Small businesses are the foundation of our nation's economy. They employ about half of all private-sector employees, and they create nearly two-thirds of all new jobs.
But small businesses and entrepreneurs are suffering in the Obama economy. And they're starving for new leadership in the White House that will give them the freedom they need to do what they do best: grow and hire more workers.
They haven't had that leadership for the last four years. President Obama's policies have devastated small-business owners and entrepreneurs since he took office. Those policies have driven up the cost of doing business in the United States. Obamacare has caused health insurance costs to rise, while plunging our businesspeople into regulatory uncertainty. The next four years promise even worse to come, with the president's threatened tax subjecting 2.1 million business owners to higher taxes and jeopardizing 710,000 jobs.
If his policies weren't bad enough, President Obama's insulting "you didn't build that - somebody else made that happen" comments only further underscore that he doesn't know the first thing about how the economy works or how to create jobs in the real world.
This should be especially concerning for our nation's 7.8 million women business owners, more than three-quarters of a million of whom are Latina.
Given how disastrous his policies have been during his first term in office, it's no wonder President Obama and his allies have been doing everything possible to distract Latinas from the issues that matter most to us: jobs and the economy.
During the most recent presidential debate, for example, President Obama referenced birth control and abortion - but never talked about the 451,000 more women who are unemployed today than when he took office. Under President Obama, the unemployment rate for women has increased from 7.0 percent to 7.5 percent, and 5.5 million women are now unemployed. The unemployment rate for Hispanics is even higher and has hovered around 10 percent for 45 months; more than 2.4 million Latinos are out of work.
No wonder President Obama didn't discuss these topics during the town hall debate in New York.
This may be the best President Obama can do, but it's not the best America can do. I know because I've had the opportunity to live the American dream. I was born to first-generation Mexican-American parents, and I started my career at UPS in 1976 as a part-time clerk. Through hard work and determination, I was able to work my way up the ladder to vice president of the company's air operations.
But given President Obama's disastrous economic policies, I fear my grandchildren and great grandchildren won't have the same opportunities I've had in my life.
Our country deserves better. We can do better. Mitt Romney will deliver better.
Mitt Romney's public- and private-sector experience make him uniquely qualified to address the massive challenges facing our nation right now. He knows firsthand how to create jobs, having overseen the creation of tens of thousands of them, both during his term as governor of Massachusetts, when the state's unemployment rate dropped below 5 percent, and while working at Bain Capital, when the company helped launch or rebuild hundreds of companies.
This election presents a critical choice between two different visions for our nation's future. Its outcome will determine how we will address the challenges we face, whether we continue to follow the failed policies of the past, or whether we embrace a prosperous future. Mitt Romney is the leader small businesses need fighting for us, and that's the reason we must stand with him this November.