By Guest Blogger Maria Broschi

Standard & Poor has downgraded our country’s credit rating to below that of what was once a fantastic AAA, the lowest credit rating since 1917.  Add to that a national deficit of $14, 599,087,801,606.52 (yes, you read that correctly–and the debt is still growing) and a U.S. joblessness rate of 9.2 %, translatable to approximately 14,101,000 unemployed persons, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Consider the impact fiscal irresponsibility has on a nation whose government continues to engage in mismanaged, out-of-control spending and a refusal to invest in infrastructure and continued engagement of a non-balanced, bi-partisan leadership. No doubt I’m preaching to the American People’s choir at this point. And the choir is disgusted.

So, what then would a possible solution be for the continued conundrum that is the national debt? One such proposal as put forth by our government is that of the creation of a deficit “super committee”. Sounds great, doesn’t it? There’s just one problem: out of all 12 members of this committee, only one is a woman.

I have no doubt that Patty Murray, a well respected and senior Appropriations Committee member, will do her utmost to try to swing the scales favorably toward the U.S.’ economic recovery. However, more balanced and representative female leadership is needed if our country is to truly regain its economic momentum. Furthermore, the U.S. needs stronger female leadership which is representative of ALL Americans, not just the plutocratic few in order to move our country forward toward greater economic growth and stability.

To wit, let me use some examples of current female leaders who have greatly changed their country’s geopolitical and economic maps: German Chancellor Angela Merkel: headed the G8 Summit; introduced job-sharing scheme, strengthened political ties with the U.S.; Irish President Mary McAleese: bridged divides in sectarian violence, signed into law the National Asset Management Agency designed to improve Irish credit; Finnish President Tarja Halonen, promoted human rights and strongly influenced social security legislation; Indian President Pratibha Patil has adopted an anti-corruption agenda.  There are more female world leaders whose names and traits I could not list due to time constraints. However, one recurring theme that presented itself throughout my research of the aforementioned leaders’ political records was that of social justice and its link to economic growth and stability. And that, my friends, is the key difference between male and female leadership. And this is why more women need to be included in the political decision-making process, especially when it comes to handling this country’s debt crisis.

The topic of social justice hasn’t been a key focal point in much of American politics; rather, it’s been swept under the carpet as an unpleasant “aside”. And unless issues such as economic inequality, which includes access to goods and services as well as access to social services are addressed we will see an even greater economic divide between rich and poor in the United States. We’ve only to witness recent history to see that this is true.

The time for strong female leadership in handling our country’s debt crisis is long overdue. Do we really need to wait until America is thoroughly throttled politically and economically to see this happen? It’s time America looks through a female pair of lenses for a change.

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Maria Broschi was born in Burlington, Vermont. She is a USAF veteran, having served in Operations Allied Force, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and the Global War on Terrorism. In addition, she has served in Ethiopia as a Peace Corps volunteer from 2007-2009 and has lived and traveled to various places such as Vermont, Utah, Virginia, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Crete, France, Germany, Austria, and Ethiopia. She  is a published co-author of 3 publications related to Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF).   She currently resides in the Capitol Hill section of Washington, DC.  Follow Maria on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/MSBroschi

Tags: America, Angela Merkel, debt, debt crisis, female leadership, leaders, Mary McAleese, Patty Murray, Pratibha Patil, social justice, super committtee, Tarja Halonen, women

This entry was posted on Friday, August 19th, 2011 at 11:05 and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.