LETTER: Choose wisely when you vote

To the Telegram:

I will admit that Mitt Romney was not my first choice as a presidential candidate. However, the more I have learned about him, the more I like him.

I should have followed my own advice. I have often said it is better to vote for a businessman than a career politician. It is better to have someone who has had to make a payroll and manage a budget over someone who is an expert in spending other people’s money. After all, what businessman would try to spend his way to prosperity?

Someone who has run a business knows there comes a time to cut costs, stop spending and make hard choices. Even a liberal Democrat like Oprah stopped spending and laid workers off when her OWN network had financial difficulties.

Mitt Romney has more business experience of anyone who has applied for the job of president in the last 60 years.

Four years ago, we hired an amateur — so labeled by Bill Clinton. Many were swayed by Obama’s poetic speeches. Hope and change was appealing. But did he deliver?

Oh, we did get change but surely not what we expected. We changed from a debt of $10 trillion to $16 trillion. Median income changed from $54,900 to $50,900. Unemployment changed from 7.3 to 8.6 percent. And gas prices went from $1.85 to $3.89. Yes, we have change but not a lot of hope.

Many thought they would be able to retire soon but now are uncertain. Others in their prime earning years have been laid off and their house is worth less than their mortgage. And then there are those who did everything to get ahead. They studied hard and earned a degree. Now they have a whole lot of debt, no job in their field and are living with their parents.

As Arthur Davis (Democrat turned Republican) said at the Republican National Convention, many have come to realize there is “a difference between celebrity and presidency, between loftiness and leadership.”

And Condoleeza Rice said: “When a country loses control of its finances it eventually loses control of its destiny.”

The importance of this election cannot be overstated. The outcome will determine our well-being at home as well as our standing in the world. If you were the director of human resources interviewing for the position of chief executive officer would you choose the applicant with progressive executive experience or the one who was a community organizer?

It is your choice. Choose wisely.

Sandy Johnson,

Lake Nebagamon

Tags: opinion, letters