Leadership by Example anyone?

As I sit here and ponder the economic situation and the presidential race, I wonder why no one else seems to be seeing what I'm seeing. Here's the situation:

The US Government is $10 trillion in debt. Yes, trillion. Or, for visual effect - $10,000,000,000,000. Wow. And even more frightening - if that's possible - nearly 20% of that is to China. Russia even qualified at owning 2% of US treasury notes. Japan, our former enemy, owns the most of us at almost 23% of all US treasure notes.

So -- given this little tidbit -- is it any wonder that Americans in general are drowning in debt, losing houses, and our financial institutions are failing?

Listening to the presidential candidates isn't much consolation. At least McCain "talks" about cutting spending. He's even had the guts to mention a federal spending freeze -- it'll never happen, but I think he gets points just for mentioning it. Obama, on the other hand, goes on and on and on about all the programs and things he wants to do. Yes, he talks about 95% of the population getting an income tax cut. But the truth is 40% of Americans don't pay taxes at all. And those that do will "pay" their usual taxes, but Obama plans to credit some back. But here's the kicker -- to pay for all his programs and project he will raise taxes on businesses of all sizes -- small and large (read: your employers and vendors and suppliers and manufacturers and distributors, etc.) and raising taxes on your investment earnings. So -- you may get a tax break under Obama -- but you probably won't make any more either as your employer will see their taxes go up. And to cap it off, he's also talking about a second stimulous package. So what's wrong with that? To pay for the first one we had to borrow the money -- from CHINA! And now he wants to do that again? Please!

Leadership is not saying what you will do. Leadership is not even "doing" necessarily. Leadership is showing those you lead how they should proceed by setting an example for them. All I hear from Obama are all the nice-sounding projects he wishes to pursue (kind of like the "affordable housing" push of the 90s that he was involved in with ACORN... you know, the one that buried Fannie May and Freddie Mac?).

We need someone who has the courage to stand up there and say "this country is heading rapidly in the wrong direction and IT MUST STOP." And it's heading that way because our government -- Congress and the President -- both parties -- have led it that way. Our we surprised that our citizenry is in debt when our nation is as well? We shouldn't be.

Here's what I'd like to hear when a reporter or debate moderator asks a candidate what they will do for this country:

"We're going to start leading by example. We're going to do whatever we have to do to get this country out of debt -- first and foremost. We're going to do whatever we have to do to have a balanced budget. And just like when you do it in your own household, it might hurt for a time. But we must reclaim our sovereignty and our dignity and our position as a world leader. This is no time for politics or partisanship. This is a time for leadership by example. And the President, as leader of this country, must show the way. We need to re-evaluate the way we do everything -- make decisions, set priorities, set goals, etc. We need to operate responsibly and with accountability. When the government sets such a positive example, the rest of the nation will follow."

And yes, I believe that such things would happen. If there is a candidate out there who would say such a thing it would be John McCain. If he can get free of his "handlers" he just might. But so far I'm not seeing it.

We don't just need leadership. We need leadership by example -- true leadership.

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Sheesh....