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A Florida community banker weighs in on the election
With the GOP convention in full swing in Florida, we travel the I-4 corridor to see what really counts in the minds of locals.
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One state that dodged the Hurricane was Florida, which is a good thing for delegates at the Republican National Convention that's underway in Tampa. As part of our coverage of "The Real Economy" -- what matters most to voters this election year -- we've invited a guy named Mike Sleaford into the studio to give us his thoughts on the election and the economy.
He runs a community bank in Port Orange, Florida. Sleaford says that, though Florida was hit hard by the recession, the state is starting to regain some of the lost ground.
He also says he's concerned about regulatory legislation that he says would adversly affect his business, such as the Dodd-Frank Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "We are a regulated industry, and that's fine," he says. "But don't put it to the point that we can't do certain things."
But what specifically are business owners worried about when they look at these regulations? Hear more in the audio above.
Mr. Sleaford says that the unknowns of Dodd Frank will probably cause bankers like him to add resources (ie people, further costs), which is why he's against further regulation of his business. And then at the end of his interview, he states that he wants his elected officials to grow the economy and add jobs. So which is it? Does he not see the paradox in his statement? He wants the economy to "add jobs" but he doesn't want to be the business that does it? Let some other guys do that? How does he think we're going to add jobs in this economy if everyone opts to let the other guy do it. It has to start somewhere, Mr. Sleaford. Maybe it's your turn.
