Birthday/Election Time

So this monumental and pivotal election is going to happen just two days after my 27th birthday. I can't really say I've enjoyed much of the campaigning so far. It gets me pondering. Even though the candidates aren't really doing much mud slinging yet, I'm not looking forward to any new TV ads nearly as much as I am the debates. I guess they've already agreed to 3 presidential debates and 1 VP debate. Bring it! I want to see what answers they all have. I want to get a feel for their motives and goals in this race and whether or not they would do this job without all the perks - secret service, salary, etc. It would be cool to hear that some big shot politician decided to use his or her salary to offset the costs of running his/her office and would rather use his or her personal investments, funds, and the likes to pay his own bills. I mean, do you know how much each state senator uses of public money to get to and from DC? And then they have staff and administrative costs that are all paid for by us. Not that it's a bad thing, but I don't think it's a very modestly run profession, which means that more money is used to fund their lush offices than goes back into the country's needs. If you're going to demand money out of my check without my authorization, then you can at least take that seriously and not blow it on unnecessary expenditures. That's the bulk of what I ask. Oh, and I don't think the government has my best interests in mind when it comes to my social security. I know how to invest for retirement and the guarantee of that money being invested depends on me. So if I want a good retirement, I'll be doing the necessary research and payments into my IRA, as well as diversifying my investments elsewhere. The government needn't worry itself with that. That's all. I just like what money I do make to be under my discretion. Simple, right? Yeah.