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U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright: Hillary Clinton has substance, temperament to lead our nation

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Beyond the Byline: Conquering a Spartan Race

<p>During his first campaign for president, Barack Obama promised the American people &#8220;hope&#8221; and &#8220;change.&#8221; Yet, for the past eight years, our government has largely served the interests of everyone except the American worker and family. The Obama-Clinton administration has given us excessive government regulations, rising health care costs, stagnate job growth, weakened national security, and a depleted military.</p><p>During the first presidential debate this week with Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton made clear that, if elected president, she would offer more of these same failed policies.</p><p>Clinton repeatedly reinforced why her more than 30-year record in politics and stale policy proposals should disqualify her from serving as our next commander-in-chief. On both the economy and national security, the former secretary of state repeatedly took ownership of Obama&#8217;s failed policies.</p><p>Clinton talked a lot about creating jobs, something she has hardly any experience doing. Clinton has been a politician her entire life. Politicians do not create jobs; at best, they can create an environment in which businesses can grow and hire employees. The policies she is proposing &#8211; higher taxes, more regulations, and amnesty for illegal immigrants &#8211; would reduce the availability of family-sustaining jobs for American workers.</p><p>In fact, only one candidate running for president &#8211; Donald Trump &#8211; has a record of creating thousands of jobs. He understands how excessive government regulations passed down by unelected bureaucrats in Washington harm small businesses and impede job growth. That&#8217;s why he would place a moratorium on all new federal regulations to give our American companies the certainty they need to reinvest in our communities, hire American workers, and allow businesses to expand. Under a Trump administration, we will no longer regulate away our companies and our jobs.</p><p>When Mary Grace and I were growing our line-painting business, we experienced how dysfunctional politicians and excessive government regulations can harm the bottom line. We also learned that it is much easier to talk about creating jobs than it is to actually create them. My parents used to tell me to pray when I woke up in the morning and before I went to bed at night. What they forgot to tell me was that, if you own your own business, you should pray on your way to the post office that a check is waiting in the mailbox so you can make payroll.</p><p>Our government should not punish the entrepreneurial spirit by making small business owners navigate costly red tape and high taxes.</p><p>I ran for office to make government run more like a business. It&#8217;s time we elect a president who knows how to do that.</p><p>While Clinton lacks a record of creating jobs, she has a long and concerning history of making us less safe. Her tenure as secretary of state was marked by a series of national security fiascoes, from the Benghazi attack that led to the death of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, to her private email server which left vulnerable our nation&#8217;s most precious national security secrets.</p><p>Too often under the Obama-Clinton administration, our country has gone easy on terror-sponsoring nations in hopes that they would improve their behavior on their own. Take, for instance, President Obama&#8217;s recent veto of a bill allowing victims of terrorist attacks to bring civil lawsuits against foreign states and individuals who sponsor, aid, or abet acts of terrorism on American soil. I voted to override the president&#8217;s veto, sending a message to the administration and terror-sponsoring foreign nations that the strategy of coddling bad actors has passed.</p><p>Yet, amazingly, Clinton on Monday attempted to defend her role in devising the disastrous Iran Deal &#8211; perhaps the low watermark of the Obama-Clinton foreign policy. Clinton called her efforts to award Iran, the world&#8217;s largest state-sponsor of terrorism, with $150 billion and a 10-year path to nuclear capability &#8220;diplomacy,&#8221; &#8220;coalition building,&#8221; and &#8220;working with other nations.&#8221;</p><p>Trump has made reversing the Iran Deal and reinstating sanctions a top priority.</p><p>If our nation is going to reverse the devastating policies of the last past eight years and reinstate our place as a leader in the world, we must make electing Donald Trump a top priority.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Lou Barletta</p><p>Guest columnist</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Lou Barletta, a Republican, is a U.S. congressman serving the 11th District, which includes portions of Luzerne County. He lives in Hazleton.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta: Elect Donald Trump to end decades of failed policies