Recently the Tennessee state legislature has asked to make budget cuts that have many people upset, but no one is really doing anything to correct the problem. There is, of course, no shortage of opinion on what should be done. Some feel that the Legislature is mismanaging the money they have, and if they took better care of that money, these cuts would not be necessary.

Others say that the current tax format is the problem, and, like it or not, an income tax is necessary to keep our state from devouring itself to keep the budget. Then there are those who seem to be so quiet their voices are deafening; our Legislators themselves.

Arnold Glasgow once wrote “One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.” This, fellow Tennesseans ,is where we find ourselves – craving leadership.

My simple desire for the state that has been my home for the past seven years is leadership. I am ashamed to admit this desire goes unfulfilled.

Some of the problem lies in the understanding of what our government is truly about.

Yes, it is true that majority rules and that “winner takes all” are important parts of our government. But the public must be “proactive” not “reactive”.

People should make an educated decision about what they feel is the right thing to do for all concerned and show why they feel their opinion is right.

The voter’s obligation is to elect those, who when given the responsibility, will do what is right. The most current example of this that I can find is President Bush. Though he may not be the best public speaker, he is nonetheless a leader.

Our nation debated and deliberated on what the necessary course of action should be concerning Iraq.

When the time came for a decision, he did not ask the American people, “What do you want me to do?” Instead, he made a decision.

Now that a decision has been made, we must fulfill our goal. That is leadership, finding a problem and finding the best way to solve it.

Sadly, in today’s politics, political moves are more important than what is right. This move by the President may cost him politically; a fact that I am sure he is well aware of; but he thought his actions was the right thing to do.

Conversely, our Legislature does not have that quality of leadership right now. I do not contend that I know what will fix this current problem of ours.

However, I do feel that those in Nashville know what can help this situation. Somehow I do not think that raising the sales tax to fifteen percent is the answer. I am of the opinion that an income tax will help the state out of its current problems.

Were one so inclined, they could be shown that with a five percent income tax, and a lower sales tax of five percent as well, the state would make much more than it is making right now.

This solution would also shift the burden of taxation evenly upon the upper, lower, and middle classes.

As we are now, the lower classes must pay more of their income than those who could afford to pay those taxes.

A rebuttal to this argument is that the lack of an income tax attracts business to Tennessee. The fact that some would rather have corporations come and take advantage of the state’s problem amazes me.

I find it highly unlikely that these corporations are going to be so enraged at an income tax that they move their bases to some third-world country like Afghanistan to save money.

I see Tennessee as better than that option. Perhaps this is the actual problem Tennesseans have, they do not expect to be great. Instead they prefer to stay at the level of mediocrity.

For this we can blame our leadership for not giving us a vision to be energized about. But then we must blame ourselves for accepting leaders who lack vision.

I would prefer to be an optimist and wrong than a pessimist and right, but I would find it both troubling and, at the same time, invigorating to dismiss this claim that our leaders lack vision.

I would rather maintain the idea that they have the vision to help this state be better than it is; they only lack the political courage to do so.

I find this troubling because the answer to save our state is just not being used. I find it encouraging because it is easier to find courage within oneself to do what is right than to find in oneself what is the right thing to do.

All we can do is trust that those whom have been given the responsibility of power.

Encourage them to do what is right; they might lose the election, but, they will have the knowledge that the state of Tennessee will be in a better position when they leave, than when they came into office.

Ultimately this is what our country stands for – to do what is right for the many.

Bobby Noziglia is a junior Political Science major from Germantown.