Barack Obama was reelected in a landslide last Tuesday. I supported Mitt Romney and was very disappointed when he lost. Simply stated, there were not enough conservative voters for Romney to win. Young people, women, and minorities thronged to vote for President Obama. I am very concerned about the state of our union and the effect of another four years with a socialist President leading our country. Our economy was destroyed in the recession and we are just starting down the road to recovery. Economic growth is at a one percent annual rate that is not enough to create the jobs needed to put our country back to work. In order to ensure that those who are between positions and those where entering the workforce for the first time have the jobs they need, our economic growth rate needs to be in the four to five percent range, not a piddly one percent.

There is no way that the Obama administration can lead us back to prosperity. I am very concerned that our country is entering into a downward spiral. It is possible that society could break down as more businesses go bankrupt and people are thrown out of work. I'm also worried that we could see some racial stress as the economy worsens.President Obama now has four more years to redistribute our wealth and turn America into a socialist nation. The administration is looking at alternatives to limit our Second Amendment rights. There is talk that the Environmental Protection Agency may declare lead bullets a hazardous substance and ban them. "Yes you can have a gun, but no, you can't buy any bullets." Once the civilian population is stripped of their ability to defend themselves, they could be at the mercy of roving gangs intent on robbing our citizens and looting our communities.As I see it, those of us who have worked hard and saved money will become economic prisoners of the federal government. Our assets will be confiscated through excessive taxation and redistributed to the masses. We will be left with nothing but social security or welfare. Meanwhile the recipients of our assets will squander their benefit checks on frivolous things like 72-inch televisions, drugs and gambling.Our only hope is that the House of Representatives has a Republican majority. John Boehner will again be the majority leader. It will be up to him to stand against the Obama administration to protect our rights and our property. After the election results were known, Boehner publicly stated that he is willing to compromise with the President to avoid gridlock. Compromise is the wrong way to go with a President intent on destroying the American way of life. Mr. Boehner must work hard to ensure that there is a budget and that the administration sticks to the budget. For the next two years he must hold Obama's hand to the fire so that spending can be controlled as our representatives work towards a balanced budget.Yes we need a budget! It is been almost 4 years since the last one. Without a budget, the administration and the federal government were able to squander our tax dollars and increase our debt to over $16 trillion. To win their vote, President Obama gave the lower classes a lot of "free stuff". It is time to cancel the free ride and encourage everyone to work hard so they can pay their own way.This election was Romney's to win or lose. His inability to motivate the voters was the main reason he lost. The Republican Party selected him because he was a loyal party member and had executive experience. They could dress him up pretty, have him mouth platitudes, but they could not make him appealing to young people, minorities and many women voters. It is clear to me that the Republican Party needs to be reconstituted from the ground up! There is very little differentiation between the Republicans and the Democrats. Now is the time to start work on a new platform, one that can ensure a Republican President in 2016.The Republican Party needs to swing further to the right. They need to emphasize that they support the principles of our founding fathers and their constitutional rights and freedoms. They need to stand for the people to create an environment where businesses can grow, jobs are created and unemployment will drop below four percent. The Republicans need a step-by-step plan to restore conservative principles to government and a timeline to implement the plan. Most importantly, they need to demonstrate that they have a slate of candidates with the skills necessary to restore America to greatness again.They need to offer voters a government that will implement real change and improve the lives of our citizens. They also have to offer us hope that our future is better than our past and that our children will be better off than we are. Gosh, real hope and change! Not the hope and change that was promised by President Obama and never delivered, but hope and change that will restore our country to prosperity.The Republicans need to create an environment that supports strong economic growth and job creation. They need to identify specific actions that will encourage businesses to expand here in the United States of America. They also need to encourage businesses to repatriate their hoards of overseas cash, which exceeds $1 trillion. This money should be repatriated tax-free if the money is used to build infrastructure and create jobs in America. This would give businesses the incentive needed to launch our country to a new level of prosperity. In 2005 a similar program was tried. Corporations repatriated over $300 billion and were taxed at a special 5 _ percent rate. Unfortunately, the majority of this money was not used to create jobs or build new factories, rather it was returned to shareholders. By tying tax breaks for repatriated funds to investment in our country, we can improve over the 2005 plan while repatriating badly needed capital.Once the Republicans create a viable platform that can restore American prosperity, they should start a grassroots effort to promote conservative values. Over the next 4 years, they should publicize their efforts and hold meetings in every electoral district. They can link up with the Tea Party or other conservative organizations where it is mutually beneficial to do so. If we are to elect a Republican President in 2016, the Party needs to change and they need to start now. They can't wait to 2014 or 2015 and expect to win at the polls. If the Republican Party remains on its present path, 2016 will be a disaster. Instead of losing by 100 electoral votes, they will lose by 150 or 200 electoral votes. The Republican Party is at a crossroads! They must make dramatic changes or they will become irrelevant, creating a vacuum that the Libertarian Party may be able to fill.