Students make primary choices (Republican)

By Philip Smith
CHAIRPERSON OF COLLEGE REPUBLICANS

There are three legs of the conservative movement, which unite the Republican Party: fiscal conservatism, government reform and strong family morals and values. When economic, national security and social conservatives unite with discerning moderates and independents, a republican victory is almost assured. Brockport students should vote the GOP throughout the election in November because the republican vision is one for a secure and prosperous future.

The College Republicans as an organization do not officially endorse candidates in contested primaries. However, we encourage all students to do their research and make an informed decision. Every campaign has a Web site with detailed policy positions, videos and candidate backgrounds.
It isn’t enough to “get out and vote.” You have the responsibility to educate yourself and become an informed voter, especially since you will likely be entering the workforce during the next president’s term. This is our country and our leaders.

Fiscal conservatism includes lowering taxes, which serves to stimulate the economy and allows businesses to grow, hire more employees and enables people to advance themselves. Lower taxes lead to higher revenues for both businesses and the common, working class individual. Lowering taxes means that cuts will have to be made in the government’s overall budget, which leads to the second leg of the conservative movement.

Government reform will ensure the future economic success, personal freedom and direct representation of the United States. The government must be smaller and become much more efficient. It should not have its hand in all aspects of the economy, but instead leave areas of the U.S. to Adam Smith’s tried and true invisible hand. The fact is that a free market works better than a planned economy.

It allows businessmen who are professionals in gaining revenue to decide how to build the economy, instead of politicians. In a nutshell, republicans trust people with their money more than they trust an all-powerful government.
On the other hand, other parties are squeezing the hard-working middle class with taxes to pay for bigger government and more socialized welfare. This only discourages the hard workers in trying to make more money (and boost our economy) when they see a significant part of their paycheck is going to other people, instead of into the pocket that sweats for it in the first place. If these parties stay on the same path, people will be considered rich before the tax collector comes, but poor when government entitlements are pushed on them.

While a part of the government’s job is to protect and help the people who cannot help themselves, government aid has enormous overhead and keeps people stuck in lower economic situations.

Republicans believe in the potential of the American people to work hard and improve their lives ­ it has been the standard that has made America great in the past and will continue to make us great long into the future.

Why is it that in the past people our age, in our position, were the first to stand up and voice their opinions on college campuses across the nation? Why is it that history-changing decisions were championed by young educated kids in the past? Why is it that a poll of Brockport students today would result in a large majority of students not even being able to name the top candidates in this coming election, not to mention foreign policy, problems with welfare, radical Islam or other such pressing issues? So, please let’s change this trend and pay attention to what the candidates of all parties stand for … not just the political process-driven reporting of the news media.

We are confident that upon examining the issues and candidates you will come to the conclusion that Republican values are the key to the future success of our country.