The US can be a great country again - if it addresses some fundamental problems. Below is my list of problems and possible solutions:

Problem #1: Too many "leeches" and not enough "producers".
An economy cannot survive if not enough of its citizens produce useful goods or services. Government workers do not produce anything. Why, then, is government (federal and state) the biggest employer in the country? Because everyone is flocking to government employ as a way to make a cushy, stable, and lucrative living. Some, don't even do any useful work whatsoever - betting on the fact that one rarely gets fired by the government. Government is not the only place where "leeches" have proliferated. Just look at the number of lawyers and tax accountants in this country. There's a saying - we have 5% of the world population but 95% of the world's lawyers. And most of them only exist off the backs of "producers". Tax accountants exist mainly because of our overly complex tax system - created by "leech" government workers trying to justify their salary.

Solution: make government workers as accountable for their work as private workers. If workers don't perform, let them go! If workers have no meaningful work to do, let them go or re-assign them!

Problem #2: Too many lawsuits.
With the government as our shining light of proper behavior (see #1 above), we've become a country of unresponsible people. Nothing is our fault - everything is someone else's. So why not "leech" off others and make a quick fortune by suing them for perceived wrongs?

Solution: Tort reform. If someone brings on a lawsuit and loses, they need to pay the defendants' legal fees. This would immediately eliminate the many frivolous lawsuits clogging our legal system. Lawyers would have to start pursuing more productive pursuits.

Problem #3: An inferior K-12 educational system.
This is due to a combination of no accountability on the teachers (bad teachers can't be fired - they just stay on 'til they get to retire) and insufficient funds due to "leech" workers around them (e.g. superintendents of only 1-2 schools sipphoning off monies that should go to the teachers.

Solution: Just as with problem #1, accountability is the answer: teachers who don't teach effectively (as measured by national, standardized tests), should be let go. Similarly, superintendents need to show that they're managing a sufficient number of schools to justify their job (e.g. as managers, they have to manage at least 5-7 schools!) On the other hand, pay the most effective teachers and administrators more!

Problem #4: An unhealthy healthcare system. Many inefficiencies due to lack of computerization raise costs. Even more so, frivolous lawsuits (see problem #2) tremendously raise costs (costs of litigation, settlement, resultant liability insurance for doctors, etc.)

Solution: Some of the high costs would be brought down by fixing problem #2. Computerization is also pretty straight-forward with the only "stumbling block" being the need to keep citizen data private. Perhaps the solution is one in which the government keeps citizens' medical data on an ultra-secure data center which can only be accessed by the citizen! They would be able to download their medical data onto a portable device (e.g. flash drive) to take it to their doctor. Updates by the doctor are also stored on the device and, at the citizen's convenience uploaded back to the government's data center. In other words, the citizens have full control over their medical data and the government's servers act as a "backup".

Ways To Save America

Why is the US becoming a second-rate country? I think that this is the progression of any civilization: there is a youthful stage in which the ambitions and patriotism of its citizens and leaders allow the civilization to grow and prosper. But then, complacency takes hold - people begin to think of their privileges as inalienable rights rather than something to be worked for - and the civilization begins its inevitable decline.

But there are many things Americans could do to stave off this decline. Here is my list:

1. Take Responsibility For Your Action Or Inaction. Americans, by in large, have become a bunch of whiners. Every day, I meet people complaining about the government, their jobs, their neighbors, their spouses, and on and on. Everything is someone else's fault - never ones own. For example: Americans are lamenting that their jobs are lost to countries like China. China, with its near-slave-labor wages is to blame! Never mind that Americans are buying Chines goods, knowing full well under what conditions said goods are made!
2. Tort Reform. Huh? Let me explain: since Americans think everything is someone else's fault, they feel justified in trying to extract payment for these wrong-doings. So they spend their time suing each other. Why else, do you think the US has only 5% of the world population, yet 95% of the world's lawyers? Most lawyers in the US perform no useful function other than to encourage, facilitate, and profit from this behavior. Eliminating frivolous lawsuits would allow American companies and individuals to produce goods more cheaply - since they would not have to spend so much time and money defending themselves in court. As a side-benefit, liability insurance rates would go way down. One proposed reform is to simply ask the suing party to pay for the defendant's court costs if the suit is decided in the defendant's favor. Seems fair, doesn't it? Well, guess what powerful lobby is against this ever passing? The lawyers, of course.
3. Respect. Kids are not taught to respect their elders. Why did I (in Germany) and my wife (in China) grow up respecting our teachers? Because our parents taught us to be respectful and because when we weren't respectful, either the parens or the teacher would smack us! In the US (because of parents not taking responsibility and lawyers eagerly waiting to help parents OR children), teachers would not dare touch a child. Heck, even parents dare not physically punish their child in public for fear of being visited by an overzealous social services department.
   
4. More Logic and Less Emotion. When deciding who our political leaders are, Americans too often use their hearts rather than their brains. A friend voted for Bush because he was "pro-gun" and my friend likes to bear arms. It never even occured to him to vote for a President based on what was best for the country. Americans get (and believe!) everything fed to them by the biased news media. They should try to see things through the eyes of other countries by, perhaps, getting some of their information from non-US news sources! A better education would be helpful too.

That's all I can think of. Opinions are welcomed.