Leadership is Elusive

The government is shut down. Health care costs are sky rocketing. Taxes are on the rise. Minorities and women have dropped in income and lost in percentages employed. Food stamp usage is up. Labor Participation is down. Long Term Unemployment is up. Young people have a high unemployment rate and large student loan balances.

There is an argument that the lack of leadership is allowing for a down turn in the life style, education and well-being of Americans. Most Americans are dissatisfied with how the government is run. http://www.gallup.com/poll/165371/americans-satisfaction-gov-drops-new-low.aspx

We need leadership. We are coming to understand, politicians are the last people who can actually provide leadership. Their time line of concern is 2 to 6 years, depending on the time until their next election. The goal of many politicians is to get reelected. We are well past the 1939 ideals presented in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Besides politicians, we have a media consisting of talking heads who believe they fully understand how to govern the most successful country in the history of the world. They are not leaders, they are performers trying to get ratings. The one which truly reflects current thinking was on MSNBC with Chris Hayes. http://redalertpolitics.com/2013/10/10/chris-hayes-on-government-shutdown-its-the-constitutions-faul....

Without real leadership we are left to people like Mr. Hayes and others who believe they can lead us to Utopia based on their beliefs. What these folks fail to realize, most of their ideas have been tried throughout history and have failed. Most are not offering leadership, they are running their mouths about subjects of which they know little.

Ted Cruz stepped in and offered the Republican Party a little leadership dealing with the new health care laws. His reward; attacks by both political parties. Why…because he had the chutzpah to suggest a battle was worth fighting even though the final results were in serious doubt. Senator Cruz choose to ignore that political parties were interested in their own salvation and perks, and not necessarily the American people who sent them to Congress. His attempt to represent the people who sent him to Congress earned him enemies within his own party. As a former military officer, Ted Cruz understands fighting a war often involves pain. He also understands good men have sacrificed themselves many times in our history to protect the American way. Ted Cruz also understood despite being one of the most intelligent people in the Congress, an attorney who has stood before the Supreme Court eleven times, and a man who has worked for this position of leadership, he would be standing alone in his fight to protect the majority of Americans from Obamacare. This is what leadership looks like.

Leadership means taking a stance for a strongly held belief, and then telling the truth. Cruz understood truth is a strong weapon, and he spoke of his desire to defund Obamacare. He said out loud he was willing to shut down the government. He owned his beliefs, and he stood for them.

Contrast Cruz with President Obama. President Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have all said their goal is single payer healthcare. For many of us, that means socialism. If that is their goal, why didn't they introduce that plan? The reason is, the American people would have rejected the idea. So, instead we get deception, and the large expense of making sure the health care law fails, which leads to single payer. Deception is not leadership.

Many people understand a larger, and thus more expensive, government hurts private industry, and lowers the income of the middle class, while dooming the poor to handouts instead of a hand up. Others stand up, and demand more people on food stamps. Others demand unemployment be extended to 99 weeks, and thus degrade the work ethic and skill levels of those out of work. Some suggest expanding welfare programs helps the poor. http://www.mrconservative.com/2013/04/12313-21-statistics-about-the-explosive-growth-of-poverty-unde... http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/81253.html

Spend a few minutes researching the plight of the poor and you will see numbers near those of the 1960’s when President Johnson started The War on Poverty. Much like The War on Drugs, The War on Poverty is a failure.

Senator Cruz already knew being a leader is a lonely job. Leaders are those people who are a little more courageous, a little more focused and often with insights not commonly shared or understood.

Bottom line, this country is seeking leadership. Right now it is not in either political party, nor is the President a leader, given his message of division and class envy. Leaders often take positions unpopular with the masses. Leaders have a longer view than 6 years. Leaders understand not all people grow at the same rate, that some will prosper immediately, while others linger. Leaders understand some will flock toward success while others will need incentives. Leadership is lonely and not for the weak or unsure.

We in America are seeking a true leader, a leader with all Americans in mind, and not someone recycling failed ideas of the past.