The University of West Georgia’s Political Science Department hosted a lecture with third district Georgia congressional candidate Chip Flanegan on Nov. 13 in Bonner Lecture Hall.
A self-proclaimed ‘common sense conservative,’ Flanegan spoke of his qualms with the federal government, and also outlined his own ideas concerning the current state of affairs the United States is in, as well as listing his own ideas for improvements in the future.
“The federal government takes in about $2.3 trillion and they’re spending $4 trillion,” said Flanegan. “No one voted for a trillion dollar deficit, but our Congressmen are voting for trillion dollar deficits.”
A small business owner, Flanegan outlined his platform for successful business, as well as for gaining votes in his run for Congress.
“As a small business owner, the equipment I want to rent doesn’t matter,” said Flanegan. “It’s my job to find out what my customers want and have it, because if I don’t have it, then my competitor will. I use that same rule.”
Flanegan compared the current situation to the 2008 sub-prime mortgage crash.
“We’re in the middle of a tough economy because of that, and that was government-caused,” said Flanegan. “The government, foolishly, through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mack, issued sub-prime mortgages out. Why were they doing that? They were buying votes. And they were doing it with our tax money.”
According to Flanegan, the cause of the mortgage crisis was directly caused by the rise of gasoline prices to four dollars per gallon for the first time in United States’ history.
“In 2008, gas went to $4 per gallon, and you’ve got to pay for gas,” said Flanegan. “If you don’t pay for gas, you don’t go to work, and if you don’t go to work, your boss fires you and you lose your house. So what can you fudge on? All those people started fudging on their mortgages. They were upside down before, and then they started fudging on their mortgage payments when gas went up for $4 per gallon. The reason? They were set up for that failure.”
Flanegan is the son of an Air Force One crewmember and lived and traveled the world, and has lived in Georgia’s third district for about 20 years. As a high school student, Flanegan’s father offered him a presidential appointment to the Academy, which he declined in an effort to become a self-made businessman. Flanegan states that government, like a business, should function under the question of, ‘what works?’
“I look at what works, and apply it, I don’t ignore it,” said Flanegan. “We’re approaching twenty times what the gross income of the federal government is. They compare it to the GDP. It’s close to the GDP, but the GDP is everything everybody makes. It’s like saying, ‘Hey, I’m in good shape. I only owe a little more than my whole block makes.’ What difference does it make how much the block makes? It’s about how much you make, because the block’s not going to pay it back, you’re going to pay it back.”
Flanegan described his experience in Russia during the late 90’s and seeing the headline of the Moscow Times that read ‘Million Dollar Roofs.’
“Grown men would come up to you on the street and beg or try to sell you something,” said Flanegan. “They wanted real currency. It talked about Russian money and how it’s lint and paper, just like ours. It’s got the ink that changes colors; it’s almost impossible to counterfeit. They were taking the Russian money and were shredding it, mixing it with tar to make roofing out of it. The money became worthless. Why did it become worthless? Because the government was printing money and dumped it into the economy. Why would the government ruin its own currency? To steal the fruit of the labor of the peasants.”
Flanegan claims he is running for Congress is an effort to turn things around for the U.S. He encourages everyone to pay their way out of debt the responsible way by spending less money than they make. For a full glimpse of Flanegan’s platform, please visit www.chipflanegan.com.
Chip is straightforward and honest. He understands what is wrong with Washington DC and wants to change it for the better. A vote for Chip is a vote in the right direction, to undo the damage done by Obama. I’ve known him for nearly 40 years and I know he is the right person for the job.