by Whitney J. Davis
Daily Lobo columnist
As George Bush heads into his sixth year as president, he has filled us with false hopes and empty promises to fix our problems.
His presidency has redefined the notion of conservatism. He is one of the least fiscally conservative Republicans in Washington, while simultaneously falling toward the radical right in terms of social issues. His leadership is at best disappointing. If Washington were run less like a government and more like a business, Bush would be headed toward the unemployment office.
Today, businesses are held to a higher standard than ever. They must please their shareholders, provide a good environment for employees, be involved with the community, be conscientious of the environment, make a profit through ethical means and be philanthropic with some of that profit. The leaders who run the most successful companies in the world are perhaps held to an even higher standard than the industry as a whole. These people take the blame for dips in stock prices or a tarnished corporate image. They must be innovative, goal-oriented and hard-working people who deliver more than what is expected. Although business leaders take home sometimes-ridiculous paychecks, they also must survive in a cutthroat world that doesn't give second chances.
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When transferring these standards to our nation's political leaders, it is clear many don't meet minimum standards. It is not far-reaching to expect that political leaders should be held to similar expectations as business leaders - after all, politics is a business. Taxpayers can be likened to shareholders, Congress to board members and the president to CEO.
As a shareholder of Corporation U.S., I would give Bush a vote of no-confidence based on reckless leadership, inability to meet goals, lying and lack of accountability. On a good day, Bush cannot put together a coherent sentence. On some of his worst days, he has made decisions that will negatively impact the country for many years to come. A good leader should be visionary, while Bush appears to be wearing blinders. It is embarrassing to have such a poor leader as the front man of our country.
His foreign policy has managed to escalate terrorism, isolate countries that we once considered allies and generally increase worldwide disdain for the U.S. His domestic fiscal policy has been marked by concurrent spending sprees and tax cuts, which, in simple terms, is equal to a negative balance. Bush has miserably failed in his two most important jobs as CEO: to earn money for shareholders and to maintain a strong image for the firm. He has created a huge budget deficit and a dismal image for the U.S., and he has done little to address other important issues such as health care, Social Security, immigration, the environment and education.
Despite his overall incompetence, my No. 1 complaint about Bush is that he calls himself a Republican, which in the past has stood for the preservation of personal liberty and fiscal conservatism - both of which I support. In action, he is a religious ultraconservative looking to destroy personal liberty while also practicing the direct opposite of fiscal conservatism.
Bush has abused his power, ignored Congress and voters and now has one of the lowest approval ratings on record. He has used his ridiculous war on terror to justify terrible decision-making. He won't admit mistakes without getting extremely defensive, and he often resorts to flat out lying. Nothing described here fits the business world's idea of good leadership practice, and that is because Bush is a poor leader.
If Bush were president of a company rather than a country, he would be unemployed.
Whitney J. Davis has her master's in business administration from Anderson Schools of
Management.
