If you are a freshman entering the College you may not have heard it yet, but time and time again people say that college students are not politically involved or motivated. Many might believe that students are too busy having a good time to care about the issues of the day.
Well I for one am tired of hearing this empty rhetoric from the liberal establishment that wants to keep the status quo of big government and more taxation spinning.
Nowhere is this more true than in New Jersey. Under almost six years of control by interest-group Democrats whose electoral success comes from political machines that should be as irrelevant as disco but instead suck our tax dollars away, college students have been the big losers in terms of receiving support. At the same time, millions have been redirected into wasteful programs that benefit our current political establishment.
Such programs have led to the abuses of Democratic state senators Wayne Bryant, Sharpe James and Joe Coniglio who are all under indictment or federal investigation. Now these same politicians want to raise the gasoline tax and sell off our toll roads, which means even more out of our young and often lean wallets.
It is time for a sharp and decisive change of course. Much of the last few years have been spent discussing (and usually exaggerating and distorting) shortcomings of the Bush administration, even as Democrats do far worse in governing states like New Jersey. If New Jersey is to remain competitive, we need new leadership that exhibits respect for the free market and stops strangling individual initiative with over-regulation. We also need leaders that will invest in higher education.
Luckily for you, there is a rising alternative to the typical campus politics here at the College. For instance, in the last year the College Republicans have grown and prospered as an organization, and their most crucial role was helping to elect a Republican mayor of Ewing Township after years of rule by tax-and-spend Democrats. Students finally have a Mayor who respects the College. Moreover, they have worked hard to elect Republicans at the state level who fully support public colleges and have brought speakers with the conservative view to campus.
This year, the College Republicans plan to further expand our message on campus with a new organization: Students for Prosperity. Students for Prosperity is dedicated to expanding the opportunity of the free market and making tax-and-spend politicians historical artifacts. Students for Prosperity will be a group full of energy and will have a very affordable and eventful conference scheduled for October in Washington, D.C. featuring great conservative leaders such as presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Ron Paul.
So this year is the year to turn a new leaf. Stop believing you have to put up with giving over half of the money you make to the government and getting absolutely nothing back. Stand tall and proud as a conservative on campus and join the groups that will fight for real change. You will not regret it!
