Ronald Reagan would be dissapointed in our current lack of common sense.

June 7th 2012 The Florida Patriot

Watching cable network news this week during the Wisconsin Governor Recall election I could not help but notice how much time, money and effort was spent with the Democrats and Republicans battling for this election. It made me think of how much time and effort the Democrats spend blaming former President George Bush and Republicans spend blaming current President Barack Obama about the federal deficit. The Federal Deficit is growing at an alarming rate. We have talked about cutting social security, medicare that our senior citizens have spent a lifetime contributing to and are currently relying on. We have talked about raising taxes, laying off school teachers, and closing fire stations. Meanwhile, we NEVER hear talk of cutting foreign aid to countries like Pakistan who have been receiving well over 1 billion dollars a year for many years. What have we received for our charity you may ask? Funding terrorists who would do us harm and hiding Osama Bin Ladin in this writers opinion. After it was discovered they were hiding Osama Bin Ladin we still continue to send over 1 billion dollars a year to Pakistan.

Almost as bad as funding countries that support terrorism is giving millions of dollars in foreign aid to countries that hold our debt and hardly need the money. A little know fact is that the United States in 2010 gave out 1.4 billion dollars in foreign aid to 16 foreign countries that held atleast 10 billion dollars in Treasury Securities. We gave China 27.2 Million dollars in foreign aid while they hold 1.1 trillion of our U.S. Treasury Bonds. We gave Russia 71.5 Million dollars in foreign aid while they hold 127.8 billion of our U.S. Treasury Bonds. Imagine how many local American communities that could be helped as well as the federal debt that could be paid down if we stopped foreign aid. The City of Immokalee Florida (an area hit very hard by the economic crisis) was recently awarded a 2 year FEMA grant for $700k to re-open one of their only fire stations and re-hire the 6 firefighters that were laid off a year ago. How many thousands of school teachers nationally have been laid off so we can give foreign aid to Pakistan and other countries.

Stopping foreign aid and taking care of our country is only the first step. When are the manufacturing jobs our country has lost overseas over the last 40 years going to return to America. How many Americans currently take the time to look and see where the electronics, cars, and other goods they purchase were manufactured? Our previous generations took great pride in buying American goods. How many times have you called the customer service department of a large American company only to talk to person on the other end of the phone in India or another country? Most Americans pay their fair share of taxes, which leads me to wonder why we are giving 21 billion in tax breaks to companies like Exxon Mobil that are profiting in the billions. Why is it that GE made billions in profits in 2010 but paid no corporate income tax and ships many of our jobs overseas for these tax breaks?

The problem in America is not Republicans, Democrats, Union or Anti-Union, the problem is “US”. I became a Republican because of argueably one of the best we have ever seen, President Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan knew who our enemies were and how to deal with them. I still remember that great moment where he stood at the Berlin Wall and told Mr Gorbachev to “Tear down this wall”. When Moammar Gadhafi and Libya gave us trouble he ordered our military to bomb them from the air, not spend a decade fighting a ground war and then building their infrastructure while our bridges and schools crumble. What do you think he would say about us giving billions of dollars to Pakistan for hiding Osama Bin Ladin or foreign aid to China while they hold 1 trillion of our debt? He believed that America was the greatest country and that we could always do better. Shortly after 9/11 our country galvanized as one and for a long time we worked together as a team. The housing bubble, 4$ a gallon gasoline, and many other economic factors brought us to where we are now of Americans fighting Americans. The previous generations of Americans fought World Wars, and faced many, many tougher problems than ours. It is time to work together as Americans to fix our problems and reach our full potential.