“Business, Politics and the U.S. Kindergarten - 2011 style”

If you’re spent just a little time watching the 2011 drama regarding the debt ceiling, you probably are wondering whether there are adults or children running things in Washington.

Recently, CNN conducted a poll regarding opinions about elected officials during the debt ceiling debate/crisis. “Seventy seven percent of respondents said that [the politicians] acted like spoiled children. Just 17 percent believe the politicians have acted like responsible adults.”

In a country where “strong” feelings are often indicated by 55% in favor of a statement, a vote of 77% that politicians are behaving like spoiled brats is an extremely strong voice from the American people. Given the numbers, that has to be a “bipartisan” view!

I raise this subject for a simple business reason: uncertainty, and lack of confidence, is bad for the economy. When consumers hold back buying things, because of concerns about what is happening in Washington and in the economy, demand is curtailed, hurting business. When companies defer hiring or defer investing in new plant and equipment, that has a rippling effect.

Bottom line: our elected officials can have a powerful positive effect on our economy – if they act like adults. Or, they can damage the economy (and the credit rating of our great country) by failing to respect each other’s perspectives and by failing to find a commonsense middle ground.

I wish each of our elected officials would invest less than a minute watching the following excerpt from the movie “Remember the Titans.” The relevant piece begins at 0:19 seconds, and concludes at 0:56 seconds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWJs2Gof538

If you like it, consider forwarding the link, with your personal message of encouragement, to your favorite politician.

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