Barack Obama earns an “F” in leadership

Guest Commentary
by Barry Willis

Never before in my history as a “likely voter” have I seen so much at stake as in this upcoming election.  As an American who, out of frustration, became a tea party organizer and who cares deeply about our country, I am very troubled by this president’s lack of leadership on so many issues.

Let’s start with the very serious problem of our national debt and the lack of leadership on the part of Barack Obama to seriously address and fix this problem.  I don’t care what he says; it is his actions that come across the most.  Both of Obama’s budgets did not garner one vote in the Senate, not one.  And, in what way has he shown leadership to work with both parties in coming to some kind of agreement?  You have the answer — NONE.  How can he be taken seriously about dealing with this problem?  For this issue, Obama earns an “F”.

How about the economy?  In what way has this President shown leadership to bring us back from the “housing crisis” of 2008?   This is the worst “recovery” (and to be honest is this truly a recovery?) after a recession  since the Great Depression!    What is his solution for the economy?   More and more government spending  leading us to deeper debt, and,  to “tax millionaires and billionaires” more (which to Mr Obama is anyone over $250,000).   Excuse me but how do either one of these so called solutions in any significant way help the private sector?  Since small business is the true engine of the economy how does it help them?  The answer is that neither one of these “remedies”  has helped our economy.  Where is the evidence that it has worked? Another F.

When it comes to foreign policy Obama earns an F minus.   As a citizen of the greatest country in the history of mankind I do NOT want a leader who goes around apologizing for our “past mistakes.”  Is any country in this world perfect?  Of course not.  HOWEVER, this country has done more for the price of freedom than any other nation in the world, period!

I want a leader that adopts the motto of Ronald Reagan who always advocated “peace through strength.”   I listen to Obama’s speeches on foreign policy, and time and time again what I hear is not a strong leader advocating the strength of our country, but one who appeases his enemies.  What has he done to help our strongest ally, Israel?   The President continually acts to frustrate, belittle, and in many cases ignore their calls for our support.  For any President to even mention that Israel should concede it’s land going back  to pre-1967 war borders is just one example of his lack of support for the nation of Israel.  More than any time in their history, Israel now needs our unwavering support.

There are so many other areas to evaluate Obama’s lack of leadership, but one stands out. When it comes to the issue of immigration and protecting our borders has he shown any effective leadership?  The “Fast and Furious” scandal is just one of example of the vacuum of leadership.  What in the heck were they thinking when they sold guns like this?  Selling them to people without proper background checks and no accounting as to where the guns ended up?  Does Obama hold himself accountable in any way for this scandal? Of course not.

The Democratic Party used to invoke Harry Truman on his famous, “The buck stops here” quote. Obama is the perfect anti-Truman candidate.  For him the buck stops everywhere but here.

Great presidents of the past were able to achieve great legislative results by working with both parties (Ronald Reagan comes to mind).  How has this President worked with Democrats, Republicans and Independents to solve immigration issues?  The issues of “anchor babies,” “guest worker programs” and a fair pathway to citizenship after the border has been truly secured could be fixed with votes from both parties.  Notice I wrote a “fair pathway to citizenship.”  Attempts  by this President to advocate some sort of “back door amnesty” without the consent of Congress has already angered many Americans.  What is to be said to the many Americans who have gone through the proper channels for their citizenship? Well, despite your long perseverance we are sorry to say that your legal immigration efforts mean little.  Tied to this is the issue of national security.  We must know who is coming into our country, period!  Obama’s words are meaningless when it comes to border security.  He has done nothing to get ample boots on the ground at the border and to enforce our existing immigration laws.  His constant battle with the State of Arizona and other borders states is additional evidence of this failure.

Another F for Obama on the issue of immigration and border security.

Analyzing the President’s track record of the last three and a half years and his lack of effective leadership lead me to an easy conclusion: Regime change on November 6.  My vote will go to Mitt Romney, whom I believe will be a far stronger leader for our country.  I believe that a majority of Americans will come to the same conclusion.

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Mr. Willis is the organizer of the East County Tea Party