WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 03: U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up to members of the news media before boarding Marine One and departing the White House February 3, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump is traveling to Palm Beach, Florida, to spend the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago Club. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

I’ve been a Democrat my entire life. And yes, I voted for Donald Trump. I’m sure a bunch of you are considering turning to the next page. But I really hope you hang with me for just a few more paragraphs to explain.

I am not a genius by any stretch of the imagination; I have plenty of friends who continually enjoy reminding me of this fact. But I think God blessed me with lots of common sense.

Was Trump my first choice? No way. Not even close.  My second, third or fourth? You can keep counting. Do I think Trump is full of himself? A big yes. Is he arrogant? Another big yes. Does he have a lot of “uninspiring qualities”? Yep!

So what was I thinking?

It all came down to one very important question for me: what kind of country are we leaving behind for our kids? The United States isn’t perfect, but at least we try to be. Most of us have good intentions, including our politicians. But as we know, they aren’t perfect either. So what kind of decisions are our leaders making that will enable us to leave behind a better country than our generation started with?

We’ve all heard the phrase, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  We need to ask ourselves, what happened to the great civilizations of the past? They all rose to their splendor and disappeared for the same reasons. I think our United States is the great civilization of our time. But if you spend a few minutes to think about it, we’re following the same exact formula that could very well lead to our demise.

These great civilizations became dominant and took care of their citizens. Eventually, their dominance led to self-satisfaction, a status quo and sitting back on their laurels, otherwise known as complacency. This led to excessive self-indulgence and laziness. Because of this excessive self-indulgence, these civilizations began to over-tax their citizens. This led to protests, revolts and civil wars. When there was nothing left to tax, these civilizations cut back on their military and stopped paying their soldiers, which resulted with all of them perishing.

Aren’t we following the same path? Our national debt is beyond the moon! About $20 trillion, according to justfacts.com, and getting worse every day. This means our government continually spends more than our tax revenue can keep up with. If the U.S. were a company, it would have gone out of business a long time ago. But since we’re not a business, our debt continues to grow. And who do you think is going to have to pay for it?

Our trade deficit is just as bad. In Jan. 2017, our trade deficit was $48.5 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which means we bought more in goods from foreign countries than they bought from us. This means foreign countries need to hire more employees, while we need less.

And here’s a really big one that worries me the most: in 2013, 40 percent of Americans didn’t pay any federal income tax, and only four years later that number is now over 45 percent, according to Forbes.com. And the number of American taxpayers continues to get smaller every year! So where are we headed?

My common sense made me realize that the “Inside the Washington Beltway” people have no idea how to control themselves. So why would I vote for more of the same?

Yes, we have other problems, but they can’t be resolved if we don’t exist. And I hate to think of what this world would look like without the U.S., and more so what our kids are going to encounter. Most likely a problem they can’t solve.

So I voted for a businessman — and an arrogant one at that!

A former businessman with an extensive background in community service, Charlie Levine is founder and executive director of the Team Up For 1 Foundation, a nonprofit that connects children with challenges to the experience of team sports. He is also former executive director of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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