Showing posts with label Barack Obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barack Obama. Show all posts

Friday, October 05, 2012

US MID-TERM ELECTIONS: LOSS OF DEMOCRATS

The Tea-Party Tidal Wave has Managed to undo the Gains of Democrats; The Shellacking Serves as a Massive Rebuke to President Barack Obama. As Republicans gain Majority Control of the house, Obama needs to Strategically Re-Align his Policies, Priorities and recast his Presidency keeping the 2012 Re-Election in mind 

William A. Galtson, Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, Brookings, says to B&E, “Voters are understandably frightened, rancid, and profoundly disheartened about the financial prospects.” Galston further explains, “The well-documented successes of the fiscal normalisation and stimulus initiatory are concealed to a populace responding to the here and now, not to the counter-factual of how much worse it might have been.” But, in all certainty, it is the future of this political gridlock, as both the Democrats and the Republicans have the power to gridlock the legislative process, which will script the future of America, the American people and most importantly that of President Obama. It will indeed be difficult for Obama to reach out to his fellow Republicans who are intent on repealing ObamaCare, his signature health care legislation; as a matter of fact, many Republicans are hell bent on opposing just about everything Obama stands for. Other than ObamaCare, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the policy on use of bio-fuels for transportation are a few such policies which the Republicans would want to repeal. With less bargaining power, it is but natural that Obama will have a tough time brokering peace between Israel and Palestine and the sailing is certainly not going to be smooth in the case of Afghanistan and Iraq. November 18, 2010, when the sessions begin, and the sessions thereafter will be equally interesting; it will not be the usual cordial and supportive Democrat Congress for Obama but the antagonistic Republicans, the sessions will not be chaired by the like minded Nancy Pelosi but by the perma-tanned John Boehner (most probably).

Given the flimsy majority that the Democrats continue to enjoy in the upper house (the Senate), the President would like to push through some of his platform policies, the only hurdle being Republicans who can play havoc if they insist on using filibuster (a delaying tactic that requires 60 votes to overcome). In such a case, one can expect President Obama to take a leaf out of President Harry Truman’s presidency era and follow suite – what he can probably do is double down on his strategy (which critics claim Americans have roundly rejected), change course – move to the Left and appease his critics and challenge the ‘do-nothing’ Republicans. It might be tough to replicate the Truman strategy of 1946, but given the circumstance when the Republicans have surpassed their ‘Republican Revolution’ of 1994, challenging the opponents and the inherent gridlock will make for a big comeback.

The worst fear is that Obama would become a lame duck president for the remaining two years of his presidency. And that fear is rounded off by the fact that while it took the better part of two years to campaign for his presidency, this time around, with just two years left in his Presidency and a choice between the Devil (reviving the economy) and the deep sea (trying for a second term), one believes Obama has already met his endgame. For all practical purposes, Obama is lost to America; and America, to Obama!


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
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Monday, August 20, 2012

Is recession over (yes/no/maybe)?

The IIPM Think Tank analyses the five largest economies (excl. China) – US, Japan, Germany, France, UK

President Barack Obama recently applauded a government report that indicated the American economy’s rise by 3.2% in the first quarter this year, saying, “This means that our economy as a whole is in a much better place than it was a year ago”. It was the third straight quarterly expansion, even though it was weaker than the 5.6% gain in Q4 2009.

The US Commerce Department confirmed spending rose by 0.6% in March 2010, after a revised 0.5% rise in February. In March, spending adjusted for inflation increased by 0.5% after a similar gain in February. Personal income grew by 0.3% following a 0.1% rise in the month prior, whereas real disposable income expanded by 0.2%. In the spate of increased spending, savings fell at an annual rate of $303.9 billion, the lowest since September 2008. In the 12 months ending March 2010, personal consumption expenditure price index excluding food and energy rose by 1.3%. Thomson Reuters’ Small Business Lending Index (measuring overall level of financing) specified a rise of 4% in March, the highest since October 2007.

The US Labor Department’s monthly snapshot showed US has added jobs for 4 consecutive months, peaking at 290,000 jobs in April, highest in the last 4 years! A contradictory report shows that the unemployment rate has crawled up to 9.9% from 9.7% in March. But there’s a valid reason – the new found confidence has led to a significant increase in the number of people looking for jobs again, who had previously given up. As per government figures, 195,000 returned to work force this year in April. Average work-week was inching to 34.1 hours and hourly wages were also up by 1 cent in April.


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