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Enough About the Reflecting Pool · Commentary - TJ Meadows

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: America is hurting. The evidence is everywhere. If you're willing
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  Speaker 1: to look, open Google and you'll find no shortage of
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  Speaker 1: troubling statistics. The national debt now exceeds thirty nine trillion
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: dollars and is racing toward forty trillion. Population growth has
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  Speaker 1: slowed dramatically. Americans are marrying later and having fewer children.
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  Speaker 1: Nearly forty percent of births occur outside marriage. Obesity rates
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  Speaker 1: remain among the highest in the developed world. Anxiety and
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  Speaker 1: depression continue to rise. Tens of millions of adults struggle
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: with basic reading skills. Employers complain they can't find workers
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: with fundamental math and literacy skills. Ventanyl continues to devastate communities.
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  Speaker 1: Homicide rates remain elevated compared to many peer nations. Civic
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  Speaker 1: knowledge is alarmingly weak, and labor force participation among prime
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  Speaker 1: age men has fallen significantly from where it stood a
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  Speaker 1: generation ago. Here in West Virginia, workforce participation remains among
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  Speaker 1: the lowest in the country. The point is simple. America
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  Speaker 1: faces serious challenges. Then add growing instability overseas, conflict involving Iran,
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  Speaker 1: and mounting global uncertainty, America is still a great nation,
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  Speaker 1: a nation worthy of pride, gratitude, and admiration. But greatness
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  Speaker 1: isn't permanent. It requires maintenance, It requires leadership, It requires
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  Speaker 1: attention to the things that matter most. Which brings me
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  Speaker 1: to the reflecting pool. The average American does not care
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  Speaker 1: about the reflecting pool, mister President, not right now. Fix it,
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: don't fix it, make it blue green, do whatever you want.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: People have bigger concerns. This isn't really about a reflecting pool.
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  Speaker 1: It's about priorities. Reflecting pools are designed to create solemnity,
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  Speaker 1: to draw attention to what they reflect. They're not supposed
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  Speaker 1: to become the main attraction. Yet we've heard more discussion
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  Speaker 1: about a reflecting poll than many of the problems weighing
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  Speaker 1: on American families every day, those problems I just mentioned.
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  Speaker 1: The president can't solve every problem, no one expects that.
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  Speaker 1: But presidents do set priorities. They tell the country what
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  Speaker 1: deserves its attention. And if you want to make America stronger,
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  Speaker 1: there's no shortage of worthy projects. Strengthen families, improve education,
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  Speaker 1: increase workforce participation, fight addiction, restore civic literacy, address the debt.
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  Speaker 1: My vote, start with the debt, because right now America's
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  Speaker 1: reflection isn't what concerns most Americans. It's America's direction.