Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from its death throes?  He’s now 82 years old and has a new book, ‘Where Have All the Leaders Gone?‘ 

Lee Iacocca says: 

‘Am I the only guy in this country who’s fed up with what’s happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder! We’ve got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we’ve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can’t even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, ‘Stay the course.’

Stay the course? You’ve got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned, ‘Titanic’. I’ll give you a sound bite: ‘Throw all the bums out!’ You might think I’m getting senile, that I’ve gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore.

The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs.. While we’re fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving ‘pom-poms’ instead of asking hard questions. That’s not the promise of the ‘ America ‘ my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I’ve had enough. How about you? 

I’ll go a step further. You can’t call yourself a patriot if you’re not outraged. This is a fight I’m ready and willing to have. The Biggest ‘C’ is Crisis! (Iacocca elaborates on nine C’s of leadership, with crisis being the first.)

Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It’s easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else’s kids off to war when you’ve never seen a battlefield yourself. It’s another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.

On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A hell of a mess, so here’s where we stand.

We’re immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We’re running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We’re losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. 

Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership.

But when you look around, you’ve got to ask: ‘Where have all the leaders gone?’ Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the  point.

Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We’ve spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.

Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm. 

Everyone’s hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn’t happen again. Now, that’s just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you’re going to do the next time.

Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when ‘The Big Three’ referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it?

Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry. 

I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn’t elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on NBC news or CNN news will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don’t you guys show some spine for a change?

Had enough? Hey, I’m not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here.  I’m trying to light a fire. I’m speaking out because I have hope - I believe in America. In my lifetime, I’ve had the privilege of living through some of America’s greatest moments. I’ve also experienced some of our worst crises: The ‘Great Depression,’ ‘World War  II,’ the ‘Korean War,’ the ‘Kennedy Assassination,’ the ‘Vietnam War,’ the 1970’s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11.

If I’ve learned one thing, it’s this: ‘You don’t get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it’s building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That’s the challenge I’m raising in this book. It’s a “Call to Action” for people who, like me, believe in America’. It’s not too late, but it’s getting pretty close. So let’s shake off the crap and go to work. Let’s tell ‘em all we’ve had ‘enough.’

Make your own contribution by sending this to everyone you know and care about. It’s our country, folks, and it’s our future. Our future is at stake!!

I refuse to get off my soap box until we see concrete steps taken to end the ongoing economic and market malaise infecting all aspects of our society and world.

Step 1 - Courage.  Politicians need to gear down the rhetoric immediately, stop pointing the finger at others, take responsibility for their own actions, stop focusing on re-election, forget about who did what to create this mess over the last 2-3 decades and simply SOLVE THE PROBLEM by doing what needs to be done.  This is no longer a Republican or Democratic issue.  It is an American issue and nobody cares about the politics of any of this any more.  Period.  Have some courage and start doing what needs to be done instead of what needs to be done to get re-elected.  Doing the right thing may not be popular, but it’s always easy to do the right thing if you actually represent who elected you to do what you’re there for Mr. Politician.

Step 2 - Innovation.  Every politician needs to embrace the creators of jobs and wealth - entrepreneurs.  Why is it so hard for elected officials to understand that entrepreneurs create the ideas that create the companies that create the jobs that create the wealth.  I’m not talking about giving this idea “lip service”.  I’m talking about making this a national imperative as important to the fabric of the President and the government as JFK’s idea to put “a man on the moon”.  I want commitment, not talk.  I want an executive and legislative focus on this initiative that becomes the foundation of the United States government, the pillar of economic stability and the fabric of all legislative, policy and monetary initiatives going forward.  I want every politician talking about this every day of the week and the media to push this as a national priority in every broadcast everywhere.

Step 3 - Investment, *not* Stimulus.  Congressional officials and the President need to invest $5 BILLION in young companies, start-ups and entrepreneurs.  I have written about this before, but I want $100 MILLION put to work in each of 50 cities across the country.  This money will *not* be in the hands of elected officials.  Rather, it will be put in to each city in the form of a local start-up and young company growth capital fund and will be managed and run by a team of selected serial entrepreneurs, VCs, private equity investors and Angel investors so that a base level of scrutinty can go in to the selection of companies for investment.  This group will be investing on behalf of the American taxpayer and will receive a 0.5% management fee and 10% equity upside for success.  Why?  Because you need talent to make good investments and monitor and assess the investments until liquidity is achieved.  You get what you pay for and “free” doesn’t scale.  We want talent and we want investment discipline.  This structure achieves that.  Further, each $100 MILLION per city selected will be invested to the tune of $250K - $1M per company so that we can get stimulus rolling on new ideas and young company building for at least 150-250 companies per market.  This $5 BILLION investment from TARP will *always* result in more economic activity than giving it to Bank of America or Citigroup to backfill holes in their balance sheets.  And, it will result in investment returns to the American taxpayer both in the literal sense and the figurative sense as well.

Step 4 - Presidential Executive Order.  President Obama … immediately issue a Presidential Order to mandate that every *primary* residential mortgage in the United States be immediately and proactively refinanced to no worse than a 4.5% interest rate on a 30 year fixed interest mortgage.  No fees, no appraisals, no applications, no qualifications, no strings attached.  Advise all banks that they have until the end of February to make this happen through their entire portfolio of loans.  Advise any bank that refuses to comply with your Presidential directive, and that has taken even 1 penny of TARP money in the past, that they will be *nationalized* on March 1st unless they have performed under this Presidential directive.  This is not going to fix everything in the world of foreclosures, but this is going to allow *everyone* in the United States to get the same starting point whether they were responsible or irresponsible in their personal finances.  Since 92% of Americans have been responsible to date, they too will actually get a benefit for having been responsible just as those that have not currently are getting a benefit that they probably shouldn’t be getting at all.  Plus, it will put a real floor underneath the housing market and provide a foundation from which to move forward from for all of us.

Right now we need bold, bipartisan action with big thinking and new thinking.  We need leaders unafraid to lead, even if their actions are unpopular and even if that means that they are not re-elected to office.  We need people that can stand up and say “We screwed up.  It is all of our faults.  It is *my* fault and I intend to fix this.  Follow me.”  Note the last statement PLEASE … “Follow me.”

We are all tired of the noise.  We are also tired of the activity.  We want results and we want them now.  Stop confusing activity with results and lead, follow or get the hell out of the way already.  This is the greatest country in the world.  Let’s start proving that again and lead the world out of this once and for all.  If anyone lacks the commitment and conviction to make this happen, then do what needs to be done for the betterment of this great nation … RESIGN.