I am intrigued by the issues Obama is having with his stimulus package and the lack of cross party support that was highlighted this week.
The US podcast Left, Right and Center (a must listen) sheds some light on Obama’s problem. The podcast has views from 3 regulars across the political spectrum (not politicians), hence the title. Usually there is a diversion of views. This week the panel were in agreement not only on the stimulus package but more importantly what should happen before approval.
What came across was that Congress should not fast track the package through, but there should be due diligence on the monies, with the appropriate accountabilities.
This throws up a number of issues. Obama may not get his package through in the form he would like by mid-February, and it could get delayed. The panel appeared to be saying, what is the hurry. The other point made is that the bank bail out was rushed in a panic and no one knows where the money has gone.
The US and UK political cycles are not in sync; the former do not have electoral considerations, but the Republican's will do all they can to make Obama’s life difficult. This spills over to Brown’s agenda. He wants the US to pass the package quickly as Obama wants, with the spin off for the G20.
However it may not all go to plan. Brown’s strategy for the G20 and beyond are obvious. But it is dependent on a US agenda that he has no influence over. Moreover, I am not convinced that the G20 dominates US thinking as Brown hopes.
How this develops in the run up to the G20 could get very interesting. Matters may not go as Moses wants and more importantly needs for his own political ends.
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I agree. The G20 is not important to the US. I doubt many commentators know what it stands for. The G8 is hard enough to list. The future of the stimulus package is wrapped up in congressional politics. The urgency is paramount and no one doubts this in the US but the reason no republicans voted for it in Congress was so that the more appeasing senate and joint house Conference is encouraged to listen more to the other side of the argument... ie more tax cuts.
ReplyDeleteBTW, the program you referred to, ,Left, Left, Centre Left and Right', has been way off the mark on the Congressional view of this crisis. Tony Blankley is wrong. Congrss wants this done quick, it is not seen primarily as an international problem (even though it is!).
Interesting comments. Blankley maybe wrong and we shall if he is over the next few weeks. The point I am trying to make is the US and UK have different agendas that may not converge to Brown's liking.
ReplyDeleteDavos and G20 come and go as the post-mortems on the wrecked global economy. Where should we go from here? More bailouts and stimulus initiatives may help some. Is time to focus on viable and sustainable solutions? Businesses and banks need bespoke turnaround survival strategies to reduce losses, improve efficiency, increase revenue, gain sustainable competitive advantage, and outperform market competition. The results add real business values, attract investors; create new business opportunities and jobs. Online retail sales, for example, will climb by 11 percent in 2009, even in the recession. One FixyaExperts.com client was advised to reduce losses by 30% and increase production by 50% to attract investors who continue to target undervalued growth sectors, niche and captive markets where consumer demand still continues to grow in double-digits annually to 2030. So, where should we go from here? What other solutions are out there for recovery? http://www.youtube.com/fixyaexperts, http://FixyaExperts.blogspot.com
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