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Where Have All The Leaders Gone?

Gary Shapiro says it right.  I was feeling the same thing and then I read his article.  I really wanted to post it here because it was such a good read.  So with that go ahead and read and leave a comment below.  It seems like these kinds of thoughts start up around election time:

Growing up, I felt our nation was united by several core beliefs: Opposition tocommunism, pride in our space program and agreement in the greatness and goodness of America. Sadly, today we have a horribly divided country with little that binds us other than history, geography and language.

Todays fractured America is reflected in our political leaders, who are locked in a battle of blame. The Republicans blame big government and high taxes as the source of our problems. The Democrats blame big business and the wealthy as the scourge of the nation.

The intransigence of both sides sheds little light on a solution. The Republicans no tax pledge and the Democrats no entitlements cuts both reflect principled positions but neither will solve our problems. They simply encourage agreements to kick the financial can on to our children.

Leadership is easy when times are good. But times are not good today and they may get worse. The irony is that these are the times when America needs leadership the most, and leadership starts at the top.

President Obama had — and still has — the opportunity to unite the nation. Most Americans want their President to succeed. Unfortunately, over the course of the last year, which has been the most critical moment for the White House, Obama has not stepped up to offer visionary leadership.

On spending, President Obama ignored the bipartisan recommendations of the Simpson-Bowles Deficit Commission, a commission he created. Instead, he bowed to political pressure and cut a deal with Republicans to extend all the Bush tax cuts, thus only adding to our deficit woes. The Supercommittee, charged with providing the leadership on spending the president has all but abdicated, is unlikely to agree to a passable deal. This means that in 2012, the nation will have to confront the brutal prospect of mandatory cuts to defense ($454 billion) and Medicare ($123 billion).

 

 

See the Original Story here