America Suffers From Leadership Gap

Bigger than the budget deficit, America has a leadership gap.

The economic recovery isn't creating jobs, unemployment is rising, and the president and Congress offer little more than nostrums and platitudes.

Republicans push tax cuts that experience teaches have doubtful prospects for success, while Democrats alibi "employment is a lagging indicator" after a $759 billion stimulus has failed.

It may be too early in the recovery for businesses to be hiring, but big layoffs should have stopped by now and they haven't.

The huge trade deficit and reckless banking practices caused the Great Recession and still weigh down the economy.

Oil imports and cheap consumer goods from China account for nearly the entire trade gap.

Americans drive big cars with thirsty engines. They sit on vast, untapped natural gas reserves but burn too much heating oil in winter. Congressional conservatives are unwilling to submit to genuine energy conservation and liberals believe developing domestic fossil fuel is immoral.

China undervalues its currency to boost its U.S. sales, domestic employment and growth. Its economic miracle is engineered by Beijing buying hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars, with freshly printed yuan, to keep its currency undervalued and Chinese products inexpensive in U.S stores. Then China uses those dollars to buy U.S. Treasury securities.

President Obama, afraid China won't buy U.S. debt, won't challenge China on currency and trade. That demonstrates how little Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner understand about money and trade.