Eddie Rispone: Louisiana needs a conservative outsider as its Governor

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For eight long years under President Barack Obama, Americans were told that our economy was stagnant. We should not expect any better than two percent growth and that this was just the new normal they’d have to live with. Maybe America’s best days really were behind us.

Then what happened? Americans shocked the system and elected Donald Trump: A businessman, an outsider, and just what America needed. Today have nearly 4 percent growth, and are in the midst of one of the greatest jobs booms since the end of World War II.

What changed? Americans rejected the politicians and the pundits, threw away the same old playbook and elected someone who actually knows about creating jobs. We can use that same kind of leadership in Baton Rouge. That’s why I am running for Governor.

Since January I’ve put over 10,000 miles on my truck traveling to 50 campaign stops across the state. The most frequent question is, “why is Louisiana always ranked last?” Louisiana is ranked 47th in healthcare, 48th in public safety, 49th in education, and dead last in opportunity.

We’re at the bottom of all of the good lists and at the top of too many of the bad ones. Our lawsuit environment is killing jobs. Our citizens are over taxed. Too many of our children are trapped in failing schools.

And we have a career politician in our Governor who has no idea how to get us out of this mess telling us that we should just be OK with being number 49 in everything. Well, guess what? I am not OK with it.

We cannot continue down this path. I’ve had enough.

Louisiana should be the best state in the south for jobs and opportunity. In my over 40 years in business I have traveled across the country and know Louisiana can compete.

We have everything here we need to succeed. We have abundant natural resources, we have a skilled workforce, we have some of the busiest ports in the world, we have a magnificent tourist destination in New Orleans, we have the bountiful Gulf of Mexico, and we have great universities…It’s all here for us to be one of the states that leads America, if we have the right leadership.

If you look around the country you see that voters are turning away from the same old tax and spend career politicians, and turning to leadership–conservative outsiders with serious business backgrounds–to solve the problems left by career politicians.

Doug Ducey in Arizona inherited a $1 billion deficit and balanced the budget in his first year…without raising taxes. Pete Ricketts in Nebraska is breaking state records for new jobs and employment, climbing up the rankings of fastest growing states for tech jobs. And last year, here in our backyard, Tennessee elected CEO Bill Lee, a conservative outsider who ran against two politicians, and pledged to shake up the establishment.

And I don’t need to remind you again who is in the White House.

Voters are not looking for another politician to come in and trim around the edges. They are not looking for someone with the same excuses for not getting it done.

No, the people of our state want a fresh approach. They want someone who will throw out the old rule book and get the job done.

I am blessed to be the co-founder and chairman of a $350 million company that we built from scratch.

Being a successful entrepreneur means that you never rest. You never accept the status quo. It means never accepting failure. You always have to keep striving towards success, no matter how difficult. You’re always challenging yourself and your team. You’re always asking tough questions.

This fall, we need a conservative outsider, not a career politician–someone who can walk into the Governor’s office and reject all of the failed thinking of the past–by both parties. If we want to change our state government, we have to change the kind of leaders we send to Baton Rouge.

I know that if we do that, then Louisiana can lead the nation.

But it starts with an outsider.

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