospel, and 3) Your Personal Gospel. All of us are part of number 3. Some may be closer to number 1 than other's but at the root of the matter, we are all on a path in one direction or another.

I voted straight-ticket Republican and even contributed to a Republican's campaign during the 2008 presidential primaries. However, something did not seem quite right. There were certain party "standards" that I felt were not in line with my own set of standards. So, I began the move to the middle. I am an Independent with no current party affiliation. I look for the best candidate that I feel can make a change (or at least prompt change) to something that is not quite right. I can't stand Nancy Pelosi because she stood in front of the House and yelled, "We got it back!" I can't stand John McCain because I felt that he choose a woman candidate as VP to try and gain the female vote to beat Barak Obama. I would support any race, sex, age, or creed of presidential candidate. They just need to be the right person with the right desire. Somewhere out there, we still have good people that want to do good things for America. Hopefully we can find them.

Let's be realistic. America is evolving at a pace that we, as a country, are having a hard time keeping up with. Long are the days when giving us your poor, your tired, and your huddled masses was simply an inspirational message etched into the Statue of Liberty. We are tightening up borders because we feel that the huddled masses are becoming the huddled majority. America is changing for better or worse. Here is where we will discuss what we think. Objectively and independently of each other, Richard and I are Mormons from both sides.