By John F. Di Leo -
As we walk into the polls today, the question isn't just whether the Republicans are more honest than the Democrats. It's true, by geometric proportions, but that's not the only issue.
And the question isn't just who has the better platform. The Republican platform of cutting taxes to spur job growth, and cutting back on federal regulations so that we can bring employment back from overseas, is obviously far superior to the Democrats' failed tax-and-spend agenda.
But again, the platform difference – the big picture – isn't the only issue.
So much of it today comes down to specific points, such as:
The Democrats have promised to shut down the coal industry quickly, and the oil industry as quickly as they can. The Republicans recognize the value of affordable energy, and we want to keep people who work in coal and oil – in small towns and offshore oil platforms, in the mountains of the UP and the hills of West Virginia – gainfully employed.
The Democrats promise to raise taxes – the inheritance tax that destroys small businesses and family farms, the corporate taxes that have already driven so much manufacturing to foreign shores… The Republicans want to end the death tax and cut corporate taxes in half, because we value jobs and prosperity; the Democrats value class envy and misguided "retribution" for imagined sins.
On issue after issue, the Democrats side with criminals – from eliminating minimum sentencing and restoring voting rights for felons, to denying potential victims their right to protect themselves. But Republicans side with the law-abiding citizens who are their victims; we want to lock up the criminals so we can protect the communities from them. Democrats see a drive-by shooting in a neighborhood and feel sorry for the shooters; Republicans see that same shooting, and we want to take measures to protect the innocent children in the park or porch or yard.
And look at immigration. The Democrats do their best to invite in more and more immigrants. Hillary Clinton has promised to naturalize tens of millions of illegals, and to invite in hundreds of thousands more "refugees" from the middle east, despite news every day of how such policies have destroyed Europe, and are already destroying communities here as well. The Republicans want to slow down this flow, and give existing legal immigrants a chance to assimilate before we let in more. The Republicans want to preserve as much as we can of what America is, but Democrats see the potential of millions more certain Democrat voters, and are blinded from view of its collateral damage to our culture and economy.
If I may bring up a local issue…
Here's a good example of the different ways we each see the world:
I live in Chicagoland's northwest suburban School District 15, which is demanding a $130 million tax increase in today's referendum. They present it as being just a couple hundred dollars per family, as if we could all afford to throw a couple hundred dollars away.
But we on the Right recognize something else about that tax increase that the Democrats don't:
Maybe I can afford to blow a couple hundred, and maybe I can't. But that's not the only issue.
The issue is: On what would I have spent that money, if this tax increase doesn't pass? Maybe I'd take the family out to dinner at a local restaurant one or two more times… or buy some books at the local bookstore, or buy another shirt or jacket for the kids on the way home from work.
With a couple hundred more dollars to spend each year, I may not notice it, myself, but it would get spent. In this community. And with tens of thousands of us spending a couple hundred more per year, these local businesses would notice it, and some of them would be saved as a result.
It's not enough money per family to buy a big CD or an investment in some distant money market fund, but in the aggregate, it's enough to make a real difference in the stores and restaurants of our local economy.
See, the question isn't whether I even notice the couple hundred dollars missing (although, for the record, I would!)… the question is whether our community can afford to have yet another $130 million taken out of the private sector here.
Palatine's School District 15 has struggling stores, restaurants, bookshops, small businesses and chains… They need the local residents to have the money to spend in their stores.
Since the beginning of the Obama administration, I have seen my favorite restaurants – one Italian, two great barbecue places – go out of business here… and as restaurants close, we see Goodwills and thrift shops and discount retailers going up instead. When there's less money to spend, the retail options have to change.
This community could use those $130 million.
When government spends it for you, sure, it gets spent, but not in your community. And not the way you would have wanted it.
Today's election is an opportunity for the private sector to assert itself over the public sector. It's your chance to ensure that there are local options where your kids can get a part time job to start their careers, and to ensure that there are full time jobs for them when they get out of college.
Today's election is our chance to say YES to the good old-fashioned Protestant Work Ethic, and to say NO to this Obama/Pelosi/Reid world of ever-growing tax-and-spend government, and welfare state programs.
Today is our chance to be Americans… and to make our country America again.
copyright 2016 John F. Di Leo
John F. Di Leo is a Chicagoland-based international trade expert, actor and writer. His columns are frequently found in Illinois Review.
Permission is hereby granted to forward freely, provided it is uncut and the IR URL and byline are included.
