Leadership?

This article in the NY Times caught my eye over the weekend. This says it all:

"Although they have yet to release detailed proposals or to talk about the issue in any depth on the campaign trail, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, and former Senator John Edwards, said through aides that they were backing variants of the same approach, which would result in higher taxes on income, capital gains and stock dividends for upper-income people. All of them, as well Senators Christopher J. Dodd and Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Gov. Bill Richardson, have made clear that they would support keeping in place the tax cuts that have benefited the vast majority of people, roughly speaking households with income less than $200,000 or so. In that way, the Democratic stance would ensure that a substantial portion of one of Mr. Bush’s signature policies would outlast his presidency, even if his party loses the White House."

OK, let me get this straight. The candidates are out asking for money and want the job, but so far haven't addressed this particular issue in any depth. My question is what exactly are they doing ?What are they waiting for? Edwards talks about raising taxes. Obama and Hillary sound like they want to keep the Bush tax cuts for the middle class but aren't ready to talk about it yet. What planet do these people come from. We as a nation continue to spend what we don't have. We are fighting two wars, trying to digest the costs of the prescription drug bill that passed a year or so ago, and just last week congress held hearings to discuss bailing out sub-prime mortgage holders. Where is the money going to come from? Message to the candidates, if you want the job let's go---spill the beans, what exactly would you like to do. It's unconscionable that these "candidates" have failed so far to come clean on where they want to lead us.


For disclosure purposes, my Democratic Party preferences right now look like this:
1) Obama
2) Edwards
3) Richardson


I have to point out that my current support for Obama has nothing to do with any substantive policy position ( other than the Iraq war), but rather a hope that he can somehow be a unifier and a leader that can inspire us to greater things. Right now that's more hope than anything else.

Ron Paul is my absolute favorite. I'm not sure if he can get a fair shake from the press--even if he is the only honest man in Washington.

Hat's off to Jim Sinclair at JSMineset and George Ure at Urban Survival for highlighting Lee Iacocca's new book, Where Have All the Leaders Gone, to their readers this week. Iacocca takes no prisoners:

04/11/07 "ICH" -- -- -Had Enough? Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course." Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out! You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies.Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don't need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for.I've had enough. How about you? I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have. My friends tell me to calm down. They say, "Lee, you're eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to the young people." I'd love to, as soon as I can pry them away from their iPods for five seconds and get them to pay attention. I'm going to speak up because it's my patriotic duty. I think people will listen to me. They say I have a reputation as a straight shooter. So I'll tell you how I see it, and it's not pretty, but at least it's real. I'm hoping to strike a nerve in those young folks who say they don't vote because they don't trust politicians to represent their interests. Hey, America, wake up. These guys work for us. Who Are These Guys, Anyway? Why are we in this mess? How did we end up with this crowd in Washington? Well, we voted for them, or at least some of us did. But I'll tell you what we didn't do. We didn't agree to suspend the Constitution. We didn't agree to stop asking questions or demanding answers. Some of us are sick and tired of people who call free speech treason. Where I come from that's a dictatorship, not a democracy. And don't tell me it's all the fault of right-wing Republicans or liberal Democrats. That's an intellectually lazy argument, and it's part of the reason we're in this stew. We're not just a nation of factions. We're a people. We share common principles and ideals. And we rise and fall together.Where are the voices of leaders who can inspire us to action and make us stand taller? What happened to the strong and resolute party of Lincoln? What happened to the courageous, populist party of FDR and Truman? There was a time in this country when the voices of great leaders lifted us up and made us want to do better. Where have all the leaders gone?