It’s Time for Others to Step Up

Nov 1, 2011 by Tres Wittum

It is difficult for me to even admit this, but in an interview with NBC’s Today Show recently Hillary Clinton said something I agree with. I immediately checked to see if the sun had fallen out of the sky and, after assuring myself that the world was not ending, I conceded that every now and then a blind hog finds an acorn. Secretary Clinton was asked whether she plans to run against President Obama in 2012, and she responded, “I’m very grateful I’ve had the chance to serve but I think it’s time for others to step up.”

She is entirely correct. Poll numbers are clearly indicating that the current administration is not accurately reflecting the wishes of the country at large. According to Rasmussen, the President’s approval rating stands at 19% and CBS News records that Congressional approval is at the historically low level of 11%.These are the same types of low numbers that were present when the majority party was on the verge of losing the House of Representatives in 1994, 2006 and 2010. Obviously, we are dealing with leaders who are not representing the will of the people.

This is not necessarily a current phenomenon: Congressional approval rating has been down for a number of cycles and Washington has clearly exhibited tremendous dysfunction throughout the past 4 or 5 years. Public uneasiness with Washington has continued to grow and finally a new generation of Americans is beginning to pay attention and voice their concerns. The most visible among them, the “Occupy” protesters, are made up primarily of people in their 20’s and early 30’s, manifesting their discontent at the direction of our country.

Now, clearly their anger is misplaced. GOP Presidential candidate Herman Cain, as well as others, have commented on the irony that while “Occupy” protestors are unhappy with unemployment, stagnation, and an overall uneasiness about the direction of the United States, their vitriol is mistakenly aimed at Wall Street (whatever is meant by that ambiguous term) rather than at the failed policies of the Obama Administration and Congress. “Wall street” is forced to respond to the policy and regulation that is placed on it by Congress, not vice versa, and that policy affects not just “big business” but also the thousands of small businesses around the country wishing to grow and employ more workers but stymied by the crushing weight of policy unfavorable to those objectives.

So, to return to our quote from Secretary Clinton, it is indeed time for others to step up. The current generation in leadership is clearly stagnate and too conditioned by the political culture and climate of Washington. Our generation, the ones that are going to inherit this mess, are finally taking notice of the problems with our country, and must return to the principles that made our nation great: individual freedom, personal responsibility, and moral integrity. Only through embracing these ideas, as our founders did, can we restore our prosperity and status as a beacon of economic prosperity.

It is indeed time for the new generation to step up, not the generation of our fathers which has brought us to where we are, but the generation of clear, inspired vision. We need clear, inspired teachers in the classrooms, fresh businessmen with optimistic outlook, fresh engineers who can take innovation to new heights, inspired, courageous pastors that have a heart for a lost up-in-coming generation. And, if we are serious changing Washington, fresh, clearly inspired politicians who know how to bring people together, start the tough conversations, and rely on the people for answers to complex problems. New leadership is our best hope.