Should the next US President focus on domestic issues?Previously published on February 26, 2008
Since the advent of the Bush administration there has been this notion that America's problems can be dealt with one at a time by over focusing on a few key issues while passively dealing with others. Because of the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, there has been an over focusing on foreign affairs via the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts with a lack of leadership on domestic issues such as economy, environment, education, and natural disaster preparedness. The Bush government has lightly dictated policies through funding and weak initiatives that involve domestic issues, but the leadership required to properly carry out these directives, deal with unexpected problems, and ensure success of American policies has been severely lacking. With the Nation gushing huge sums of money out of the Country and into foreign nations with no end and limited returns, many Americans are looking forward to a greater investment into the American people. Investing into domestic infrastructure is greatly important as it is an investment that directly benefits Americans, which is the duty of the United States Government, but it also creates the returns that are needed to fulfill future domestic and foreign obligations. As far as focusing on domestic issues is concerned, the Nation must be constantly focused on both domestic and foreign issues; ignoring one leads to a failure that will cause great harm to the Nation and require a larger than necessary allocation of resources. Leaving domestic issues under-managed for the past eight years has resulted in a faltering economy and a multitude of neglected social needs while the investments needed for the future and the continued financing of foreign affairs, such as the War on Terror, have not been made. Furthermore, the neglect of foreign issues only results in international crisis that impacts the security, economy, and living standards of Americans. Above all, a leadership neglecting or poorly addressing any major issues leads to crisis and that crisis will almost always require a larger invest then the cost of maintenance. Not only must the Government adequately deal with both foreign and domestic issues, it must not over focus on specific conflicts while ignoring other events around the world. The Bush administration has focused on Iraq while only truly responding inadequately to crisis around the world and in this country. A presidency consists of more than just a president; it involves a group of administers that are responsible for overseeing and leading the efforts of this Nation, whether overseas or stateside. The President should ultimately be responsible for subordinates, but the President's major responsibility is to direct the executive branch of government so he, or she does not have to over focus on a few issues while the rest of the Nation runs on autopilot. The Government requires leadership that recognizes the need to constantly deal with all domestic and foreign issues with more than just a passive autopilot attitude. The President is not simply the decider who dictates actions and far reaching policies; he, or she is a manager who directs crisis management that seeks to prevent crisis while resolving a multitude of problems across the board as all issues need focused on by an administration. |
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