As a businessman whose charitable foundation focuses on rebuilding the U.S. middle class and reshoring domestic manufacturing , I am frustrated by the lack of commonsense leadership found in Washington today. Our country is facing alarming problems that can only be solved with hard work and a dedication to principles.

Unfortunately, Washington has yet to embrace what is needed to turn things around. The good news, however, is that I and many other people understand what’s at stake and are ready to act to restore our nation.

The United States is rapidly approaching an inflection point. In 2022, the federal government outspent revenue by $1.8 trillion. At the same time, America’s trade deficit surged to $1.18 trillion in 2022, leaving us dependent on foreign suppliers such as China for critical goods. The scope of this problem is massive. China currently produces 63% of rare earth minerals and holds 37% of total global reserves. These minerals are critical in manufacturing everything from cellphones and semiconductors to weapons systems. Even more worrisome, 81% of active pharmaceutical ingredients consumed in the U.S. come from our global competitors — a big chunk of that from China.

We didn’t land in this predicament overnight. America’s manufacturing industry has been bleeding for years, seeing steady declines in high-wage operations that have resulted in the loss of more than 5 million jobs in the past 25 years. Debt is growing, revenue is shrinking, production is sputtering, and our citizens are continually being asked to do more with less. Meanwhile, China is growing more aggressive and powerful.

In Washington, too many so-called leaders are addicted to maintaining the status quo, which will get us nothing but worse outcomes, fewer jobs, and more fiscal uncertainty. To turn things around, federal lawmakers ought to follow Florida’s playbook for exiting the Great Recession. We need to invest in economic opportunity and foster job growth, prioritize domestic industries, restore our nation’s ability to produce, and rebuild the middle class.

From 2011 to 2019, Florida experienced an annualized actual gross domestic product growth of 3.3%. This was 38.6% higher than the U.S. average of 2.4% during the same period. This is remarkable considering that in 2010, Florida’s unemployment rate of 10% was 12% higher than the national rate.

This happened in large part because Florida focused on growing its production industries. Between 2011 and 2019, the number of manufacturing employees in Florida grew by 23%, outpacing the national growth rate in this sector by over 147%. Similarly, construction employees in the state grew 68.5%, which was nearly double the rate of construction growth across the nation. Overall, the state added approximately 1.7 million new private-sector jobs in that time, cutting the unemployment rate down to 3.2%, roughly 13% lower than the national rate at that time. Florida’s employment base grew at an annualized growth of 2.22%, which was 48% greater than the U.S. average for those eight years.

Because it saw massive job growth in those years, Florida’s tax revenues grew as well. However, no amount of revenue enhancement can compensate for fiscal irresponsibility. While overspending and out-of-control debt financing have become the norm in Washington, Florida has shown that it is possible to increase revenue while also cutting taxes and paying down debt, so long as the government takes its fiscal management seriously. In the eight years that followed the Great Recession, Florida’s focus on fiscal responsibility helped cut the state debt by more than 40%, outpacing every other state (including Washington, D.C.) in debt reduction over that time. To put that in perspective: During those eight years when Florida cut its debt load by nearly half, the U.S. public debt increased by 37.1%.

Importantly, Florida achieved all of this success while simultaneously improving the everyday lives of Floridians, particularly in the areas of poverty alleviation, crime prevention, and education.

From 2011 to 2019, for example, the percentage of people living below the poverty line decreased by 25.3%. That rate is 12.1% better than the rest of the nation. For black and Hispanic families, poverty declined by 25.9% and 22%, respectively.

Violent crime rates also saw big declines, dropping by 26.5%, which was five times better than the rest of the country. While the nation in general saw increased cases of assault, Florida enjoyed a 25.8% decrease.

In the area of education, Florida went from being ranked 41st in the nation with a graduation rate of 69% in 2011 to ninth with a rate of 86.1%. The state also prohibited tuition increases during this time and earned the honor of being the best state in the nation for higher education by U.S. News and World Report in both 2017 and 2018 — a position it still holds today.

Many Republicans in Washington talk about getting things done. But almost none are willing to say or do what it takes. My advice to these leaders is to turn to a colleague. Go talk to Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) about how Florida turned around under his watch. As our national debt balloons and GDP crumbles, we need leaders such as Scott, who have the commitment and competency to grow our economy, control spending, rebuild the middle class, and improve life for every household in America.

Charles Shor is an American businessman and philanthropist from Cincinnati. He served as the president and CEO of the world's largest paper bag manufacturing company, Duro Bag Manufacturing, from 1987 to 2014.