LETTER TO THE EDITOR: We own it

Over 30 years ago, I was a Democrat that voted for Ronald Reagan twice, like a lot of my conservative family and friends. Life was good. I owned and operated an agricultural business consisting of an over-the-road trucking company, poultry operation, grain and vegetable farm that grossed almost a million dollars annually. Through the years- I became involved in the Western Democratic Party as a 40th District committeewoman volunteering my time going door to door for candidates and working the polls. I would discover this was not the party for me, and I had to change course. A Republican friend of mine in 1994 would ask me, “Will you help me with my campaign to run for Attorney General?” My friendship with her means a lot to me, so, it was easy to say “Yes.” I resigned my post as 40th District committeewoman and registered as a Republican. In 1994, I learned from grass-roots up how to operate and manage within a winning campaign, formulating logic and strategy. After the campaign, I took a position within the Attorney General’s office. After a few months, I was hired by the Delaware State Police. I knew from that moment I wanted nothing more but to serve and protect the citizens of Delaware in every capacity as a public servant. After over a decade of working patrol assignments in our communities throughout Delaware, in 2007, I was awarded the prestigious Governor’s Excellent Performance Award for outstanding criminal investigations and fugitive apprehensions by Democratic Gov. Ruth Ann Minner. In 2008, I was retired due to a hearing impairment found in a routine physical exam. I have to be truthful, not being able to work in our communities serving and protecting the citizens of our state literally broke my heart. I know God has a plan for all of us. God gives us the power to make our lives matter, and I would have to start my mission to enhance the lives of Delawareans sooner than expected. Nothing much has changed, as far as political strategies are concerned, from 1994 to 2016. It just takes hard work, discipline and perseverance to win. I believe the political issues confronting us today have crossed party lines. I traveled the entire state of Delaware in the past 20 years talking to people, regardless of their party affiliation, and they all say the same thing. They don’t have a job or they don’t make enough money to pay their bills and give their family the necessities of life. Under this present administration, I don’t think prosperity is something on which we can base our hopes for the future. The total inflation-adjusted output of goods and services in Delaware rose a mere 0.6 percent over the past 10 years. This contrasts to 8.2 percent in Pennsylvania, 16.6 percent in New York, 34.3 percent in Texas, and 12.1 percent across the nation. During the past 30 years, state tax revenue in Delaware has held steady at 5.5 percent of the state’s total output. Obviously, the state government’s current fiscal crunch will not be relieved without renewed growth in Delaware’s output. The smart move is a recovery of Delaware manufacturing. But without a Delaware right-to-work law and with among the highest industrial electricity rates in the nation due to the half-a-billion-dollar Bloom subsidy and participation in a regional cap-and-trade system, the outlook for Delaware manufacturing is limited, at best. For five decades, our government sought to solve the problem of unemployment through social support and government planning, and the more the plans fail, the more the government plans. After trillions of dollars have been spent, poverty and juvenile delinquency haven’t disappeared. If anything, it has only altered human behavior, where people, generation after generation, have become dependent on government assistance instead of seeking a better life through education and hard work. Who wants to work when they can get free money, free food, free housing and free health care? Thank you, Democratic President Lyndon Baines Johnson – since 1965, nearly 50 years of your “war on poverty” social-support legislation, we have all seen that buying votes has finally financially bankrupted nearly every state and the nation as a whole. And of course, our liberal friends find nothing wrong with this practice, regardless of its consequences. The time has come to take the bull by the horns and reduce social support and send people that are capable of working back into the job market. If you can’t find a job, then, create a job: be the next entrepreneur and start a new small business. Many people haven’t tapped into their own talents to take care of themselves unless forced to. Well, as they say, let the force be with you! Under my administration, people that put together a viable business plan can apply for a small grant or a low-interest SBA loan to help them get started through the Department of Economic Development. This move will solve a large number of Delaware’s financial problems. We have to be realistic: our state is broke. I will make the necessary decisions to attack Delaware’s problems with sound solutions. Education reform will be one of my priorities as governor of Delaware. Teachers should be able to speak about their concerns, suggestions, and opinions to enhance public education without fear of losing their jobs. Who knows better in educating our youth than the very people who live and work within their communities and districts? Delaware’s educational system should be governed by the districts, parents and teachers, not by the state or federal governments. Like Ronald Reagan quoted, the most terrifying words in the English language are: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” The less government intrusion in our lives, the better off We The People are. Our Delaware delegation of Carper, Coons and Carney (announced governor candidate) for the past seven years have voted along their party’s lines, supporting President Obama’s disastrous domestic and foreign policies, regardless of their constituents’ opinions, just to buy votes. They, all three, voted for the recent Iran nuclear deal, knowing and admitting it had a number of flaws that were not beneficial to America. We know from the past that a mighty military promotes peace through strength. They have all contributed to America’s weaknesses here at home and abroad. It is essential that the citizens of Delaware vote out and retire Delaware’s political officials in the coming elections to restore and rebuild America’s credibility as the most-powerful nation in the world. You have to question their abilities to make a rational decision regarding our national security. Why would any sane person holding an elective office vote for a flawed agreement that doesn’t benefit America? And Congressman John Carney wants to run for governor of Delaware? What has he done in the past 16 years to benefit Delaware and the United States? What have I been saying? You get what you vote for by voting for the same career politicians. I can only presume, under the Carney administration, it will be business as usual. If you want higher taxes, uncontrollable and frivolous spending, socialistic progressive liberal ideology, ineffective problem-solving and conflict-resolution, as well as non-efficient and not-cost-effective windmill turbines in the Delaware River chopping up migratory birds, then, John Carney is your man. There are many issues in the coming election; do we believe in our capacity for self-government or abandon the American Revolution and admit that a small intellectual elite in Dover and Washington, D.C., can plan our lives for us better than we can plan ourselves? For the past 20 years, we have been electing candidates based on popularity contests. Career politicians have been rotating elective offices like musical chairs, only enhancing their own financial portfolios. Democratic Gov. Markell is an example. A self-proclaimed financial guru as Delaware’s former treasurer, in the past eight years, he has really shown the citizens of Delaware what kind of guru he is. Delaware is first with Wilmington as the crime capital, and everything else (education, fiscal responsibility, economy, jobs, etc.), nearly at the bottom. Gov. Markell’s claim to fame is Delaware is third as a bike-friendly state. I ask you, “Who, on the bottom of the list, do people distrust?” Politicians, lawyers and salesmen. Some candidates are at least one, if not all three. We have a phenomenal chance in 2016 to turn this train wreck around. Let’s not blow it! Here is a novel idea: how about electing a citizen candidate who is trained, skilled, and experienced in operating a small business, problem-solving, conflict-resolution, negotiations and public service throughout our communities to represent Delaware? That’s why I am running for governor of Delaware in 2016. I have the lifelong experience and knowledge to restore Delaware to its First State status. I think the time has come to ask ourselves if we still know the freedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers. Get involved, if not for yourselves, but for the sake of your children’s and grandchildren’s future. Vote for me, Lacey Lafferty, for Governor of Delaware in 2016. We have to preserve, protect and defend our state, our nation and our legacy, leaving future generations a solid foundation and core fundamentals of Patriotism, Principles and Prosperity. After all, WE OWN IT. God bless you and your families, God bless our state and God bless America.

Lacey Lafferty Laurel