America Needs Good Leadership

You can't lead with lies. Stop the cheating.

By Jacqueline Leo

From Reader's Digest

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Shattered Faith

"As GM goes, so goes the country." If that old saying is true, the country is in bigger trouble than we thought.

Our faith in our blue-chip businesses has been shattered by bankruptcy (United Airlines, Winn-Dixie, Delphi), pension deficits (San Diego, US Airways, Delta Air Lines, Bethlehem Steel, Kmart), and illegal and fraudulent practices (Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, Arthur Andersen). But as we look at other bastions of American life, we see similar problems. Our kids are not being educated to compete globally; the number of illegal immigrants has soared to over 11 million; our infrastructure -- power grids, dams, roads -- is in disrepair; we are long on need and short on energy sources; we can provide the best health care in the world, but it's unavailable to too many; and it's becoming clear that everyone cheats -- the government (Homeland Security rip-offs in the Gulf Coast), the media (plagiarism), sports (steroids), and the CEOs who rake in millions of stockholder dollars as they float away in their golden parachutes. The message to our kids is that cheating is a perfectly acceptable practice because "everyone does it."

If that's not enough to make you think we need to fix things, add the ongoing problems of an endless war in Iraq, a gigantic deficit and two major threats -- terrorism and global warming. But we can't solve things by eating comfort food and hiding under the covers.

Instead, we have to do what Americans have always done: take charge of our future and our fate. So we're devoting this special report to the ideas and solutions that can restore America's greatness and, in the process, reignite the American Dream for all of us.