Gersch Speech & Transcript
Good afternoon. America is at a crossroads. We are more divided than ever. We have no need for anymore Trumpian demagogues. Now is a time for solidarity and resolve, a time to get back to the principles this great nation was founded upon. Values like freedom, service, and hard work have been replaced by government constraints, blatant partisanship, and apathy. Our country has a choice to make. Do we want an overly involved government, or one that is there to give each and every citizen a chance to succeed.
America is the land of freedom and opportunity. Freedom is the absence of constraints, and I speak not in the sense of one’s ability to travel and buy goods as one pleases, but in the sense of truly feeling in control of one’s destiny. Some of my opponents want to increase the constraints on the people, regardless of what terms they use to disguise their true intents. Opportunity is a fair chance for success. We do have opportunity in America, there’s just not enough opportunities, and, namely, not enough good opportunities. For hundreds of years people have come to this country to seek out the American dream, but over time, that dream has been lost. Today, according to a study done by CNBC, less than 20% of Americans think that they’re living the American dream. In my life I’ve had the chance to live out my American dream. I want to help you live yours.
When I take office I will do my best to ensure every American, regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation has an equal opportunity for success. What I will not do, is attempt to create an equality of outcome. People must succeed or fail on their own merits, without hindrance from the government.
What I believe to be the greatest burden the government currently places on Americans is excessively high taxes. In a free market society money should belong to those who work for it. To balance out my proposed tax cuts, I will also cut government spending on frivolous public programs and pork barrel legislation.
One area where we must continue to invest in, however, is our national defense. The safety of our country is my foremost concern, and I will do everything in my power to ensure the safety of our people. Our troops in the field need to be given greater autonomy and the ability to make unilateral decisions–not everything needs to be run back to politicians in Washington.
Our armed forces need to be flexible and efficient, ready to strike anywhere and anytime. To achieve that end we must dedicate ourselves to forming a combat-ready, 21st century military. Battles are no longer being fought with whole tank divisions and hundreds of thousands of troops; they are being fought by the men and women who live in the shadows and do the work our government can’t talk about. We don’t hear much about their successes, only their failures, but every day they work to keep us safe.
These gallant men and women need to be championed with greater sovereignty from the government as we place our faith back in the American people. When I take office I plan to readdress the role our government plays in the lives of the average American citizen. There was a time when the government was there to help the people, to protect the people, to serve the people. Now all I see is greed. Greedy politicians trying to starve hardworking Americans of their well earned income, greedy bureaucrats trying to punish businesses for their success, greedy congressmen and women serving generous donors instead of their constituents. Some of my opponents want to continue this trend. They want to bleed you dry with high taxes, they want to surround you with red tape, they want to tell you where to get your healthcare. In short, they want strip Americans of their enumerated freedoms for greater government control. As Thomas Jefferson once said, “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have.” When I’m elected I’ll take the government off your back and out of your pocket.