Before anyone wonders whether I know all the answers to those questions, the answer is yes and no. The simpler questions have standard answers, but some questions invite a wide divergence of opinion in response. The questions I pose are important because they cut to the core of the nation’s business which, of course, is business. We cannot rely on leaders who haven’t a clue but have lots of advisers. If you don’t know the fundamentals, how will you know the advice is correct?
I realize that much of what I am talking about is subjective, but like it or not we have plenty of scorecards to give us more than subjective answers. They include the GDP, the deficit, the consumer and producer price indexes, the current account balances, the unemployment rate, etc. Not only can we measure our current progress with these indices, but we can consult an historical picture as well. Is it too much to ask for leaders to understand what we do in the business world and give us effective leadership?
We are at a very important time in our nation’s business cycle and we deserve someone who will make things get better not worse. Taxing the rich isn’t an answer, nationalizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac isn’t an answer, making sure every worker gets health insurance coverage, while extremely important to our citizens, isn’t an answer. Beginning with a new nationwide heavy and light rail system, rebuilding our infrastructure with a strong partnership between business and government could be an answer. We need to stop the campaign slogans and regain a workable vision for America’s future.
This gets me back to the beginning. We are not a nation of politicians; we are a nation of workers. Let someone who actually rose from the ranks be one of our leaders because hard work and knowledge gained from it cannot be found in a book. It cannot be transferred by word of mouth and it cannot be willed into existence. That is why the number one attribute we look for in a leader is experience. I am ready for an experienced businessman (or woman) to be one of our leaders. Are you?