“I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That’s how I saw it and see it still . . .” — Former US President Ronald Reagan, 1984

It was with these inspirational words that Ronald Reagan both accepted his nomination as the Republican candidate for President and concluded his farewell speech to the nation in 1989. At the crux of this speech was a definitive description of America, a once shining city on the hill that stood high above all others.

Reagan, likely one of the most prominent, well-respected presidents in recent times, believed strongly in his country and the potential that lay at its foundation. He spoke of a country that embraced commerce and was filled with millions of doors that were unlocked for anyone who wished to open them. This was Reagan’s America; competitive, prosperous and truly a nation that stood independent of all others.

That being said, this description of prosperity and success has begun wavering in recent years. No longer are the United States filled with “commerce and creativity.” Doors that once existed in the millions have since vanished, replaced by an overbearing wall of government bureaucracy and unemployment. The shining city on the hill that once glowed with an enviable beacon of light has since been replaced by a landfill of empty, unfulfilled promises compliments of President Obama’s Democratic Party government.

With unemployment above eight per cent, a downgrading of the US global credit rating, and a debt that continues to grow at an astronomical rate, the America that once prospered under President Reagan is suffering unmistakably under President Obama. An individual who four years ago promised change for the better has done exactly the opposite, leading the country down a path of economic instability.

If the United States continues down their current road they will fall deeper and deeper into a state of irreversible economic turmoil. As the bills continue to pill up, debt servicing is on track to become the biggest department in the United States Government. As the US begins to fall, its most active trading partner Canada, will suffer. American instability is a clear recipe for Canadian instability.

Consequently, all the facts lead directly to one conclusion. Things need to change and the best place to start this change is by American citizens electing Mitt Romney as President. Unlike President Obama, Romney has a wealth of business and job creation experience that dates back nearly four decades. He understands that job creation is not something that comes from government; rather, it comes out of prospering small businesses that are able to hire increasing amounts of workers. He understands that the middle class of America is suffering under president Obama’s high taxes and lack of initiative.

Romney has exactly what it takes to turn the faltering American economy around and return it back to the path of prosperity. At the recent Republican National Convention, he spoke of his five-point plan to return America back to its once enviable position.

Romney and Paul Ryan have a plan of action focused on success. At the center of the current American political landscape lies a critical decision for Americans come November. They will have two distinctly different choices. The first is to continue down the road of instability to an almost certain economic collapse. The second is to return America to its position atop the global economic landscape; to re-open the doors to success and get America back on the road to prosperity. Mitt Romney represents this second choice, and if Americans have the courage to elect him this November, the shining city on the hill with a glow that radiated throughout the world shall be a shining city once more.