Senate hopeful Barksdale plans to close wealth gap
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The economic state of the country is what spurred Senate hopeful Jim Barksdale to throw his hat in the ring.
The Democrat said he has a good shot at defeating GOP incumbent Johnny Isakson in November elections, stating in an interview at a Floyd County Democratic Party meetand-greet at the KelseyAycock-Burrell Center on Aug. 20 that he hopes to close the wealth gap.
“I’ve been very saddened by the policies of the country,” Barksdale said. “Somebody had to do something.”
Although he didn’t necessarily want to run, he said no one else stepped up and he felt a sense of duty to his country.
People are making less money, he said, which hinders economic growth because they can’t spend or borrow money.
His jimbarksdale.com website cites that the Federal Reserve has created another financial bubble that allows those who have money to get richer while workers and students “face limited opportunities.”
The Federal Reserve is creating money to keep interest rates low, the website continues, which may make things worse when interest rates return to “historically normal levels.”
With family roots in mid-Georgia, Barksdale said he grew up in Atlanta. He left the state before returning to Atlanta in 1986 to start the investment firm Equity Investment Corporation in his house.
The firm now manages approximately $5.2 billion, Barksdale said.
Rome Ci t y Commissioner Wendy Davis, a Democratic National Convention superdelegate, said she is delighted that Barksdale is in the race.
“I think he cares about ordinary Georgians,” she concluded.