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On my radio show last weekend, I talked about the latest disturbing economic headlines, recent urban violence, and my decision against running for the U.S. Senate in 2012.

Bloated government and social welfare systems are resulting in out-of-control government spending in Greece, Italy, and Spain.  The resulting European debt crisis has no good solution.  Here in the United States, the Obama Administration and its Democrat Party allies in Congress continue to attack American business.  Among the attacks are the ongoing defacto oil drilling ban in the Gulf of Mexico, the Boeing plant shut down in South Carolina, the continuing delay of the XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas, the EPA “Cap and Trade” styled regulations on Coal Powered electricity plants, and new increased CAFE mileage standards for car production.  Each one of these attacks is costing the U.S. economy thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of jobs.  9% base unemployment and 17% real unemployment (which includes the under employed and discouraged workers) are the result.

If President Obama and his administration were objectively assessing their own policies, what they would learn is that when the U.S. government attacks American business, it is attacking the American economy and the American people.  In reaction to recent poor economic headlines, financial markets have declined dramatically in recent weeks, and are now roughly 15% below 2011 highs.

Like many of you, I have been disturbed by the recent violence – including some racially motivated violence – in both American and British cities.  This lawlessness and bigotry is not about poverty.  It’s about poor character and poor behavior.  It’s about government poverty programs that do not help people stand on their own two feet, but rather destroy families, work ethic, individual responsibility, personal pride, and contribute to a culture of dependency.  Behaving lawlessly and attacking innocent people for any reason is not acceptable.  Consistent with Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision, all people in the United States and Britain of every cultural, ethnic, and religious background must join together to restore our common culture of hard work and responsibility.

Finally, I talk about my decision to forgo a campaign to defeat Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) in 2012.  Many of you have encouraged me to run and the prospect of first launching a campaign and then serving in Washington D.C. excites me.  However, as I discussed this with my wife, Diane, and personal advisors, and also prayed about it, I realized that there are two fundamental reasons why I simply cannot in good conscience run for office in 2012.  The first reason is the ages of my younger children.  God has blessed my wife, Diane, and I with five healthy kids, and the youngest three are 9, 10, and 11 years old.  I have realized that I simply cannot be an absentee father during the very critical next seven years.  The second reason is my venture capital fund and the 95 investors who have entrusted my partners and me with their hard earned capital.  Our fund is doing well, but if I ran a campaign now and subsequently served in Washington D.C., I would fail to “complete the race” on behalf of my investors.

To all of you who encouraged me to run for the Senate, I appreciate your confidence in my abilities.  Now is just not the time, but the two key factors that prevent me from running for office now will inevitably change over time – so maybe in the future.  In the mean time, I am confident that a strong conservative candidate will step forward to run against liberal Democrat Bob Casey (who has voted with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Barack Obama 98% of the time).

Thanks for reading this and listening to my radio program.

Sincerely,

Glen

Glen Meakem is a successful technology entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and conservative talk radio show host, who offers information and insights on how individuals, our states, and our nation can be more successful. Glen’s unique perspective has been shaped by his experiences as founder, chairman and CEO of the B2B internet success Freemarkets Inc – which he founded in 1995, took public in 1999, and sold to Ariba in 2004. In 2006, Glen co-founded Meakem Becker Venture Capital, a firm that invests in early stage start up companies. Concerned about the liberal political agenda that has gripped the United States and his home state of Pennsylvania, Glen launched the radio program, “Glen Meakem on the Weekend” in 2008. Glen served as an officer in the United States Army Reserve and is a veteran of the First Gulf War. He earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard and his MBA from Harvard Business School. For more information about the Glen Meakem on the Weekend Radio Program, or to read Glen’s blog, please visit http://glenmeakem.com.

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