When U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson faced off against U.S. Sen.Russ Feingold D-Wis., in a debate last Friday, two tremendously different people emerged. On one hand you have a man who has been in Washington as long as many of us have been alive and who cares deeply about his job. On the other, you have a man who has been working in the private sector his whole life and who cares deeply about the state of Wisconsin. Right now, Wisconsin needs the latter.
Of all the national races this year, the race for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin is perhaps the most remarkable. Just a few months ago it seemed Feingold, recognized nationally as an independent for the left, was getting ready for another six years as Wisconsin's senator. Then, as Americans began to see their nation heading in the wrong direction and their economy failing, a businessman from Oshkosh decided to stand up to the political machine.
When Johnson announced his candidacy last spring, the odds of him winning seemed slim. Challenging a three-term senator and Washington political fixture like Feingold in the past would have seemed an impossible task. Less than a week before the election, however, Johnson stands a good chance of becoming the next senator from Wisconsin. The dramatic transformation is not without reason.
With an uncertain economy and nearly 10 percent unemployment, Wisconsin needs someone who truly understands the economy. Johnson, an entrepreneur and business owner, has practical experience creating jobs in the private sector. He understands that economic growth does not come from a government stimulus check, but rather a small business owner like him. He recognizes that businesses can only grow if they are free of burdensome regulation that any environmental lobbyist or special interest group demands. He knows the importance of not raising taxes in the midst of an economic downturn. That intimate understanding of the private sector is something our country is in desperate need of.
Since you started reading this article, the national debt has increased by $ 2 million. Johnson knows that for too long government has been living well beyond its means. Our national debt is a serious issue as it has reached unsustainable levels. It is our generation that will be working to pay off that debt for the rest of our lives. If we don't do something soon, so will our children and grandchildren.
While Feingold once stood up to Bush-era deficit spending, he has now joined lockstep with his fellow Democrats and voted to add trillions of dollars to our debt. We need people like Johnson who value prudence and fiscal responsibility to reduce our national deficit and restore practicality and responsibility to our nation's fiscal policy.
Finally, Johnson understands that America was founded on the ideas of self-reliance and personal responsibility. While conservatives understand that in a society certain safety nets should be provided for its members, the current culture of entitlement we live in today is untenable. While the left may have had the best intentions when it came to health-care reform, the same federal government that was responsible for bankrupting Social Security is now controlling our healthcare system. Never in the history of our nation has the federal government required its citizens to purchase any good or service to remain law abiding. Johnson appreciates the fact that although we all want to help those who do not have the means to help themselves, that is not the role of the
federal government.
We are at a crossroads with this election. We are at the crossroads of government intrusion and free-market solutions. We are at the crossroads of historic levels of deficit spending and fiscal responsibility. We are at the crossroads of government entitlement and personal responsibility. The choices we have are clear. As students, it is important we vote for the person who will lead us down the right path in these uncertain times. Johnson is the candidate best able to do that.
Matt Payne is a junior majoring in Chinese and economics. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
