On Saturday, voters in Maine will be faced with the question of what comes next for America after Barack Obama. Across the country, the president’s liberal policies have resulted in local economies destroyed and countless jobs lost, including here in Maine, which has been especially hard hit. The cost of health care, education and living expenses are going up, but wages for middle-class families are stagnant.
We have a president who cuts deals with our enemies and betrays our allies. We are more vulnerable than at any time since 9/11, but massive defense cuts signed into law by Obama are threatening our national security.
Our country is terribly divided, except in Washington D.C., where big government colludes with big business and big labor, often at the expense of taxpayers. Look no further than Obamacare or the stimulus bill. Special interests are thriving off the unprecedented size and scope of the federal government, but for millions of hardworking Americans, the American Dream seems more distant than ever.
I’m running for president because America changed the very history of my family, and I want to bring the promise of this country into reach for all. For my parents, America was the one place on earth where the aspirations of a bartender and a maid could be more than just dreams. But my children are inheriting a nation whose very proposition is in doubt. I can’t let that stand.
The policies of the current administration have left us a nation in decline, but we have time to reverse it. We are not a weak country; we just have a weak president. Voters in Maine and around the country have a chance to change that this year.
We need a president who understands the daily struggles everyday Americans face. I know what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck because I’ve done it. Student loan debt in Maine is among the highest in the nation. I know what it’s like to have student loans because I had $100,000 worth just a few years ago.
And I know what it’s like to raise kids in the 21st century, because I’m doing it now with my wife Jeanette and our four children.
For the student taking night classes so they can work two jobs, I will break the higher education cartel and usher in low-cost alternatives to four-year college. For the single mother, I will fight for tax reform that increases the per-child tax credit and boosts take home pay. For the blue-collar worker, I will save Social Security from bankruptcy and eliminate the government burdens that are hurting the ability of American manufacturers to create jobs.
In Maine, 279,000 workers are employed by small businesses, but high taxes and regulations are hurting the ability of our businesses to expand and hire more workers. My tax plan will allow small businesses to immediately write off the cost of new equipment, reduce the tax rate on businesses to 25 percent and enact an annual cap on federal regulations.
For the men and women risking their lives to keep our nation safe, I will make the solemn promise that they will always be equipped with the resources needed for success. And for our veterans, including the 127,000 in Maine alone, I will fight every day to make sure the VA is accountable and that patients have the flexibility to get the care they deserve.
We cannot afford to elect Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, because America cannot afford another four years like the last seven. And we cannot settle for just any Republican, because this election is not just a choice between two parties. It is a generational choice about our identity as a nation.
We did not become an exceptional nation by accident. For over two centuries, each generation before us did what they needed to do to make this the greatest nation on Earth. Now, the time has come for us to do our part.
If you elect me, we will return to the principles that made America exceptional. We will not only unite the Republican Party, we will grow it. We will not only save the American Dream, we will expand it to reach more people than ever before. And the 21st century will not just be as good as the 20th century. It will be better. It will be a New American Century. I ask for your vote Saturday.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida is a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.