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Restoring the Last Best Hope of Earth

Melanie Sturm | @ThinkAgainUSA Read Comments - 8
Publish Date: 
Thu, 10/25/2012

 

During the Civil War when the union’s preservation and slavery’s abolition were in doubt, President Lincoln roused the nation with his dream “of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth.” In rekindling our Founders’ vision, Lincoln helped assure that America would become the freest and most prosperous nation on earth, a status successive US presidents have dutifully maintained, or they were cast aside by voters.

 

As Americans Think Again about President Obama, consider that no president has won re-election amid such economic stagnation, declining incomes, high gas prices and business pessimism.  Living astonishingly beyond our means and more indebted than any other nation in world history, Americans face a reduced standard of living, diminished opportunities for our children, and a weakened capacity to secure our national interests in a menacing world.

 

After trillions in fiscal and monetary stimulus, the 39-month old economic recovery has one-seventh the GDP growth rate of the Reagan recovery in which double-digit inflation and interest rates were also slain. With 261,000 fewer jobs today than January 2009 (despite population growth of 9 million), exploding poverty, government dependency, and income inequality imperil Lincoln’s dream.

 

During the economic turmoil of 2008, Obama sounded Lincoln-esque, promising to “provide good jobs to the jobless…secure our nation and restore our image as the last best hope on Earth.”  But unlike Presidents Kennedy, Reagan and Clinton who understood the benefits of economic growth policies – more and better jobs, larger paychecks, growing tax revenues without tax rate increases, and deficit and debt mitigation -- Obama doubled down on government-centric and budget-busting policies. 

 

Having inherited a government moving in the wrong direction on bailouts, spending, deficits and debt accumulation, Obama floored the gas. Though critical of Bush’s $4 trillion in accumulated debt and vowing to halve the annual deficit by now, Obama has run four successive trillion-dollar deficits – each nearly triple Bush’s average -- while increasing debt nearly $6 trillion to a sum ($16.1 trillion) that exceeds the US economy.  Historically, America’s economy has grown faster than its debt -- until Obama, under whom debt is growing $2.50 for every dollar of GDP growth.

 

With 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 every day, manditory expenditures for Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid are exploding, consuming more annually than the combined cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and TARP bailouts.  Rather than address the looming entitlement crisis, Obama’s budget projects massive deficits and $20 trillion in debt by the end of his second term. So fiscally irresponsible, not one member of Congress -- not even a single Democrat -- has voted to approve either of Obama’s last two annual budgets.

 

Meanwhile, with Democrats in complete control of Congress through January 2011, Obama’s signature legislative “reforms” – Obamacare and Dodd-Frank – ignored Republican solutions, and imposed thousands of complex regulations and new taxes on the private economy, nearly paralyzing job creation and economic growth.

 

Though sold as “Wall Street reform”, Dodd-Frank makes bailouts more likely by designating selected banks “too-big-to-fail” and failing to reform the financial crisis’ real culprits -- housing-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. With smaller banks competitively disadvantaged, lending is down, consumer prices are up, and expensive consultants, like the former chiefs-of-staff to both Dodd and Frank, are in demand.

 

Neither is Obamacare meeting its promises. Insurance premiums are up $2,500 and according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Obamacare will cost nearly twice its original estimate, leave 30 million Americans uninsured, and cause 20 million people to lose their employer-provided health insurance. Additionally, it imposes 20 new taxes on families and small businesses and incentivizes employers to hire part-time instead of full-time workers.

 

Thanks to recent technological breakthroughs, America is now the most energy-endowed nation in the world.  Allowing the responsible development of our resources would generate millions of jobs while turbo-charging the economy and revitalizing distressed communities. Yet despite promising an “all-of-the-above” energy policy while investing $90 billion in uncompetitive green energy companies, Obama blocked the Keystone XL pipeline and reduced drilling permits on public lands by 36 percent, compared to increases of 116 and 58 percent under Bush and Clinton, respectively.

 

Meanwhile, GDP growth slumped to 1.3 percent in the second quarter, but Obama proposes to increase tax rates on “millionaires and billionaires” (individuals and small businesses making over $250,000) to promote fairness, after opposing them in 2010 when the economy was growing at twice its current rate. But how can it be fair to implement a policy that the CBO considers economically injurious and would yield only enough revenue to fund 8.5 days of government spending? Given Obama’s track record, how could another four years of the same policies result in enough economic growth to overcome our economic challenges?

 

Mindful of these challenges and eager to diffuse the debt bomb while preserving entitlement programs for future generations, Governor Romney proposes to expand the private economy with spending, regulatory, tax and entitlement reforms reminiscent of those enacted by Kennedy, Reagan and Clinton – modern America’s most successful economic stewards.  Romney proposes to cut tax rates by 20 percent for all Americans while maintaining the same share of taxes paid by the wealthy. But unlike Bush, he’ll pay for them by eliminating expensive loopholes only accessible to wealthy individuals and companies like GE.

 

Divided as we were during the Civil War, Americans long to be unified by a leader, like Lincoln, committed to expanding liberty and increasing individual opportunity -- the source of human flourishing and America’s promise.

 

Think Again – only by restoring these cultural bulwarks can we pass our children a strong America, and remain the last best hope of earth.

 

 

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I read the nasty letters to

I read the nasty letters to the editor about this column and then found it on your website to read. I think you need to respond to those nasty letters writers who accuse you of lying. This is one of the best fact-based descriptions of what is going on -- better than the Romney campaign did -- that I've read. Please respond to the nasty letters, for the sake of those of us who care about truth, if not to protect your own reputation.

My comments lack the educated

My comments lack the educated vocabulary of the many before me so I will keep it simple.
It appears that the recipients of the Government Dole System have re-elected their "Emperor" who will continue to bankrupt their Country and eliminate the Values and Beliefs that built this Country. But then when his inner self comes to the surface it will be to late for the " Government Slaves" to correct the disaster

Great Article! Bravo.

Great Article! Bravo.

Congratulations on a super

Congratulations on a super piece. I have also felt that this is the most important election in our country’s history since the 1860 election. You are the first writer that I have seen that has put the present election in that context. Excellent presentation, facts as they are and what we face.

I am married to a wonderful woman from Wheat Ridge, CO. and am familiar with Vail, in the middle of God’s country. I wish you all the best. I will look for articles by you in the future, keep up the good work.

Well written article, full of

Well written article, full of solid facts.

Two thoughts here: --Arriving

Two thoughts here:

--Arriving here from the 60's, it was like watching a machine break down. AS "Progressiveness" took hold, there was less responsibility, accountability, and fewer consequences for failure or refusal to adhere to rules
It got so that what I call the Clinton Rule applied. That is --Winning can be measured by who makes the most money. The only way that you make the most money and not WIN is to get caught doing it, as by the Clinton Rule, laws and
morals do not limit you.
So, no one bothered to look past media information

---Secondly, with more machines and less work, citizens are encouraged to:
Not strive to get a good education
Not struggle to be the best, at anything.
Find entertainment and diversions. Many don't know who the President is or how he got there.

SO--No one paid attention to, or even heard the warnings about Obama

Lastly, essentially, from my perspective as a thirty year retired State Highway Patrol Officer, the Obama organization might be compared to Black Bart or Blackbeard.
They are pirates They epitomize the economic view of most Entitled people in that they think that there is a money tree somewhere, and all you have to do is elect the right person to channel the money to you.
Reminds me of Tip O'neill and Charley Rangel : Someone asked their constituents if they knew that ONeill and Rangel were crooks. Yes, they knew. "Well, why do you keep election them ?"
" He's a crook, but he's our crook, and he brings the money homer".

The basic fact is that ONLY a

The basic fact is that ONLY a strong, determined, moral and resolute United States of America is the ONLY thing that stands between the entire world and a new DARK AGES.

This day, that requirement is tragically lacking.

In a couple of weeks we will see the FUTURE of the world.

as much as i'm ready to see

as much as i'm ready to see the end of this seemingly endless election cycle, I'm bummed that you can't write more about it. Thanks again for all your great articles, I enjoyed reading my new favorite conservative columnist. Hopefully in 12 days we can usher in a new administration full of America-First adults who will restore our economy and also some backbone to our foreign policy. No more bowing to leaders and promising "more flexibility" to the likes of Russia, who'd love nothing more than to see a further weakened USA. Good Lord, let's hope enough people have grey matter between their ears and check the Romney/Ryan box.

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