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GOP Failures Set The Stage For Liberal Fiasco

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SAM RASHID

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 1, 2008

I can think of 40 million reasons why Barack Obama could win. Here's the first one: Jimmy Carter. It was a little more than 30 years ago since this country elected a liberal Democrat to the highest office in the land. And the country soon entered a period of economic malaise and weakness.

For many of you who are going to be voting Nov. 4, you might want to review the period that I call the "great tragedy" in recent history. Jimmy Carter was elected because the country needed change - change from an ineffective and out-of-control Republican Party, much like we have today.

What happened following his election to office was nothing short of a disaster. Defense spending was cut to the point where spare parts were not available for airplanes. Radical governments walked over us with impunity. Interest rates skyrocketed. Inflation went out of control. Unemployment soared. Economic growth was at a standstill. Taxes and fees on small businesses were increased exponentially. Unions held businesses hostage with the blessing of the Department of Labor. And you couldn't find a smile anywhere in the country.

Ultimately, Carter was replaced by a great president but only after the country finally experienced what it was to actually live under a liberal agenda.

Well, we Republicans have nobody to blame but ourselves for the similar position we find ourselves in today. We're seeing a new multigenerational electorate that has never seen a liberal agenda in action. Not that our agenda was much of an alternative for them. We've been in executive or legislative control for 12 years with what to show?

Now, let me be clear that, in my opinion, this president inherited a new world and managed it as best as he could. When it came to finally confronting Islamic fundamentalism, he will be defined as the one who drew the line in the sand where others didn't have the backbone to do so.

Regrettably, the war was used an as excuse to go on a spending binge like we've never seen. It was used as an excuse to infringe liberally on domestic civil liberties that built the very foundation of this country. It was used to create a bloated and ineffective layer of security that's largely symbolic and hasn't enhanced our internal or border security other than to keep congressmen, senators and senior citizens from passing through airport security check points by screeners who have a federal license to be discourteous in a fancy blue and white uniform.

It's the same people, same lack of aptitude, same lack of ability to profile properly - but several billions of dollars more on the annual federal payroll.

Now we're $10 trillion in debt. A $500 billion annual deficit. Pork-loaded budgets. I could go on and on, but you know the rest of the story. We had our chance to make a difference in the multigenerational electorate over the last 15 years, and we blew it.

Now we've got to pay the price. What's the price, you ask? The price is the alternative. A complete pendulum swing to the left and total control of our nation by the liberal Democrats and their left-wing ideology. It's time to let the next multigenerational voting electorate see what the liberal agenda is really all about. It's time to let them experience the true brunt of the socialistic policies of Obama, Pelosi and Reid. It's time to let them recognize that as bad as we've been, worse is possible and more than likely probable.

What are the other 39,999,999 reasons to elect Barack Obama, you ask? Very simple. It's the number of American kids who are estimated to reach voting age over the next two presidential terms. And it's our only hope for the successful future of the conservative movement. Let's try not to blow it again.

Sam Rashid is a Brandon businessman and political activist.

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