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A strong America means secure borders, free trade, and putting American citizens first when focusing on national security and job creation, according to businessman turned congressional candidate Paul Nehlen.

Best known for his high-profile but unsuccessful primary challenge to House Speaker Paul Ryan in 2016, Nehlen is already running against Ryan in 2018 and is author of the brand new book “Wage the Battle: Putting America First in the Fight to Stop Globalist Politicians and Secure the Borders.”

The book focuses on several major goals, including restoring American sovereignty and reinvigorating American economic nationalism and an America-first foreign policy.

Nehlen has Fortune 500 business experience and points to success in bringing companies to the U.S. from all over the world.  He says America need policies that allow our workers to thrive because he knows they are second to none.

“Hands down, America is number one.  We have got just a fabulous workforce,” said Nehlen.  “There are pockets of great work forces out there.  I worked in Poland a lot.  They’re great.  But there’s nothing the American work forces can’t do, unless they are hamstrung by our government.”

He says convoluted government policies that play favorites in the economy is hurting our competitiveness.

“If, like Speaker Ryan, you try to give certain corporations a leg up on other small and mid-size businesses, you’re really undermining America.  We can’t have a strong military, we can’t have a strong nation unless we have strong trade,” said Nehlen.

Nehlen contends the current structure of our economy is a far cry from what it was intended to be.

“This country wasn’t founded on free trade deals.  This country was founded on protecting our manufacturing base, protecting our natural resources, and tilting the playing field in the favor of our manufacturers.  That’s not what’s happening now,” he said.

Instead, Nehlen says our current course has actually landed us in the midst of economic hostilities with multiple nations.

“We are literally at economic war with countries like China and South Korea and Taiwan, many of whom are manipulating their currency to undermine our ability to do business in the global marketplace.  That has to stop,” said Nehlen.

According to Nehlen, even the recent history of American trade agreements shows the government is choking the freedom out of our trade relationships.

“Back in 1985, we negotiated a free trade agreement with Israel and it was 13 pages long,” said Nehlen.  “Fast forward about 10 years, they passed NAFTA.  It’s 1,700 pages long.  Fast forward another couple decades, the Trans-Pacific Partnership comes along, 5,500 pages.  There is nothing free about trade that is described in 5,500 pages.  It just doesn’t happen.”

Nehlen is thrilled that Trump is more than making good on his pledge to eliminate two regulations for new one placed on the books, operating at a clip of scrapping approximately 16 regulations for every new one.  But he says that success has a lot of people wanting to share the credit, including the Speaker of the House.

“We see Speaker Ryan trying to take credit for that now.  He’s had 18 years in Congress and he’s abdicated his role to the executive branch.  Now he’s trying to take credit for what the executive branch is doing,” said Nehlen.

Congress has yet to approve funds for the construction of a border wall, which was one of President Trump’s most common promises on the campaign trail.  Democrats threatened to shut down the government when a spending bill was approved in April.  Now, reports suggest Republicans are still reluctant to approve the funds.

Nehlen is appalled.

“I’m disgusted with this Congress not voting on the wall and essentially just attaching some spending which will get us about 60 miles of new border fence,” said Nehlen.

“It’s ridiculous.  I’ve been to the border and there are areas of the border where there is – they call it Jurassic Park – the fencing looks like enormous spikes coming up out of concrete.  Adjacent to it is your normal, run of the mill barbed wire, put up by ranchers to keep their steer from going into Mexico because the water is inches deep.  To suggest we’ve got the border secured is absurd,” he said.

 

Getting the wall done is right at the top of an ambitious laundry list that Nehlen hopes to accomplish if elected to Congress.

“One would be to advocate for this wall.  Another would be to advocate for national reciprocity for anybody who has concealed carry.  If you leave your state and go to another state, you shouldn’t have to relinquish the ability to protect yourself,” said Nehlen.

He would also slam on the brakes when it comes to refugee resettlement.

“Nine voluntary organizations – they’re not really voluntary – are getting paid by U.S. taxpayers to move people, predominantly Muslim – 99-plus percent I might add – to the United States.  We are funding our own demise right now.  It has got to stop,” said Nehlen, who also wants Congress to declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization.

“We have got to get the Muslim Brotherhood out of the United States.  We have got to root them out.  That will roll back 60 years of their efforts to undermine the United States from within,” said Nehlen.

One reviewer declared Nehlen’s book a plan of action for Trump-like candidates.  It’s a label Nehlen welcomes.

“I am very flattered by that.  That is exactly why I wrote the book, because we need hundreds of good, righteous candidates who believe in securing the border and putting American workers, American retirees, and American children first,” said Nehlen.