a closing argument – to change direction

I am nervous about Election Day. This country is in a very divided place. Politics has become such a polarizing force that families are fighting over it, friendships have been broken and not easily repaired, and we are separated in a class struggle that threatens the very fabric of our nation – all because we disagree on how to fix what’s broken in this country. This shouldn’t be the case. Some of the blame should rest with our current president and his political party. Remember “hope and change”? That has long since disappeared, and anyone who cares to pay attention should feel quite disillusioned at this point.

President Obama has failed to keep his promises. All politicians break promises, so this shouldn’t surprise anyone. What is remarkable about our president is that he fails to take responsibility for his own record. What is that record? Let’s start with 7.8% unemployment. Even if you buy the argument that President Obama started with a deeply problematic economy (and he did), his policies have done very little to improve these numbers. We can do better than 7.8% unemployment. We can get people back to work. We just need to reverse the job-killing direction of this administration’s policies by lowering taxes for small businesses and putting a big sharp knife into Obamacare. The president keeps saying he has a jobs plan and we should read all about it on his website. If it’s such a great plan, where was this great plan the last 4 years when many people lost their jobs, and still haven’t regained them? It’s time for President Obama to give the presidency to someone who wants to do the job that is required.

How about his policy on energy? How’s that working for us? We all know about the high gas prices. These prices are having serious effects on us as consumers both directly (as we fill up our cars / trucks / SUVs) and indirectly (increased costs for truckers and those who are transporting products to our stores and supermarkets). This is all part of the administration’s plan to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels by making us use less because of the price. Sometimes it seems that environmentalists care more about the planet than the people that live there. Nevertheless, it would be good policy to ok the Keystone Pipeline to increase our supply of energy, which will help to ease gas prices while we explore new ways to power our vehicles and heat our homes. Our president refuses to do this.

Here’s the elephant in the room – Obamacare. It is a noble goal to want to increase health care coverage for our fellow Americans. But the answer to that objective is to reduce costs so that people are capable of buying their own policies. That’s not what Obamacare does. Obamacare puts mandates on the individual and on their health care insurance companies that are not cost-effective and end up costing everyone involved more money . It doesn’t take a genius to understand that the result of this policy is fewer people able to afford health insurance, and all that’s left after making private insurance even less affordable is the government system. You don’t want that. Ask the Brits.

I haven’t even touched on his foreign policy missteps and failures, but that isn’t what we are voting on this election. The issues are jobs, the economy, our enormous national debt, and the future of our global leadership. Can we do better on jobs? Yes we can. Can we fix our economy and make reforms that will put our country’s finances on a more stable course? Yes. Can we regain our status as a global superpower by having a leader who respects our allies and shows strong leadership and courage when dealing with America’s enemies and questionable world actors? Without a doubt. Do we have a president like that today? We do not. But we can have one of those next January.

In conclusion, I appeal to my fellow Americans to change the course of our country by voting for Mitt Romney this Tuesday. We need to put the brakes on this runaway train before it’s too late to save our economy and keep from doubling the debt that is being passed on to your children and grandchildren. By voting for Mitt we aren’t saying that we agree with every single policy. We are saying that our country deserves better than what we have lived through the last 4 years. If you agree with that, please join me in voting for Mitt tomorrow. Thank you for reading this and giving it serious consideration as you think about your choice.