Sunday Posts

President Obama had to muster all his oratorical skills to deliver this year’s State of the Union address, just as Americans started blaming him for their plight. He had a lot at stake. He was under pressure, this being another election year, from his own party and those who voted for him. He had to answer his critics – those who are thinking that he is trying to do too much and those who are thinking he is doing too little – and show the country that he is still in control and setting the agenda. It was, in all, a difficult speech, he had to strike a balance at every step, and he had to answer the critics and naysayers while calling for an end to ‘an election every day’ and unnecessarily divisive politics. Clearly, his greatest worry is the economy. Justifiably so, especially as the employment figures look dismal. Even when business outlook has started looking up and other economic indicators are also on the way to recovery, there are fears that America is looking at a jobless ...

President Obama finally said what he has been saying for a while - that US companies will not receive tax breaks if they ship American jobs abroad. He is speaking for many democrats, who favoured such a measure for a long time. They are hoping that this will dampen outsourcing, at a crucial time when the politicians need to be seen doing something to stem the job losses. It will tickle the economic nationalists the right way, and indeed, every recession sees them in ascendancy . So, President Obama has said the right thing, at the right time, for the Americans. The comment dominated the discussions in India. We traditionally favour democratic candidates, but usually got raw deals from successive democratic administrations. The reviled George W. bestowed us with a nuclear deal, whereas the enormously popular Clinton clubbed us with Pakistan and tried to put sanctions on us. Obama, and Kerry before him, has been saying uncomfortable things for a while, but now this has become a policy st...