I spend the first 30 minutes of almost every weekday the same way: I watch CNN, CNBC and Fox.  What usually happens on a morning after a stock market meltdown or debt-ceiling failure or other crisis, some politician or know it all will trot out this chestnut:

“we need some leadership like the private sector has.  We need….like a Steve Jobs to come to Washington and help fix the country – it’s his duty.”

What happens next is that I’ll usually laugh until I cry.  It isn’t that Jobs couldn’t do it.  Oh No Doubt, he could.  However, the congress critter or columnist that suggests such a thing is usually a little soft-headed.  Makes me want to drive over to the studio and pat them on the head – “there, there, it’s ok”.  What these soft-heads don’t get is that Jobs success was born in the competitive inferno that is Silicon Valley.  A place that is a ruthless meritocracy.  In such a culture, most of our “leaders” in Washington (and many state houses) would be replaced – if they were ever hired in the first place.

If Washington were run with private sector principles, it would look drastically different in the wake of the recent debt train wreck.  That was an abject failure.  If Jobs were running the country (or anything related to it), he would fire everyone involved.  Indeed, the story of Mobile Me is instructive: Mobile Me is a cloud-based service that Apple launched about 3 years ago and was plagued by problems.  Servers crashing, logins failing and an overall lack of usability.  Jobs called a meeting with the MM team and asked them (and I’ll clean this up): “What is MM supposed to do?”  One of his executives actually attempted an answer and then Jobs asked him “so why doesn’t it do that?”  And with that, he replaced the lot of them.  Think that could happen at the Federal level?

The total of the reaper’s tale isn’t in yet but the market fell 600 points yesterday.  1,000 points in the last two days.  Our leaders in Washington needn’t look any farther than the mirror to find the solution.  I say this to them: Don’t ask the private sector to come fix your problems: you won’t like the solutions.  In fact, you’re seeing the private sector’s solution.  Industry will move its resources to where those are productive.  It isn’t industry’s fault that those in Washington have elected not to govern but to play politics with the ship of state.

In addition, the state houses are next.  Many states (including ours) have been playing games with pension funds and that cannot continue either.  Those games will have consequences but we’re likely to have more time to deal with them.

The message is simple: for all of you public policy types out there, the solutions offered by the private sector are tough medicine: if your business doesn’t make money it fails.  Never confuse public policy with business and if you do invite business-style solutions through direct action – or inaction – into your public policy debates, be prepared for solutions that are ruthless….

Well, it’s official: The United States of America now has the same credit rating as New Zealand and Belgium.  Put a different way, investing in America has the same risk as investing in those other countries.  Now, I don’t believe that: our economy is far more diverse and our main problems have to do with our appetite for debt.

The larger point is that a deal needed to be struck months ago that was far more sweeping than this limp solution than we’re currently stuck with.  It’s an embarrassment.  All in Washington should be ashamed of themselves.  All of those grinning idiots who call themselves “leaders” should do the right thing and resign.  This is the first time I can remember that America has been humiliated by our own leadership on such a scale.  Yeah, we have a steady drumbeat of scumbags on Capitol Hill arrested for whatever but that has become the norm and really only affects them and their family.

Now, I would point out that I don’t really aim any of this particular heat at the Tea folks.  I don’t know that I’m crazy about their actions but they aren’t in a leadership position in any party.  The establishment people blew it.  They didn’t do their jobs.

Hey America, keep hiring ideologs and party hacks to run your State and National governments and then be shocked when things go to hell.  This might come as a surprise but ideologs aren’t really interested in what’s best for all of us – especially when it’s tough medecine.  They’re interested in 2 things: making sure they support those that donate (many times the party caucus) and reelection.  It’s gotten out of control in Washington (and Richmond for that matter).

Want to know what’s wrong with America?  We don’t have competent leadership in Washington and most of our state houses.  The “government” can’t really create jobs – only the private sector can do that on any scale.  I’m not an economist but I do run a business and I can tell you that the uncertainty has frozen my capital investment and the investment of most of the other business owners that I’ve spoken with.  That debt ceiling issue should have been dealt with in a productive fashion – it should have been addressed head on (Our state has similar problems as well but it’s more related to quality of life and education and funding thereof).  If the debt issue had been dealt with crisply, we could have moved past it.  I suppose that the bottom line is that government can’t create jobs but it sure can destroy them.  A pox on all their houses.