Donald Trump for President

This presidential election has been one for the record books. I’ve heard from both Democrats and Republicans who are not voting because they dislike their nominee.

There are Democrats voting for Donald Trump and Republicans voting for Hillary Clinton. Also, don’t forget about those voting for third-party candidates and write-ins.

The fact is, there are only two individuals who have a chance at becoming the next president of the United States — Trump and Clinton.

I believe Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, the Republican vice presidential candidate, said it best, “This election is not so much a choice between two people. It’s really a choice between two futures.” Indeed. One of these two individuals will choose the next Supreme Court justice or justices. These choices will change America for a generation or more.

Even more important than the Supreme Court are the Federal Courts of Appeals. The Federal Court of Appeals, sitting in 13 circuits, hold tremendous power in deciding cases that affect the rights of all Americans.

The Supreme Court hears approximately 80 cases each year; the justices decide an additional 50 without hearing arguments. The federal appellate courts hear nearly 28,000 cases per year.

Nearly all appellate court decisions are final because the Supreme Court declines to accept review of more than 99 percent of the cases appealed to them. Given this fact, I cannot fathom what four or eight years of a President Clinton would leave us with. The ramifications of these appointments would be devastating.

Do we want social activists on the Supreme Court and appellate courts as Secretary Clinton has promised or do we want strict constitutionalists as Donald Trump has promised? In my view, we need judges who interpret the law, not judges who rewrite the law.

Next on my list of reasons to reject Secretary Clinton is the economy. Do we choose a career politician or a man who has started businesses, created jobs and built wealth his entire adult life?

Clinton has promised that she will raise taxes on the “wealthy.” Most of those “wealthy” individuals are actually small-business owners who would be adversely affected by this tax increase. Secretary Clinton has not lived in the real world for more than 30 years. Otherwise, she might understand this.

In fact she has lived off the taxpayers nearly half of her life and yet she wants for nothing. Her net worth, not including her husband's, is just more than $31 million. To put that in perspective, her net worth is 459 times larger than the average American household’s net worth.

I don’t have a problem with wealthy people. I am not jealous of their success. I love America and the promise of a brighter future for those who work hard. Trump built his wealth by playing by the established rules, not by playing the taxpayers.

Next is honesty, or the lack thereof. Secretary Clinton has a serious problem with the truth.

Does anyone remember her claim to be dead broke after leaving the White House? What about the fake sniper fire incident? Being named after Sir Edmund Hillary? Blaming the Benghazi attack on a video? And let’s not forget about the email server.

I have heard many say, “I will vote my conscience.” Very well. That is your choice and I hope you get it correct. But like it or not, when we wake up on Nov. 9, either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton will be declared the winner of this crazy election.

For the future of our Republic, I pray it’s not Hillary Clinton.

Lee Mills is chairman of the Shelby County Republican Party.