U.S. Politics

[prasen9]

Jay, Obama has gotten passed an astonishing number of things in the lame duck session. I do not fully agree with him but it seems he seems to figured out the game of give and take and is getting things done. Maybe the Republicans were stalling everything to win the elections and now want the things unpopular to their base out of the way two years before the next elections so that nobody remembers. Tax cuts, temporary budget, DADT repeal, 10-20 judges confirmed, START treaty passed. DREAM failed and I think 9/11 responders bill will pass. That is indeed a lot. For good or for bad, the country needs a leader to lead. Maybe O is finally finding his way. I think of all his promises in the elections, he has failed in the areas of ending human-rights abuses and effecting immigration and energy reforms. None of these will pass in the next two years. He should try to get a large number of his judges passed in the meantime when Congress will essentially be divided and grid-locked. Hopefully, he will end the war in A soon.

On the other side of the (many) ponds, an intriguing article BJP = Congress? I have read a bit about the riots including parts of the Srikrishna Commission reports. I must say that I think most riots are economic/power issues rather than religious acts. Flame away.

[jayakris]

I was also wondering about that. Stuff seems to have been happening when nobody is noticing with the holiday mood and the republicans quietly getting bad things out of the way. It may help Obama if he can point to successes from these things and take ownership. The republicans will still come up with ways to one-up him and I am sure he knows all the game pretty well now. I just don't see the tea-party fervor staying on for another 2 years now that they have got a bunch of their candidates elected. Obama still needs to do something to energize the democratic base, but the bottom line for him is still unemployment, plain and simple. If it somehow drops close to 7 percent (a tall order) from 9.8 in the next 22 months he will win a re-election. Jay

[kujo]

Existing republicans in senate and house are afraid of the vocal ones coming on board starting Jan 2011. They would rather get some of the sensible bills passed now (which they dragged their feet on, before elections) than wait and not getting any of them passed!

You said it, Obama has to work his miracle over the next 18 months (not 22) and get the unemployment numbers under control, to get re-elected.

I am always surprised by his and his campaign's cockiness in thinking about an automatic second term! He even referred his time served as President so far, as the 1st quarter of a football game!! Really?! I think it is the halftime buddy, wake up and start scrambling to make some touchdowns, or there won't be another game!!

[prasen9]

kujo, you are right, but, in everything he says publicly, he has to project himself as a two term president as if that is a given. It is standard PR trying to make people accept it subliminally so that they are not as opposed to that idea. At the end, it is the economy stupid. Whatever he does and passes or not will not matter. If the unemployment goes down and people have money, he gets re-elected. If not, he is out.

[prasen9]

Karl Rove talks about Hillary leaving in 2014, etc. He thinks Obama will be re-elected, that means I can understand Obama's team trying to project his re-election as a done deal, but, it is interesting to see that Rove thinks that he will be re-elected. Rove's interview

[prasen9]

Hansen Clarke - the first half-Bangladeshi American in the U.S. Congress?

[prasen9]

(Pakistani) Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer was killed by his bodyguard a few days ago for being against Pakistan's blasphemy law that would result in a death sentence. Today Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford and a U.S. judge, John Roll, were shot at in Arizona at a political event. Unfortunately, Roll did not survive and the bullet passed through Congresswoman Gifford's brain. She is in critical condition. The Taliban and the American Taliban must be controlled. Violent anti-government rhetoric has no place in civil society. I am saddened by the two deaths and the congresswoman's state and deplore these actions.

[prasen9]

Hosni Mubarak is 82. The guy should just retire and let the country avoid serious bloodshed, etc.

[jayakris]

When you are in power for 29 years, you are protecting a lot of people who help you to stay in power. Those people will not easily let you step down. That is his problem. I have always believed that Egypt was a prime litmus test for whether the Muslim world will ever get their act together with democracy. He may go, but I am not sure if anything will change because there is something in Muslim countries that always prevents any good people with any sense of integrity from ever emerging as a saviors. It never happens, regardless of the whole population getting out on the streets and crying for democracy. The biggest puzzle that I cannot find an answer to. He will be replaced by another equally dishonest guy and there will be no democracy.

Jay

[prasen9]

Well, yes, his cronies do not want him to leave, but, he could just leave the country and take refuge somewhere else and tell them that he feared for his life.

[kelvineendersone]

I think that the current definition of politics is, "Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions." is not accurate. There are many situations in which a group of people engages in some process to make decisions, but that process would not be described as politics.
I think the second paragraph with "social relations involving authority or power" is more accurate.

[Atithee]

Disgusting! A total contrast to my reaction in the Tri Valley University case. This is just not right. Google Krittika Biswas to read more.

Situation summary:
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2011 ... tab/print/

Gory details:
http://www.nypost.com/r/nypost/2011/05/ ... fClaim.pdf

[PKBasu]

Now that the UP elections are over (with results due on Tuesday, March 6th), the Congress's spin brigade has swung into action (pardon the liberal use of cricketing terms ):

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/utta ... 76339.html

Isn't it convenient to be Rahul Gandhi? If the Congress does well in an election (as it unexpectedly did in 2009, winning 21 Lok Sabha seats from UP, or the equivalent of over 90 assembly segments), it was immediately attributed to Rahul's go-it-alone strategy. (The same strategy abjectly failed in neighboring Bihar, but this was conveniently forgotten). Rahul G has spent most of the past 12 months campaigning in UP, supposedly building up the Youth Congress and rebuilding the Congress organization in the state. Most exit polls suggest it will come to naught. So the Congresswallahs are saying that the unfavorable result for Congress in UP cannot possibly be blamed on Rahul. (They had already moved the goalposts, by effectively saying that anything more than 22 seats won in the last Assembly election would be a victory of sorts for Congress; that is rubbish, only 90+ seats will be a real advance; seeing the writing on the wall, Rahul stitched up an alliance with Ajit Singh, but even that seems not to have helped). Let's see what the actual results show. If Congress (NOT the Cong-RLD alliance) wins anything less than 75 seats, Rahul Gandhi should consider another profession, because all his populism and promises of central government largesse have utterly failed to energize the electorate.

[Peter]

PK, While i have no love lost for the Gandhis, isn't it a bit ironic that Ben Bernanke and Tim Geithner are genuine masters in your book? These two have destroyed America as we know it in order to serve their masters (big government and the TBTF banks).

[PKBasu]

In what way, pray, have they destroyed America? While Europe under Trichet was flailing about, the US is leading the world out of recession. The US manufacturing sector is in the most robust health it has been in for the past decade, regional banks are cautiously expanding credit again, and the labour market is beginning to revive -- after the catastrophic damage to the economy by George W Bush (and his insane tax cutting that turned a fiscal surplus -- and the likelihood of steadily declining public debt -- after the Clinton years into an ever-rising deficit and spiraling public debt overhand) and Greenspan. Fortunately, a sensible successor to Trichet at the ECB (Mario Draghi) is pursuing more sensible monetary policies in Europe too, so the danger to the world economy from there is beginning to ebb (although the politicians could yet mess it up).

(Far too many in America have become blind adherents to the utter nonsense spouted by Ron Paul and his ilk. The "Austrians" have never had a solution to deflation, and never will).