"Good evening, everyone. It’s been a week since I introduced myself to you, seven days filled with rush to grab endorsements first and to tweet quickest. I am incredibly grateful for the support I’ve seen in the polls over this last week; it is clear that my optimism for the future resonates with many of you -- something that pleases me greatly, considering your importance in making that future bright. But all I have given you to earn that support thus far is a positive word or two. But now you will hear what that “path to a great future” really consists of: a major shift in the focus of government. I am not Pangloss, I do not think that we can sit back with the assumption that this is and will remain the best of all worlds regardless of our effort. To make that future shine until we can see our reflection, we will have to put in some elbow grease.

 

There are three areas where America has been hindering the future, areas that must see change: the outdated foreign policy, the under-emphasis on education, and the tuning out of environmental affairs.

 

In 2015, we spent significantly more than half of our entire discretionary budget on the military. We spent nearly triple the entire federal education budget on on maintaining military equipment. More than half of education’s budget went to buying new planes. To what end? Do we need all that to stay leaders on the world stage? Do we need to spend more than the next 7 nations combined to stay safe? Of course not. New technology and world politics have changed the face of warfare, but we have insisted on keeping up the machinery of a different time. Our massive military is vestigial, an appendix -- if only the appendix was 54% of the body. It is time to trim that fat. Changing our military does not mean isolationism -- quite the opposite: in shifting our focus, I will bring America further to the head of the now unignorable global political stage. America’s time as the arsenal of democracy is coming to a close, but it’s time as the voice of democracy is beginning. It is important that America lead the world through negotiation, not coercion.

 

The savings from a more efficient military will enable us to spend more on the things that matter at home. In All The King’s Men, a school is built with rotten bricks by the lowest bidding contractor. We are building our entire education system from the cheapest bricks we can find. If we do not rebuild, one day the fire escape will fall. For America to keep leading the world in innovation, for our children to be globally competitive, no, to be global leaders, we must improve education. We can’t let the achievement gaps between states, and between schools linger any longer -- a boosted federal education budget and a interstate cross-pollination program will help bring the quality across the country up to the standard set by our most successful states. I will move America away from the vicious cycle of defunding and sanctioning low performing schools and toward assisting them. I will keep students happy, engaged and flexible by finding alternatives to standardized testing where possible and improving the tests where they are essential.

 

The new innovation and advancement a well funded education program will foster will do much for the future of America, but I can assure you that innovation and advancement will harder if the next generation must clean up a nearly irreversible mess left by the generation before it. Protecting the environment is protecting every sector of American life. If we are willing to spend so much on steel and hellfire in the name of protection, how can we not be willing to shoulder a smaller burden of renewable development and regulation for the same reason? The burden, after all, would not be undue; an emissions tax would even add blue ink to the ledger, and my planned subsidy for businesses that develop technologies to help the environment would leave industry more modern and more competitive.

 

That is my optimism -- not a belief that it will “turn out fine,” but a conviction that with a little bit of effort and some change, we can make sure it turns out great."

 

 

Works Cited

 

Carroll, Lauren. "Obama: US Spends More on Military than next 8 Nations Combined." Politifact. N.p., 13 Jan. 2016. Web. 07 Dec. 2016. <http://www.politifact.com>.

 

"Fighting for a U.S. Federal Budget That Works for All Americans." National Priorities Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2016. <https://www.nationalpriorities.org>.

 

Gould, Skye, and Jeremy Bender. "Here's How the US Military Spends Its Billions." Business Insider. Business Insider, 29 Aug. 2015. Web. 07 Dec. 2016. <http://www.businessinsider.com>.

 

"The United States Spends More on Defense than the next Seven Counties Combined." Peter G. Peterson Foundation. N.p., Apr. 2016. Web. 7 Dec. 2016. <http://www.pgpf.org>.

 

Warren, Robert Penn. All the Kings Men. Houghton, 1974.

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