With the election less than two months away, Florida voters need to ask themselves which of the two candidates will change the dire direction of our country, the continued economic malaise, and downward trajectory the Obama administration put on steroids.
Let's look at President Obama’s record. On Aug. 25, 2016, the national debt reached $19.5 trillion, and will top $20 trillion before Obama leaves office. The last two quarters have shown less than 1 percent economic growth and not a single year of 3 percent growth in Obama's eight years as president. His legacy is that he acquired more debt than all presidents in U.S. History combined. Rather than use his executive authority to veto reckless congressional pork, Obama continues ratcheting debt for future generations of Americans. A Clinton administration would be more of the same.
There are 100 million people in America without jobs. This includes those who have stopped looking for employment. This figure is more people than those without work during the Great Recession. A President Trump would slash America’s corporate tax rate, currently at 35 percent, the highest in the world, and bring back American manufacturing from abroad to create hundreds of thousands of much-needed U.S. jobs.
Our dignity as human beings requires us to work, acquire an education, aspire for a better way of life, and provide for our families, the poor and the greater good of our country. Under Obama’s failed economic policies, such as the $831 billion of taxpayer “stimulus” spent for “shovel ready” jobs which never appeared, he also deliberately incentivized Americans not to work. Obama's vision keeps a low ceiling on Americans' God-given potential and instead makes them dependent on government handouts, a scenario in which people do not have the opportunity or are not encouraged to succeed. Under Obama, our retirees' Social Security increases have been cut and, shamefully, our veterans' needs continue to be ignored.
By implementing Obamacare, alongside a Democratic Congress, Obama hijacked the best medical care in the world, which is one-sixth of our economy, but is now controlled by the U.S. government. As Americans have learned, you cannot keep your doctor, you cannot receive the appropriate medical care you need, and the cost of medical care has doubled or tripled, as the "enrollees" did not sign up. So there are not enough payers to subsidize this monopolistic federal disaster.
On foreign policy, Obama -- abetted with the media’s false narrative of an “Arab Spring,” (fought by “rebels”) -- authorized and bombed Libya without approval from Congress, toppling Muammar Quaddafi in Libya. Obama left in his place the totalitarian Muslim Brotherhood, whose first act was to reverse the ban on polygamy and then implement Sharia Law. In Egypt, Obama proactively removed a 30-year ally of the United States, Hosni Mubarak, and in that vacuum, the Muslim Brotherhood took over until the people of Egypt rose up and would not stand for it.
With violence and ISIS expanding in Syria and the barbaric murdering and beheading of innocent Christians rampant, Trump is the only candidate we can trust to protect America and return the U.S.A. to be that “shining city on a hill.” Hillary Clinton, as U.S. secretary of state, repeatedly lied to the American people about her 33,000 deleted emails and about the horrific Benghazi terrorist attack. Clinton is not trustworthy to be commander-in-chief or to protect American lives abroad.
With the international crisis of relocating refugees, which candidate do you trust to vet those coming into our country, as well as the assurance to secure America’s borders? A nation without borders is not a sovereign country. According to the Washington Times last week, mass immigration costs Americans $296 billion per year. The cost is astronomical and is a threat to our national security. There is no way to measure the human suffering or lives lost, as there are 2 million criminal aliens in the United States.
After having a president for eight years who created anti-friendly small business regulations, including reducing full-time employees to part-time via Obamacare mandates, it’s time for a new direction for America. Shame on the political establishment in both parties; they selfishly put their personal or political agenda over the greater good of our country. Their feckless actions and lack of leadership at this critical juncture in history will be remembered. College graduates, millennials, and all Americans deserve the opportunity to be successful.
The United States Supreme Court is at stake, and the liberties endowed by our Creator enshrined in the Constitution, so it is imperative for Floridians to rally behind Donald Trump. The voters hold the destiny of America in their hands and the responsibility as the watchmen to guard the next generation's freedoms. Trump is the only candidate who can change our course to make America great again.
Nancy Peek McGowan is president of the Conservative Republican Forum of Jacksonville. She is also an active member of the Republican Executive Committee of Duval County, for which she serves as vice chair of fundraising.
