Tag: lack of leadership

Where is the American Vision?

The United States provided the motivation to build a trans-continental railroad system.  Then we went on to build the Panama Canal.  We built the U.S. highway system and then went on to build the interstate super highway system.  This is the nation that set the standards for acceptable aircraft safety design that became the standard for the world.  While that was going on we landed a man on the moon (more than once!).  It was American technology that created the computer age and higher productivity for everyone.

Then something happened.  We started fighting among ourselves about how the government should function.  We now argue about private matters relating to abortion, inter-marriage, and other personal behaviors that really are not the responsibility of government.

The president’s vision for America is providing a climate where everyone can succeed.  His opponent vision is “freedom.”  Are those visions for where the nation should go in the decade ahead?  They are not my idea of a “vision.”

I want a vision on the order of JFK’s putting a man on the moon.

The infrastructure on the United States is falling apart.  We are no longer the leading nation in education.  Unemployment is really about 15% of the adult population.  47 million people are on food stamps or other financial aid.  Trade unions are fighting over the remains of government and private enterprise as the middle class of America dissolves.

There is no evidence that either Obama or Romney have the skills to bring this nation together.  Reince Priebus, Chairman of the Republican National Committee,  appearing on This Week on ABC said the GOP Plan Has ‘Specifics Coming Out Of Our Eyeballs’ but the ideas are all about cutting the size of government. The details have never been spelled out.  There is no talk about a vision or a plan to re-build the nation. This feels like we are adrift.  This feels like a ship without a rudder.

How can these two men hold themselves out as worthwhile leaders?  When I vote on November 6, I will stamp the ballot with one hand while holding my nose with the other.

Economy is Job One!

May 4, 2012 Addendum.  The April jobs report confirmed my worst fears.  The U.S. economy added just 115,000 jobs and yet the unemployment rate is down another tenth of a percent to 8.1%.  In other words more people have given up the search.  This is another great day for Mitt  Romney.  Everything I wrote on April 28 remains valid.  The difference  is it has just been reinforced.    

Is the recession over? Not if you are unemployed. Over 12 million Americans are in that status. Most of those people have families that have been impacted. The impact is more likely on three to four times that number. Worse is that the number is not the real number because many more people are no longer counted as unemployed. Most economists add about 50% to the official numbers to reach that real number.

The Obama administration failed to address the primary issue facing the nation. That is the condition of our economy.

Where is the plan to change our course of outsourced jobs? It does not exist.

The latest pieces of economic data support the feeling that the economy is struggling to recover from the Great Recession. New claims for unemployment benefits dropped to 351,000 in the week ending February 11 of this year but have been increasing every week since then with one exception. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2012 grew 2.2% versus a growth of 3% in the last quarter of 2011. The president can’t be held responsible for everything in our economy but there is little he has done or proposed to improve the situation.

 The problem is that Mitt Romney has not enunciated any actions he would take that would change our desperate employment situation. The number of unemployed reached over 14 million people and has now dropped to under 13 million. However the number of long term unemployed has not been significantly reduced and still remains over 5 million people. Obama’s policies did save the country’s auto manufacturers but too many products and services are now provided in other countries.

Americans are the employer of the president. We have the right to expect results. Barack Obama’s four year contract is almost up. Unfortunately the alternate candidate for the job has not told us what he would do to change our economic situation.