This election will define America.  We clearly have two paths.  Will we choose to mold our country to the world’s standards? Or will we stick to traditional American practices?

The incumbent, President Barack Obama, wants to keep our nation headed on a path to becoming a welfare state.  His liberal beliefs would increasingly involve government in our everyday lives.  The government is already too big…how could we let it get any bigger?

Not only will Obama’s policies enlarge the role of the government, they will also increase our national debt.  He has proven this in the past four years by increasing the deficit by trillions of dollars.  Theobamadebt.org tells of this increase, from 10.6 trillion when Obama became president to $16.2 trillion near the end of his term. $16 trillion is, by anyone’s standards, a heck of a lot of money.  According to debtclock.org, the amount of money owed by each taxpayer in America is currently over $141,000. 

We can’t let the debt increase anymore. America has always been a strong nation, and has been a symbol of power throughout the world for over a century.  Obama wants to portray us as a passive nation and cut our defense spending by $2 trillion, according to factcheck.org.  Do we really want to come across to other nations as passive? Or do we want to come across as a nation that can back up what it believes? While Obama wants to make cuts to military spending, Romney stated that he “[believes] in maintaining the strength of our military,” and he will do this by not making defense spending cuts.

Besides, having the power to form a military was one of the few powers delegated to the federal government in the Constitution. Therefore, we should be OK with the federal government spending money on it. The Constitution also says that any powers not delegated to the federal government in the Constitution are reserved for the states. Did the Constitution mention anything about the federal government providing welfare for people uninterested in finding a job? Nope. Social Security when people can save for retirement by themselves? Nope. Stimulus money for banks and businesses? Nope. Forced health care, whether public or private? Nope. I see a pattern…if we are going to have these services, they need to be run by the states or not run at all. This is more constitutional and efficient, as states use their money wisely.

President Obama clearly believes in the federal government being active in citizen’s lives. He said in the first presidential debate with Mitt Romney that “I believe that…the federal government has the capacity to help open up opportunity and create ladders of opportunity and create frameworks where the American people can succeed.” In other words, he wants to involve the federal government in our lives, where it doesn’t belong.
Romney said in the same debate that “The role of government…is to promote and protect the principles of [the Constitution and Declaration of Independence].” These documents, which the President made no mention of when asked about the role of government, do not support his policies.

Contrary to popular belief, the Founding Fathers knew what they were doing when they wrote the Constitution, and the principles they laid out are applicable regardless of how many centuries pass. Our President needs to adhere to these principles.
The Romney-Ryan ticket, although not a solution to all of our problems, is a better alternative than the Obama-Biden ticket. Romney understands what the role of government is better than Obama, and holds high the values of hard work and perseverance.
The world is watching. Will we continue on the path to being a welfare state with weak leadership? Or will we begin to follow a path where welfare isn’t needed, where people step up to help others and people give self-sufficiency their best shot?

Ultimately, our country is defined by the actions of its people. If people look out for each other and treat everyone with love and respect, then there is very little necessity for government intervention in our lives.

This election, choose to support the principles that America was built on that helped make it the best country in the world.