May 30, 2010
By Herman Cain
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is plagued by finger pointing and government bureaucracy. Nearly 40 days after the tragedy in the Gulf president Obama made a “photo op” visit to Louisiana, while his administration Cabinet heads were still jockeying for “who’s in charge” when it is clear that nobody is in charge, not even the president.
Despite the unprecedented technical challenges of stopping the massive oil leak at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, the lack of leadership in coordinating the various federal, state and local agencies and their respective functions in this ecological disaster is even worse.
This dangerous lack of leadership starts with the president and his unmanageable executive structure. This is bad for our nation, because it impedes the ability to get the right things done at the right time. Just look at the handling of the tragedy in the Gulf.
Or consider the months of delay by the president to send additional troops to Afghanistan in 2009. We will never know how many lives might have been saved with a more timely decision.
When president Obama took office he inherited a 9.5 trillion dollar national debt. It has increased by 3.5 trillion dollars in his first 16 months in office. It should not have taken 16 months to appoint a “debt reduction commission”. In the real world of business that decision is called a no-brainer. Just do it!
Or consider the token gesture of sending 1,200 troops to the southwest border, but not to enforce immigration laws according to the State Department at the urging of the Mexican government. Additionally, the president of Mexico blasted the new Arizona Immigration Law in a speech before the United States Congress, and then received a standing ovation from the Democrats. What an insult!
Since President Obama has also publically stated his disapproval of the new Arizona Immigration Law, and Attorney General Eric Holder is challenging the law, maybe Mexico is in charge of our southwest border.
Ordinary citizens can only sit on the sidelines and hope that our elected officials and their respective agencies get their act together in handling the disaster in the Gulf, but we can’t sit on the sidelines and wait for “just in time” leadership to address the coming economic disaster and other major problems we are facing.
We face national security threats from terrorists, our military is still fighting for us in Iraq and Afghanistan, and tensions between North Korea and South Korea are about to erupt even more. Our economy is stalled, federal spending is out of control, Social Security and Medicare are financially dysfunctional, and the new health care “deform” legislation is only going to make economic matters worse.
The partisan divide in Congress is horrendous, because, thankfully, the Republicans have not caved to the ultra liberal agenda of President Obama and the Democrats. And also, thankfully, many people are waking up to the empty gestures by the president and the Democrats of reaching across the political isle seeking Republican input. The Democrats’ idea of input is for the Republicans to just cave and do things their way.
Again, here’s some good news! In addition to the Memorial Day recess, Congress has at least two more major recesses between now and the November 2010 elections. The more Congress is in recess the better off we are for now. Secondly, more and more people are starting to recognize this huge leadership void and will remember in November, and again in November 2012.
We are extremely thankful for the men and women who fought and died to defend this country throughout our history. Memorial Day should also be a reminder that it is up to us to defend this country from destructive forces both outside and within our borders. And some of them are in Washington, D. C.
We are still in charge of the ballot box, but we must elect some real leaders.
