Missoula Financial Advisor Says ‘Call Your Congressman Today’

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Bob Seidenschwarz is a familiar voice on the KGVO Talk Back show, especially with his contributions from the Montana World Affairs Council.

That being said; Seidenschwarz by profession is also a financial counselor.

Financial Counselor says "Write to Your Congressmen" About the Economy

I spoke with Seidenschwarz on Tuesday, just after Talk Back hosted the Mansfield Center that lost a multi-million dollar grant to help fund the organization, citing layoffs and cutbacks in their programs.

I asked Seidenschwarz about the impact of tariffs and the wholesale elimination of funding for programs such the UM's Mansfield Center. He brought the conversation right down to the individual investor, and voter.

“You write your Congressmen and your Senators,” began Seidenschwarz. “You call them and ask them, ‘How do you reconcile your obligation to the state that elected you to be in the position that you are as a representative of Congress and the Senate, and ask yourself, in terms of the policies and the tariffs, what impact that's going to have on your home state’.”

Seidenschwarz Urges Montana's Congressional Delegation to Come Home

Seidenschwarz said all four of Montana’s Congressional delegations should return home immediately and address the fears and worries of their constituents.

“They have an obligation to come back here and not just give us a boilerplate answer as to what the situation may take care of itself in terms of outcomes,” he said. “They need to talk to Montana people in town hall meetings. They need to get on the radio with people like yourself (Talk Back). They need to be more involved and tell Montanans what the impact is going to be.”

Seidenschwarz, always a calming voice in times of financial stress, sounded the alarm for the Montana public to get involved.

“They can't just say, ‘Oh, it's going to be better’,” he said. “That doesn't solve anything. So I'm asking Montanans to get in touch with the very people we elected to be more proactive in talking to us as citizens of the state and as people of the United States.”

Seidenschwarz Urges Households to Take Stock of Their Finances

In fact, Seidenschwarz counseled KGVO listeners and website readers to take stock of their current finances and have a plan to ride out this financial storm.

You had better ask yourselves, if this continues for a protracted period of time, how is that going to impact your ability to pay your bills, put food on the table and to make sure your family is taken care of,” he said. “If that means cutting some things out in the short term in order to get through this, then that's our obligation to ourselves and our families right now.”

According to CBS News, “After falling more than 1,000 points in afternoon trading (on March 11), the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 41,912, down 890 points, or 2.1 percent.”