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As the economy sinks deeper into the abyss of economic stagnation, Washington is engulfed in partisan warfare, with another government shutdown looming on the horizon. Both political parties portray this strictly in partisan terms only appeasing to the base of their party, virtually ignoring the crisis American's are suffering through.
Missing is any sense of leadership! Right now the President has been crisscrossing the country on a partisan trip blaming others for the state of the economy, without looking at his own administration polices, which have contributed to the lack of job creation.
Republicans act like they control all elements of national power and must understand they control only one part of government and have to compromise, but unfortunately this is anathema to many Congressional Republicans.
Democrats, who for two years had a super majority in Congress, and had the largest Democratic majority since 1978, instead of governing in a bi-partisan manner, embarked on liberal agenda which appeased only their base. Democrats blame Republicans on the lack of a budget, but Democrats and the administration have failed to pass a budget since 2009. The Presidents own budget was defeated 97-0 in the Democratic controlled Senate.
This country needs leadership, but unfortunately it is getting only partisan politics from the two dominate parties.
http://militarybriefingbook.com/topic.cfm?topic=U.S.%20Politics
With all the focus on the U.S. economy and the President's response to persistent high unemployment and stagnate economic growth, another crisis is brewing, one that will have dramatic effect of the image and standing of the United States; that is in foreign policy.
Within days of assuming the presidency, President Obama was selected as a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and would be awarded this prestigious honor nine months later. This distinguished award was not given to the President for what the Nobel Prize Committee believed he would accomplish in the realm of peace, but more a repudiation of the polices of his predecessor; President Bush.
Unfortunately, the polices of President Obama have failed to live up to the lofty expectations many had for this perceived transformational president. This week the President of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, will address the United Nations and issue a formal request to the UN Secretary General for full UN membership for a Palestinian state.
The United States has now been placed in a difficult situation by having to utilize its veto in the Security Council and would rather the situation be dealt with in negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. The President's own policies have contributed to this situation. Last September, the President unveiled his "Peace in a Year" initiative which failed to revive the peace process.
The "Arab Spring" revolution which swept the region, caught the administration totally by surprise, and it seems the President has always been one step behind world events. The difficulties the President is facing domestically are now manifesting themselves overseas.
The lofty aspirations many had for him after receiving the Nobel Prize were never rooted in reality!
http://militarybriefingbook.com/browse.cfm?category=Defense%20Policy%20and%20Budget&subcategory=U.S.%20Foreign%20Policy
For months the President has ridiculed Congressional Republicans for playing politics with the nation's economy, but the President has done exactly what he has criticized Republicans of doing. Today, the President has unveiled his debt reduction plan, but instead of a bold and comprehensive strategy to rein in the nation's massive national debt, the President offers only a partisan plan that appeals to the base of his party.
The main theme of the President's debt reduction is raising over $1.5 trillion in new taxes, mainly coming from new tax's on the wealthy. Unfortunately this approach has been tried before, in 2010 the Democratic controlled Congress rejected any tax increase, but now the the President is playing class warfare and partisan politics as he prepares for his re-election in 2012.
The plan offered by the President would do little to reduce the deficit, much like his jobs plan will do nothing to end persistent high unemployment in this country. If the President truly wants to reduce the massive U.S. federal debt, then get American's back to work!
The time has come for an overhaul of the nation's tax code by reducing corporate and individual tax rates, ending loopholes, but not applying selective capitalism on companies the President's base doesn't like. Reforming the tax code in a true bi-partisan manner, as was accomplished in 1986 by President Reagan and Democratic House Speaker Tip O'Neill, would go along way to increase revenue.
Uncertainty is strangling the economy as the business community is not sure what the tax rates will be, what new regulations will emanate from Washington, and what impact health care legislation will have on their business.
As the President continues injecting uncertainty into the economy the business community will respond by waiting for the outcome of the 2012 presidential election before they begin to hire again.
http://militarybriefingbook.com/topic.cfm?topic=U.S.%20Politics
Yesterday, two reports painted a dire portrait of the United States; first the government reported that the poverty rate surged last year to 46.2 million people. Secondly, the Congressional Budget Office issued a report in which unemployment will remain around 9% for all of 2012.
All this has ominous ramifications for the President as he prepares for his re-election in 2012, and to make matters worse, Democrats lost two special elections yesterday. The seat in New York was particular hard to swallow for the White House, as it had been occupied by a Democrat since the 1920's. Each of these races were a referendum on the President and his handling of the economy.
Currently the President is on the road to sell and gather support for his job's plan that he unveiled to the American people and submitted to Congress. The unfortunate aspect of the President's job proposal is it contains nothing new, and replicates past proposals which have failed to revive or jump start the stagnate U.S. economy, not to mention the fact that it appears that they are to be paid for through new taxes, not a particular popular topic in lite of the stagnate economy and high unemployment numbers.
Time is running out, especially for the American people who want only one thing; a job!
http://militarybriefingbook.com/topic.cfm?topic=U.S.%20Politics
Yesterday, the President, before a Joint Session of Congress, gave an impassionate speech and laid out a $447 billion legislative plan for jump starting the stagnate U.S. economy, but more importantly set the stage for the 2012 Presidential election.
President Obama, in his speech to Congress outlined his "American Jobs Act", which if passed will now begin to create the jobs needed to resurrect the U.S. economy. Many of the proposals outlined by the President in his virtual second stimulus, are policy initiatives which have been tried before and have proven ineffective.
Inside the President's proposal are programs such as temporary payroll tax cuts, extended unemployment insurance, including incentives for businesses to hire new employees, and investing in infrastructure spending across the country. One has to remember all these proposals by the President were part of his first stimulus, which was over $800 billion, but failed to keep unemployment below 8%.
The unfortunate aspect for the President, which he mentioned in his speech, is the burden of regulations on the business community, which he stated hamper economic growth. The President wants to end crippling regulation on business, but failed to mention the passage of the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act of 2010, which has hampered business growth. The uncertainty of this piece of legislation has caused confusion throughout the business community, as more than seventy percent of the regulations have yet to be written. This was supposed to rein in the major financial institutions, which had a role in the financial crisis in 2008, but left Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac exempt. Both entities are still being bailed out to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.
The uncertainty facing the business sector hasn't been addressed by the President. It is one thing to give a tax break to businesses to hire additional personnel, but they still need to know what their tax burden will be in the future. Everything the President proposed are all temporary solutions. Hiring someone is a long term solution, if you are uncertain to what the future will be, you will not hire anyone.
Currently businesses don't know what future tax policy will emanate from Washington, as the Bush era tax rate expires at the end of 2012. Businesses are unsure what the financial regulations will be, or what environmental regulations will be set by the EPA and other government agencies. Health care is another area that is still looming, as like financial reform, an unelected bureaucracy will decide what regulations will be imposed.
The President gave a good campaign speech, but failed to solve the underlying problem with the economy; the uncertainty facing businesses across America.
http://militarybriefingbook.com/topic.cfm?topic=U.S.%20Politics
With unemployment at record levels and employment in the U.S. at a virtual standstill, the President on Thursday is poised as part of his job proposal, unveil a $300 billion spending plan.
The President will call for additional spending on the nation's infrastructure, housing aid, extension of unemployment benefits, tax cuts for business to hire workers and to spur hiring, and finally, additional aid for state and local governments.
The unfortunate aspect of the President's proposal is that this is a repeat of the first stimulus, which failed to keep unemployment below 8% as the administration stated it would not rise above. This administration again has failed to understand the real reason businesses are reluctant to hire; uncertainty over the future.
Right now businesses are faced with a labyrinth array of regulations that stifle economic growth, a tax structure that prevents job creation, and a health care law passed last year which businesses are still coming to grip with. None of these areas are fully understandable to the business community, as many regulations have yet to be written, and those that have stifle economic growth.
Again, the President will propose more of the same, which will not stimulate the economy or reduce the nation's persistent high unemployment.
http://militarybriefingbook.com/topic.cfm?topic=U.S.%20Politics
As the economy sinks deeper into the abyss of economic stagnation, Washington is engulfed in partisan warfare, with another government shutdown looming on the horizon. Both political parties portray this strictly in partisan terms only appeasing to the base of their party, virtually ignoring the crisis American's are suffering through.
