That is a fact. Bad leadership is a punishment for sin.
You are right. I believe Aquinas said that. It is no wonder we have the kind of spineless bishops here in the US.
From the words of Pope Benedict XVI....
"It is the Church's duty to denounce the fundamental errors that have now been revealed in the collapse of the major American banks. Human greed is a form of idolatry that is against the true God, and is a falsification of the image of God with another god, Mammon."-Pope Benedict XVI Feb 2009
I pray that Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming encyclical addresses more of these issues of this country