On Tuesday at the GOP convention, the “America’s Got Talent” 2012 winner, Neal Boyd, sang Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.,” and the crowd got very excited: suddenly shouts repeating “U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A.,” were heard throughout the Tampa Bay Forum. Boyd made the people forget for a while all the problems the country is facing to concentrate on feeling proud of being an American. After Boyd, the serious talks about how to balance a budget and reduce the deficit continued.

Mia Love, who is running for Utah’s 4th congressional district, also spoke at the convention. She is an African American woman in an election where African Americans and female voters are not big supporters of Mitt Romney. Her task was to prove that being a female African American is compatible with being a hardcore republican.

Sher Valenzuela, small business owner and candidate for lieutenant governor in Delaware, said that 50 percent of small businesses are not hiring because of the excessive government regulations the Obama administration is giving them. She thinks that in order for small businesses to hire again, they have to get the government out of their back.

Governor John Kasich of Ohio also criticized president Obama. He mentioned his own state, Ohio, as an example of how to create jobs and balance the budget without rising taxes. He said that when he took office Ohio was 48th in the country in job creation and had an $8 billion deficit, but now Ohio is fourth in America in job creation and the first in the Midwest. Also, the budget now has a surplus rather than a deficit.

Kasich said he was able to do this by eliminating the programs that were not needed in his opinion, like nursing homes. He said grandparents are a lot happier and healthier in their homes. He also added that he cut taxes so Ohio could be competitive again. Governor Kasich also said that he believe he restored common sense in the regulations, honoring job creation rather than killing it.

Governor Bob McDonnell from Virginia also wanted to prove that Republican Governors are the ones with the solutions to balance the budget and reduce the unemployment rate. He said Republican governors lead seven out of ten states with the lowest unemployment rates and 12 out of 15 best states for doing business. McDonnell said that this proves that conservative fiscal policies do work.

Governor Mary Fallin of Oklahoma also told the story of her state to criticize President Obama; she said the country would overcome the economic problems if the federal government gets out of the way.

Fallin said that in Oklahoma the unemployment rate is 4.9%, and that Obama wants the people to believe that Oklahoma owes the success to the federal government. She on the other hand, believes Oklahoma owes its success to the state entrepreneurs and job creators. She accused President Obama of letting many Americans live with no hope and just change in their pockets; she added that Mitt Romney believes in the power of the people.

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Wisconsin governor Scott Walker conceded that he made a mistake last February in the way he limited collective bargaining power that led to weeks of massive protests in Madison. However, he still defends his policies and believes that ending collective bargaining was somehow a cost-saving measure to the state.

Nationwide, Walker was criticized for trying to end state worker rights. He was also heavily criticized for his bullying tactics that did not allow any debate on the issue, but rather forced the law through.”The mistake I made early on is, I looked at it almost like the head of a small business: identify a problem, identify a solution and go out and do it,” Walker told Reuters at the National Governor’s Association meeting in Salt Lake City.

“I don’t think we built enough of a political case, so we let … the national organizations come in and define the debate while we were busy just getting the job done,” he said.

Walker continues to argue that his extreme policies helped prevent layoffs for state workers, even though restricting collective bargaining has not saved one cent. The political fallout from the controversy is still being felt. Six Republican senators who supported the measure will be forced to defend their seats during a recall election in August. Three Democratic senators are also up for recall. Democrats vow to recall Walker in January after he has served one year in office and will be eligible for recall according to state law.

If Democrats gain just three of the seats at stake in the special summer elections, they will take control of the upper house and have some control at preventing Walker’s draconian slashing measures. But, Republicans will still control the Assembly.

“If the Republican candidates are outspent two to one, it’s pretty difficult,” Walker said of the recall effort.

“Conversely, if things end up being relatively even and the message gets out,” the party will have a better chance of prevailing, he said. Walker said he did not plan to campaign in the contested districts.

Last November, a large majority of states fell to Republican governors who promised to provide jobs to the nation’s long suffering unemployed. However, they have failed to deliver and their approval ratings are plummeting. Walker believes that his poll numbers will improve when voters see improvement in the economy.

But, while Washington fights over the ridiculous debt ceiling and each state is trying to ban abortion and other morality clauses, the unemployment rate stays stagnant. Sorry, Scott but your numbers aren’t going to improve any time soon. Slashing spending throughout the country DOES NOT help jobs.

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