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Posts Tagged ‘Barack’

Schumpeter: Barack and business

December 9th, 2010 | No Comments

Corporate America is mending fences with the nation’s chief executive. Tentatively

TO MANY American capitalists, Barack Obama has been simply the “most anti-business president ever”. For much of this year it has been hard to find an American boss with a good word to say about him. Some of those who supported his election have groused the loudest. In July the head of the Business Roundtable, a trade association for business, accused Mr Obama of creating an “increasingly hostile environment for investment and job creation”. The US Chamber of Commerce, another business lobby, complained that the White House “vilified industries”, among other crimes against prosperity. Corporate America was a leading source of funds for the Republicans who seized control of the House of Representatives last month.

Nonetheless, the mood has changed. Business leaders have been fulsome in their praise for the deal Mr Obama struck with Republicans in Congress on December 7th to extend the “Bush tax cuts” for two more years. This deal does nothing to address America’s long-term budget woes, but the Chamber said it would “go a long way toward helping our economy break out of this slump and begin creating American jobs”. …

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Technology firms and Barack Obama: End of the silicon honeymoon

October 28th, 2010 | No Comments

The love affair that technology firms had with America’s president is fading fast

PASSING through California on a mid-term campaign swing, Barack Obama made a point of stopping off to see Steve Jobs, the boss of Apple. He also hob-nobbed with executives from Google and other Silicon Valley companies. More than any of his predecessors, Mr Obama likes to pay homage to the titans of technology. They, in turn, have lavished him with praise and political donations. But now many tech folk are worrying out loud that his government is not as serious about supporting innovation as it purports to be.

The tech crowd thought the latest occupant of the White House was one of their own. An enigmatic politician with strong convictions, Mr Obama in many ways resembled the driven young spirits that venture capitalists love to take a punt on. And during the presidential campaign he wowed Silicon Valley with an elevator pitch that envisaged using social media and other technologies developed there to fashion a new and radical political order. Everything from Mr Obama’s addiction to his BlackBerry to his keenness to see maths and science promoted in schools suggested he would be the most tech-friendly president in history. Small wonder, then, that the techies swooned over him. …

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Second Grader Grills First Lady On Immigration Reform [VIDEO]

May 20th, 2010 | No Comments

Is Barack Obama taking away everyone who doesn’t have “papers?” This second grader sure seems to think so. Kids say the darndest things! During a visit to a grade school on Wednesday, a young girl asked First Lady Michelle Obama an unexpected question on the controversial Arizona immigration law.

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Top Recipient of Political Cash from BP, Goldman Sachs, Defense Contractors AND Healthcare Giants: Barack Obama

May 5th, 2010 | No Comments

Preface: The story that Obama was the top recipient of political contributions from BP is going viral today. I thought I’d put the story in a little context.As a side note, I voted for Obama and had high hopes for him … until he appointed Summers…

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Where did all the love go?

March 17th, 2010 | No Comments

Barack Obama has lost patience with Israel. But neither side dares risk a break-up

IT HAS been like a lovers’ tiff without the love—quickly tamped down but with none of the kissing and making up, and no soothing of the underlying rage. As Palestinian violence flared in Jerusalem, Barack Obama’s secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said through gritted teeth on March 16th that Israel and America enjoyed “a close, unshakable bond”. On the same day Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, claimed he had been “flagrantly misquoted” in a widely reported leak that he had called the quarrel the worst crisis between the allies for 35 years.

It is nonetheless plain that relations between Israel and the Obama administration are indeed in crisis. The spark was last week’s approval by Israel’s interior ministry of 1,600 new homes in Ramat Shlomo, a Jewish suburb in East (Palestinian) Jerusalem. This coincided not only with a visit by Vice-President Joe Biden but also with the eve of the “proximity talks” America had at last persuaded Mahmoud Abbas to enter with Binyamin (“Bibi”) Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister. Mr Biden is known for his affection towards Israel but took the announcement as a gratuitous insult. So did Mrs Clinton, who on March 12th berated Mr Netanyahu for three-quarters of an hour on the phone. She reportedly told Mr Biden to “condemn” the announcement rather than merely “express concern”. …

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The week ahead

March 14th, 2010 | No Comments

Barack Obama’s off-again-on-again trip to Asia

• BARACK OBAMA is set for a trip to Asia, beginning with a stop at his boyhood home of Indonesia. But the visit, originally set to start on Thursday March 18th, will be delayed until Sunday 21st so Mr Obama can be present to give health-reform a final push before a crucial congressional vote. America’s president says that he is looking forward to visiting old haunts in the most populous Muslim country. He is certain to discuss counter-terrorism efforts with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and is expected to reiterate the message of a speech in Cairo last year that sought to strengthen ties between America and the Muslim world. He is also set to visit Australia, too.

• THE head of the Senate banking committee, Christopher Dodd, will unveil a long-awaited proposal on reforming regulation of America’s financial industry on Monday March 15th. Attempts at molding a bipartisan bill foundered after Republicans insisted that a new consumer-protection agency should have few powers. The bill is likely to insist on central clearing for more over-the-counter derivatives and propose setting up a body to grab control of and wind-down financial companies that show signs of breeding systemic failure. …

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Homeward bound

January 28th, 2010 | No Comments

How Barack Obama’s concerns have changed over the past year

IN HIS state-of-the-union speech on Wednesday January 27th Barack Obama shifted emphasis from his inaugural address, a comparable oratorical set-piece delivered a year ago. The internationalism of a year ago has given way to a focus on domestic matters with the relative frequency of references to “America”, “Americans” and the nation going up, while those to the world declined. Whereas his inaugural address made no mention of banks or the financial sector, these appeared often in this week’s speech. A sharper emphasis on the economic concerns of ordinary Americans shows up in Mr Obama’s more frequent references to jobs, workers and the economy.

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The week ahead

January 24th, 2010 | No Comments

Barack Obama’s first state-of-the-union address

• A BRUISED Barack Obama is set to deliver his first state-of-the-union address on Wednesday January 27th. A recent defeat of the Democratic candidate for the Massachusetts Senate seat once held by Edward Kennedy has given the Republicans enough votes to break the Democrats’ filibuster-proof majority in the upper house. This puts Mr Obama’s precious health-care reform bill in doubt. So Mr Obama will need to deploy plenty of his customary eloquence to convince Americans that he can still deliver “change you can believe in” after the knocks of his first year in office.

• SRI LANKA’S president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, will seek to capitalise on his military victory against the Tamil Tigers at a presidential poll called nearly two years earlier than it need have been. On Tuesday January 26th Sri Lankans face a choice between Mr Rajapaksa, who launched the final bloody phase of the war in 2009, and Sarath Fonseka, a general who led the army that waged it. Both candidates are Sinhalese nationalists; neither seems keen on national reconciliation. But with the Sinhalese vote apparently closely split between Mr Rajapaksa and Mr Fonseka, Tamils, who constitute only 12% of the population, may have the deciding say. …

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Defiant Obama defends first White House year

January 18th, 2010 | No Comments

Barack Obama mounted an impassioned defence of his crisis-haunted first year as president on Sunday, but admitted to facing personal doubts over the “painfully slow” pace of the change he has promised. But the US leader pleaded with Americans not to lose faith in his ambitious drive for

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Barack Obama in new musical in Germany

January 14th, 2010 | No Comments

US President Barack Obama is set to feature in a new musical which will open in Germany this weekend.
The musical, titled “Hope — the Obama Musical Story,” is a bilingual production that will also feature the characters of his Republican rival John McCain and former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, reports Los Angeles Times.
The [...]

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The week ahead

November 29th, 2009 | No Comments

Barack Obama announces his strategy for Afghanistan, and other news

• AFTER lengthy deliberations, Barack Obama will announce whether he is sending more American soldiers to Afghanistan on Tuesday December 1st. He is expected to announce a “surge” of as many as 35,000 extra soldiers. He will try to persuade an increasingly weary American public that an expansion of forces in Afghanistan is the best hope for creating conditions to allow eventual withdrawal. Although he is unlikely to commit to a timetable for getting out of Afghanistan, Mr Obama will make it clear that America’s commitment is not open-ended. See article

• AMERICA’S Senate will start debate on a health-care bill on Monday November 30th, with the Democratic leadership keen to pass it before Christmas. Many Republicans and some Democrats have made it clear that they do not like parts of the bill as crafted, and intend to offer difficult amendments. If the bill were to pass, it would then need to be reconciled with a version recently passed by the House, before Barack Obama could sign it. See article …

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Obama meets with advisers on Afghanistan

November 24th, 2009 | No Comments

President Barack Obama began a meeting on Monday night with top advisers on Afghanistan as he closes in on a decision about whether to send thousands more U.S. troops to confront a growing insurgency. The war council with Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense

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US President Barack Obama congratulated Hamid Karzai on his re-election as President of Afghanistan and asked him to improve governance, besides eradicating corruption. Congratulating Karzai over telephone on his re-election on Tuesday, Obama told the Afghan leader that his administration needs to be more serious in its efforts to eradicate corruption. Later, Obama said that Karzai assured him that he understood the importance of the time of his re-election. “But as I indicated to him, the proof is not going to be in words, it is going to be in deeds,” Obama said. Informing reporters about his call with Karzai, Obama said at his Oval Office, “I spoke with President Karzai and I congratulated him on his election for the second term as President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.” Although the process was messy, the US President said he was pleased with the final outcome as it was in accordance with Afghan law. This, according to him, was important not only for the international community that has invested so much in Afghan success, but most importantly, is important for the Afghans that the results were in accordance with and followed the rules laid down by the country’s constitution. “I did emphasize to President Karzai that the American people and the international community as a whole want to continue to partner with him and his government in achieving prosperity and security in Afghanistan,” Obama said.

November 3rd, 2009 | No Comments

Iran said on Monday it is ready for new talks on how to procure nuclear fuel for a Tehran research reactor and prepared to purchase the supplies from any world producer.
“We are ready for the next meeting regarding the supply of fuel for the Tehran research reactor,” Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s envoy to the [...]

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Gay icon?

October 13th, 2009 | No Comments

Many American gays want Barack Obama to speed up his plans to improve their lot

THE charge that Barack Obama delivers soaring rhetoric but little action is in the air these days. America’s gays, for example, are discussing the matter. On Saturday October 10th, Mr Obama spoke at a dinner arranged by the Human Rights Campaign, America’s largest gay organisation. He presented a list of policies he wants to change on behalf of gays, including repealing the Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as between a man and a woman, and the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which prohibits openly gay people from serving in the armed forces. His commitment to these issues, he promised, is “unwavering”.

Yet wavered he has. Since taking office, he has failed to pursue any big policy changes on minority rights. He campaigned on the promise of repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” and DOMA. He has not touched the former and his Justice Department issued a brief defending the latter. He has appointed a few gays to positions in his administration, and he also granted partial benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees. Yet many had hoped to find a more steadfast ally in the White House. …

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After Barack Obama, wife Michelle gets her own action figure

October 13th, 2009 | No Comments

After miniaturising US President Barack Obama into a doll, toy company Jailbreak Toys has come up with a Michelle Obama action figure.
Jason Feinberg of Jailbreak Toys says he thinks the First Lady doll will outdo the President’’s version, which has already racked up 200,000 sales.
Feinberg, who introduced the Barack doll in November 2008, said he [...]

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Simon Johnson: “Barack Obama, Like Louis XIV Before Him, Knows Exactly What is Going On”

September 29th, 2009 | No Comments

Many people assume that Obama doesn’t understand that his economic team – Summers, Geithner, Bernanke, Gensler and the boys – are preserving the status quo, and failing to make the fundamental reforms needed to stabilize the economy.They assume that t…

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Obama: U.S., Russia agree Iran may face new sanctions

September 24th, 2009 | No Comments

Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev agreed yesterday that further UN sanctions will be considered if Iran does not respond to proposals to end a nuclear standoff. Foreign ministers from the five permanent UN Security Council members — the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China — and a German official met at the United Nations to continue discussions about Iran’s nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at developing atomic weapons.

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Obama’s School Speech Video Reaction

September 9th, 2009 | No Comments

Sarah East’s take on the Barack Obama video speech to our nation’s youth that aired yesterday.

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Obama launches economic counter-attack

August 6th, 2009 | No Comments

Despite staggering job losses and nationwide financial misery, President Barack Obama has a new message for recession-weary Americans: the pulse of the sickly US economy is quickening. With his once sky-high approval ratings eroding by the week as Republican foes slash away at his ambitious

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Obama faces growing political challenges

August 4th, 2009 | No Comments

U.S. President Barack Obama will mark his first 200 days in office amid opinion polls that show weakening public support for one of his key domestic priorities. It is a far cry from Obama’s first 100 days when he enjoyed strong support in the polls and moved quickly to get an economic stimulus plan through Congress.

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