Elizabeth Powell, Boulder City

Tue, Oct 7, 2008 (2:02 a.m.)

We, the people, are responsible for our own mess. We are in a mess financially and morally because we elected a man and his vice president who showed us the way to financial and moral ruin.

If it is OK for our leaders to lie, to ignore advice, common sense and reason, and to go into massive debt, then it must be OK for the rest of us. So what did people do? They lied on their mortgage applications, ignored advice about the possibility of a housing crash and the dangers of refinancing, and bought more house(s) than they could afford.

The banks lied about their accounting and went into massive debt against their own instincts and good business practice. The brokers who made money giving bad loans laughed.

In household terms, it is like increasing expenses and lying to your wife about it (starting a war that was unnecessary based on a lie), going on half-time pay (not raising taxes to pay for the war) and putting everything else that’s important, such as food and the kid’s education, on the credit card (debt more than $9 trillion and counting) while ignoring the fact that you are obviously headed for bankruptcy, but thinking you are beating the system.

So, is anyone really surprised we had a meltdown? Leadership of this country matters.

Vote for the man who inspires you, who seems to have integrity and common sense. Don’t vote for a liar, one who tries to fool you with diversions, gimmicks and half-truths.

Regardless of what these candidates claim they will do for you, the main thing they need to do for all of us is lead us in the direction we need to go to stay healthy as a nation. What kind of people do we want to be? Do we want to be a provincial Joe Six-Pack nation or a nation of sophistication and integrity operating elegantly on the world stage?