Written By: Kirk Peterson

TO INSPIRE A NATION

Listening to Paul Ryan speak with his recent vice presidential nomination, I felt compelled to write...

Our nation has endured very hard times recently and needs leadership that is willing to take the right steps to correct our path and bring prosperity back to the American dream and our way of life here in the US. Our choice for candidates for president in the 2012 election can be brought down to two choices: one for setting our great nation down the path towards destruction and one for the promise of hope.

WHY I VOTED FOR BARACK OBAMA

In the 2008 election I chose to vote for President Barack Obama. Given the looming challenges that faced our next president, I felt we needed someone who was a strong leader who could guide our nation back from the economic brink that we were barreling towards. The economic collapse from the financial crisis had already begun its destructive work in our economy, and our country's place in the world had been challenged by the emergence of China as a super-power and the surprisingly increasing negative view of the US abroad.

Seeing Obama take a major chance in bringing his campaign to the foreign stage at a time when he did not even have the democratic nomination locked down, I felt showed something of his character. He inspired crowds to come out and support and cheer his nomination abroad, which further solidified his choice for me. I couldn't have been more wrong.

My conservative republican beliefs naturally had me veer toward McCain. However, as the famous Saturday Night Live skit with some of Will Ferrel's best work as president Bush put it, senator 'McRage' really did give me cause for concern with his aggressive policy on war and foreign policy.



BELIEVING IN LIBERTY AND COUNTRY AGAIN

View Paul Ryan's acceptance speech here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrRBXKgAxSs

When I listen to Paul Ryan speak, I become energized by the hope the Romney/Ryan ticket brings in actually correcting the course of our great nation and the challenges we currently find ourselves in. I feel, just as the Romney/Ryan ticket is currently showing, the two biggest problems we have right now are the economy and the budget. Who better to lead US (like my play on words there) then a champion of the free markets and business to guide us out of the looming darkness of our economy then Mitt Romney? My dad was a very successful businessman, and some of the first conversations I had with him on politics and economics was back in my senior year of high school in the late 1990's. I asked him about the struggling US auto industry and what we could do to recapture the great standard that we use to hold in car manufacturing. He said one of the single greatest problems our nation had was the budget. He said that no business can run very long with the massive amount of debt that we had. So, I asked him what the struggling auto industry should do, and you know what he said? They should cut production all the way down to meet the current demand and clean up their balance sheet to get their debt back in line. Great advice Dad, I see why you were so successful in business.

Paul Ryan's budget plan has seen some major backlash on its aggressive cuts, but the simple fact remains that no country (let alone business) can run very long on the massive amount of debt we have. Something has to be done about our overspending, and I'm more than confident seeing what Paul Ryan has already done in Congress and the type of character he has shown in accepting the nomination for vice president--if anyone can actually make it happen, it's him.


SOCIALISM VS. THE AMERICAN DREAM

Some of you reading this may feel that saying Obama will bring about the destruction of our nation is hyperbole. However, Obama has shown me over and over again during his presidency that his great vision for our country truly is socialism. He proclaims he is for the middle class, but I ask you fellow middle classers, how has his socialistic policies left you these past few years? He slammed down our throats a health care system that overwhelmingly 80% of the country did not want. He championed the greatest number of Americans on welfare in our nations history all the while piling more and more debt upon future generations--at a rate no other US president has. What ever happened to the strong American values our parents' generation had and the promise of the American dream where if you work hard, though life will show you many struggles, you can overcome and succeed?

Recently a doctor I work with challenged me to think about a gaping hole I see in my conservative values. After many discussions on the matter with him, I've come to the conclusion that conservatives really do (for the most part) seem to forget about the poor, even when God's Word tells us we need to take care of them. So what does that mean about conservatives and what can we do about it?

Jesus called out to them, "Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to be fishers of men". (Matthew 4:19, New Living Translation)

God knew there was a greater purpose for Peter and Andrew then commercial fishermen, and promised to show them how to bring people to God. We can take care of the poor, but maybe there is a better way than to simply give them fish when they are hungry. Maybe there is a greater purpose in each and every one of them...

As a nation, I think we can do a better job for the poor. If we focus more on helping these people acquire the skills they need to make it in a world that is getting harder to live in and less on simply giving them the fish they need to fill there bellies, I believe we can make a difference. Recently I heard a commentator speak on this very subject on Fox News and I agree with him. We should focus more of the entitlement programs for the poor on teaching them how to work and succeed in this world then simply handing them things. The human spirit is so much more resilient then we give it credit for, and no matter the circumstances we face, a path to prosperity is always out there.


WHAT CAN CONGRESS DO?

If our country wants to get back that great American dream that our founding fathers built for us, then congress needs only apply one solution. That's right world, I'm going to throw out there the one simple thing our legislative branch needs to do to steer our ship back to prosperity....COMPROMISE.

Somewhere along the line our politicians, chosen by the people to represent us, lost this idea and decided that it is their way or the highway. Well, unfortunately world, not everyone has the same views. Just look how polarized America is these days? In a time when our country is crying out to our leaders to guide us out of the darkness, perhaps the simple idea of comprising and debating the challenges we face can bring solution.


CLOSING

I'm very open to discussing anything any of you have read and would love to hear some of your views. Please post here on my blog or inbox me on facebook.


9 The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, "You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?" 10 Jesus replied, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water."11 "But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket," she said, "and this is a very deep well. Where would you get this living water? 12 And besides, are you greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his cattle enjoyed?" 13 Jesus replied, "People soon become thirsty again after drinking this water. 14But the water I give them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life." (John 4:9-14, New Living Translation)