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Gilmore for America
"Jim Gilmore's 2016 Presidential
Announcement"
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10:47 video from July 30, 2015.
Hello, I’m Jim
Gilmore and today I am announcing my candidacy for the Republican
nomination for President of the United States.
With so many
candidates already in the race some may ask “why am I running?”
That’s a
fair question that deserves a straight answer.
I am a
candidate for president because our current Washington leadership is
guiding
America on a path to decline, and I can reverse that decline.
That current
leadership is damaging our economic and national security to such a
degree,
that for this first time in American history, most Americans
believe their
children will not be better off than they are.
I
have a vision for a different America, one that
will return
America to the policies of a dynamic, entrepreneurial free-market
economy and a
policy of peace-through-strength for our national security.
I have been
looking for someone to enter the race committed to my belief
that
America’s economic and national security is increasingly at risk,
but I have not seen a response from anyone that makes me
certain about their knowledge or solutions to the threats facing
our
nation.
I do not seek
the presidency because I want to be something. I seek it because
I want
to DO something -- for America.
During my
service as an intelligence agent for the U.S. Army during the Cold
War,
during my time as Governor of Virginia – when the Pentagon in my
state was
attacked on 9-11; and during my service as Chairman of the national
commission
that warned before 9-11 about the dangers of domestic attacks on our
nation –
one thing was made very clear to me:
When America
retreats because of weakness and failing leadership, we place our
country and
our citizens in harm’s way because those who would attack us know no
boundaries.
Unfortunately,
the actions – and the lack of actions – of the Obama-Clinton
administration
have put us in exactly this position. Today we live in a
dangerous world that has become more dangerous because of the
Obama-Clinton foreign policy failures.
Our allies
believe they can’t count on us and our adversaries neither fear
nor
respect us.
I believe we
must take immediate action to strengthen our national defense, restore
and
rebuild are armed forces.
While Russia
and China have dramatically increased spending for their armed forces,
the
United States military has had more than $1 trillion
in budget
cuts that have decimated our national defense.
President Obama
has slashed the size of our Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines to
dangerous
levels.
This isn’t the
result of a change in America’s strategies or any recognition of the
evolving
threats we face. Rather, these cuts are being imposed in
disregard of
those threats.
The result is
that much of the defenses we need here at home and through which
we have
helped stabilize the world for 70 years, have been abandoned.
While this
dismantling of America’s military has been occurring, the policies of
President
Obama and Hillary Clinton have shunned our allies and embraced our
adversaries,
recklessly throwing away decades of American generated
stability in the
world.
Russia is
invading and threatening the democratic governments of Eastern Europe
because
of America’s message of weakness and uncertainty.
China hacks the
files of 21 million American citizens with no repercussions.
Now Obama has
made a deal with Iran that fails to stop their support of
terrorism
throughout the Middle East and the world,
insures them billions of
dollars and modern weapons and fails to block their nuclear
program.
For the
security of our nation and the world this agreement must be rejected. I
will do
so if I become president.
Diplomacy is a
vital part of restoring peace and stability in our world. But
successful
diplomacy requires a strong nation and a strong President, someone with
the
strength to walk away from a bad deal.
Ronald Reagan
did that when he refused to sign an arms control agreement with Russia
and
continued the buildup of our military. The result— the
Soviet Union collapsed and
we won the Cold War.
We are not and
should not be the policeman of the world. But, we do have true national
interests and allies around the world who must believe that we will
stand
beside them and help them defend themselves
We must not
make commitments lightly but, danger comes when our President says
there is a
line that can’t be crossed and then we do nothing when it is
crossed.
Candidate
Barack Obama promised “fundamental change.”
I think we can
say President Obama has succeeded. Unfortunately, it is our
adversaries
who have enjoyed the benefits.
Now, his
handpicked successor wants to continue his policies.
We learned
this lesson in the 20th century. The world will not be free
and
successful if America is weak and apologetic.
As
Commander-in-Chief I will ensure the United States reverses the
course of
the past seven years, rebuild our economy, our military and our
place in
the world.
As George
Washington said, “the only sure way of preserving the peace is by
preparing for
war.” Not war but preparedness must become our watchword and that
means
we must reverse the decline caused by the Obama-Clinton
policies.
America’s
national security and America’s economic prosperity are not separate
ideas.
We cannot
achieve national security without economic strength.
Our economy has
been the great engine of freedom not just for us, but for all free
nations for
70 years.
The damage the
Obama-Clinton policies have done to both our national defense and our
economy
must be corrected by policies that are aimed to integrate the recovery
of one
with the other.
Seeing what has
happened at home and abroad as a result of the Obama-Clinton policies,
I hope
every American will ask themselves these questions:
Are you and
your family safer than you were seven years ago? Are you better
off
economically? Is our country on the right track?
For a large
majority of Americans, I believe the answer is “NO”.
The question
then is, what
can we do to change?
I believe we
turn to things that work. I have proposed an economic plan called
the
Growth Code, which you can read on my website,
GilmoreForAmerica.com.
Our program is
a modernized version of the policies that worked for Presidents Kennedy
and
Reagan when they sought to restore Growth to sluggish economies.
A tax cut for
ALL Americans, three simple tax brackets, a 15 percent corporate tax
rate for
all business activity that will make us competitive with our foreign
countries and an elimination of the Death Tax.
These programs worked
before because it placed our economy in the people’s hands, not
the
bureaucrats. If we do the same now, it will work again.
With these
commonsense changes we can put the men and women of America back to
work and
allow our sons and daughters to have the opportunity to have a
better life
than ours.
Simply put, I
believe restoring our national defense, cutting taxes and
limiting
the power of the government will get our nation back on track and begin
the
process of protecting the future of all Americans.
When the
federal government can destroy your business, erode your Second
Amendment rights, threaten your liberty and your security
though
mindless regulations and illegal executive orders, it’s time to
take a new
path.
I’ve come to
this point in my life like millions of you. I am not a
billionaire,
the son of a former president, or a member of the Washington
establishment. My Dad worked at Safeway as a meat
cutter. My
mother was a church secretary. It was in central Virginia,
but it
could have been anywhere in America.
Their goal for
me, like your parents’ goals for you, was that I have a better life
than they
did. Their generation strived and sacrificed so that we could
build on
their success and hand it on to our children.
Our generation
has an obligation to do the same now. We must once again choose
leadership and resolve over weakness and the status quo.
As the Governor
of Virginia, I cut taxes by a billion and a half dollars, created
hundreds of
thousands of jobs, fought to protect gun rights, worked for national
legislation to keep the internet free of taxes, supported our military
men and
women and warned early on about the dangers of terrorism.
Despite all our
current challenges, despite all our current setbacks, we can overcome
them.
If we trust in
ourselves, our capacity for self-government, our ability to
believe in
ourselves, there is no hurdle we can’t overcome.
I am entering
this race today because I have confidence that the experience I have
gained in
this free country can be used to make a difference in the direction of
our
nation and the future of our people.
Please join me
in this campaign by going to my website at
GilmoreforAmerica.com.
Today, I am
ready to engage those uniquely American attributes in
cooperation
with you, my fellow citizens, so together we can build a better
life and a
prosperous future – a safe and protected future – for you, your family
and for
all Americans.
Thank
you. God bless you and God bless America.
Notes: