Political pundits love to obsess over the unemployment rate. “Can President Obama win reelection if unemployment stays above 8 percent?” “What number for unemployment is bad news for the president, and what number helps him out?” But that talk is detached from the reality of the economy. Small businesses around the country know that there’s still an employment problem, even as the official unemployment rate drops from a high of 10.1 percent in 2010 to 8.1 percent today.

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This week I was fortunate enough to have Lieutenant Commander Jeffery Lay on my Sirius XM radio show, and he was a great guest. A 24-year veteran of the Navy—and a graduate of the famous TOPGUN school—he has turned his eye toward Wall Street and corporate America since his retirement from active duty, and he has some great ideas.

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I haven’t decided who I will be voting for in the various November elections, but I already know what criteria I’ll be using to decide. I’m looking for candidates who will be completely unelectable when the next election cycle rolls around. I want a one-term president, one-term senators, and one-term congressmen.

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Small business owners know how important it is to confront their problems head on, and right away. If you wait, the problem won’t go away. Bad news does not get better with age. And the longer you wait before dealing with the problem, the worse the cure.

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As seen in the April 20 edition of the St. Paul Pioneer Press

I've watched Gov. Mark Dayton's intense lobbying campaign to drum up support for a state-of-the-art Vikings stadium and admired his commitment. Like many Vikings fans, I hope the governor ultimately succeeds in his campaign to build a new home for my old team. But I also hope the governor would turn some of his attention to something far more important than football: our public schools and a failed policy that's hurting our kids.

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