The Strengths Of US Democracy

The strength of the US democracy lies in the fact people have the freedom and right to question each and every action taken by the government, whether in internal politics, military decisions or foreign affairs. One such move of the then US Government under George Bush which is creating a lot of debate and interest is the decision to invade Iraq in 2003. Though there was lot of support for US invasion of Afghanistan because it was becoming highly notorious and was very fast falling in the hands of notorious terror groups like the Al Qaeda led by Osama Bin Laden. However, the decision to attack Iraq is something which has not gone down well with a majority of the American opinion.

The reasons touted for attacking Iraq in 2003 was that it was also responsible for the 9/11 catastrophe and one more reason for attacking Iraq was attributed to the presence of weapons of mass destruction and also the possession of nuclear weapons. Even before the first short was fired it was found that all such allegations that Iraq was a rogue state. In hindsight, when we look at the Iraq invasion episode it was driven by more of a person animosity between Bush and Saddam Hussain, rather than any particular reason of consequence.

The net result of the whole misadventure of Bush’s misadventure is that thousands of innocent American soldiers were drawn into this unnecessary battle. After 8 years, Iraq continues to be as volatile as with daily killings. The nation continues to be as deeply divided as it was eight years ago. However, the only solace is that as democracy we are able freely express our views.

Filed Under: Democratic Party, United States Tagged With: , ,

Getting More Information On U.S Politics

The USA still continues to dominate the international scene both in terms of military might and political strength and hence whatever happens to the U.S political scene internally, is watched with keen interest not only by the citizens of the country but also by other people of the world well. U.S watching is of great importance and significance to many concerned citizens of the international group of nations.

Though the TV is a medium which may give us a lot of news regarding the happenings in the USA, there is another medium which is fast catching up with regard to the political happenings in this great country. It is the internet and online news articles pertaining to the USA with special reference to politics of that country is indeed creating lot of interest. The reason is that the information available in online and extremely relevant and real time. The biggest advantage of viewing political happenings in the USA is the fact that it aggregates news from various sources and brings them under one platform. Hence the viewer is in a position to gather more information in one place and he can access to varied opinions and thoughts which makes the news so much wide ranging, relative.

Many citizens of the world would also like to share their thoughts about the happenings in US political system and the only platform available to them as of now is the internet. While thoughts can be shared through newspapers, it is quite tough unless you belong to one of the members of the editorial section. Hence internet is the best place to keep your abreast of the latest happenings in the USA.

Filed Under: Democratic Party, United States Tagged With: , ,

Bringing Back American Economy On Track

One of the biggest disasters to have struck the American and World economies is without doubt the 2008 crash. Companies after companies shut shop, big names in the banking and financial industry fell by the wayside like nine pins. Organizations which were around for more than 100 years closed down. While things have started looking up and banks and financial institutions have started making money again, much more needs to be done if we are to put back the economy back on track.

Any disastrous situation requires innovative methods to squeeze out and we as nation would do well if we went on a brainstorming session to finds out newer and more unique ways of generating employment and creating more revenue for the nation as a whole. We as a nation should encourage creativity and award those brains which have come up with such ideas that could be implemented. Our society therefore calls for new entrepreneurs and inventors. We should encourage more people who are job creators than job eaters. Small scale industries and home based business opportunities are great income generating sources and could play a significant role in reducing unemployment or underemployment.

The biggest problem for entrepreneurs who want to start their own business. There are basically three methods by which an entrepreneur can raise capital, either through his own resources, through government grants or through venture capitalists. Though capital is out there in plenty, getting it to start a business is difficult because, very few financiers would be willing to put their neck on line for a project which is in its start up stage. Unless capital is available easily, the idea of innovation would remain a pipe dream.

Filed Under: United States Tagged With: , ,

A President In The True Neutral Sense Of The Term

The President of the USA gets elected no doubt under a party symbol and vows to stand by that party’s manifesto and plan of action for the next 4 years. But in certain times of history, the President has to look beyond party affiliations and has to bull doze his way through in what he believes is good, even if it means taking on his own party men.

President Obama is at times seemingly doing it and there are many instances over the past two years which go to prove that Obama is an outsider when it came to pushing his personal agenda even if it comes to ruffling some feathers in the Democratic Party itself. A strong president is one who does not cave in to party pressures when it comes to pushing through vital and critical reforms which are for the benefit of larger sections of the society. When people will judge Obama as a President in history, they will surely respect and adore him for sticking on to plans which would be for the better of major portion of America’s population.

He made his intentions very clear by signing a number of landmark bills which gave woman equal rights in the place of work. Then there was the historic Healthcare Reform bill, which no other President of the past had the courage to push it through. Then last but not the least the Patient’s Right bill which was gathering dust for the past 75 years was signed. While all these are indeed great signs of a great leader who cuts across party lines, there are lot of fingers being pointed out at him, accusing him of moving too fast and wanting too much to be done within a short period of time. Whether he “weathers” the storm or trips and falls.

Filed Under: Politics, United States Tagged With: , ,

Bridging The Racial Divide In The USA

President Elect Obama’s speech on Sunday, May 17, 2008 still continues to be one the most inspiring and emotional speech to date given by any politician over the past many decades. Before the actual speech actually began there was a lot of acrimony and debate whether it was in the right taste to honor a prominent abortion rights activist and too in one the well known Catholic Institutions. The atmosphere was agog with rumors and gossips of large scale demonstrations and boycotts by those belonging to the more conservative strains of society.

But as the saying goes and as history has shown us time and again, the best people exhibit their best skills in times of great trials and tribulations and this was one such occasion. Though Obama had won a landslide election, the nation was still split down the middle and there was palpable evidence that USA has still to overcome the racial divide which has been its bane for the last so many centuries. However, President Obama took this opportunity to take the sail off his critics by acknowledging the fact that there did exist a problem of racial divide and he used this speech to defuse the situation and take the heat out of the whole atmosphere. He bridged the divide by actually acknowledging the fact that there existed one.

Much water has flown ever since that historic speech in the summer of 2008 and USA is now trying to find back its feet as an economic superpower. But this has been not without setback for Obama on the way and the latest results of opinion poll suggest that his ratings are at the lowest since he got elected in the historic 2008 elections. The health reform program which was so close to his heart is one such program which has pulled his ratings down.

Filed Under: Politics, United States Tagged With: , , , ,

US Relations With North Korea

The recent flurry of activities as a result of North Korea hitting some targets in South Korea led us to believe that the USA is on the verge of getting involved in yet another nasty bout in the Korean Peninsula as though the bitter lessons learnt during the Korean War were not enough. The guarded and extremely secret nuclear program of North Korea has been a major reason of concern for USA and its relations with South Korea has got to do more with strategy rather than anything else. There are many people in.

The USA who believe that the missile program of North Korea could be a direct threat to the safety and security of USA and this left many military experts in the USA in a tizzy deciding and planning counter strategies in case of such an event. But their fears could a big far too fetched and misplaced. This is because if you look at North Korea’s missile program from close quarters, it can be described as average to say the least. Their missile program could be compared to what happened in when the Olympic Games were held in Seoul in 1988.

The great dictator of North Korea Kim Jong-II was left fuming and fretting when the games were allotted to South Korea. To show to his own countrymen that North Korea was not far behind, he ordered construction of a hotel which was supposed to the tallest one in the world and having more rotating restaurants than any other such hotels in the world. Work was started with the help of the then USSR. However, things came to a grinding halt when the USSR starting breaking up. The building for many years stood testimony to the in competency of the North Korea regime. So we can rest assured that North Korea is but just a paper tiger.

Filed Under: Business, United States Tagged With: , , ,

The 2008 Crisis And The USA

Almost all religions across the world teach us that the basic reason for unhappiness and strife in an individual and across the world is greed and jealousy. Starting from families, to societies and nations abnormal greed and too much of materialism is the main problem which divides families, societies and nations. The irony is that such unbridled and unabashed greed it bound to hit back and this is what has exactly happened in The USA. The great 2008 meltdown if one analyzes coolly, now that the dust has settled, will surely ascribe it to greed and nothing else. The greedy lots are not the average Americans who toil day and day out to secure a better future for them and their family, but the few rich people who in their quest for accumulating more wealth have become unabashedly shameless.

The greed of corporate America is so naked and blatant that it does not require some extra talent or skill to see it. Though some desperate measures have been put in place to try to put back the economy back on rail, every such move is bound to be temporary and a stop-gap arrangement, until we as a nation try to go deep and find out the actual reason for the disaster called the 2008 meltdown. Unfortunately, America which proclaims itself to be the torch bearer for free enterprise and equal opportunities for all, is today finding itself under the total economic control of a few greedy crocodiles better known and corporate giants.

A small or mid-sized organization or an industry in the USA today has no chance to fight the resources and muscle power of these corporate giants and eventually they lose out. It is indeed a sad fact that in the name of competition, America has created a few corporate giants who have started monopolizing almost every section. This indeed is very bad for the nation. This greed is bound to create deep fissures within the nation and society and if not checked soon, it might blow into a serious socio-economic problem.

Filed Under: Business, United States Tagged With: , ,

U.S Foreign Policy

The American foreign policy for generations has been built around the game of flexing its muscles and establishing its hegemony. This is not done directly, but by entering into a strategic alliance with some not so powerful countries of various regions of the world. If one looks at history, you will find dozens of incidents, where in the name of establishing democracy and freedom of speech, they have supported and helped the growth of many dictatorial regimes and despots. If America is fighting a bloody battle in Afghanistan today, it the result of its skewed and short-sighted foreign policy during the cold war, when the then USSR and invaded this country and installed a puppet regime.

The best thing that America could have done if it was really keen on world peace and stability would have been to encourage the forces of democracy and the rule of the law. Instead of doing it, America instigated armed rebels and faction to take up arms and fight the puppet regime in Afghanistan. While USSR’s move of occupying Afghanistan cannot be justified, America should have realized that two wrongs do not make a right. The country not only instigated the rebels to fight against the government of the day, but also armed them to the teeth. In the process it created a Frankenstein which is now haunting not only the USA, but also poses a grave challenge and threat to world peace and stability.

Ironically, many of the arms and ammunitions supplied by the then American administrations are now being used by the Taliban and other terrorist groups against America’s own soldiers. It is high time America realized the importance of the harm it is doing to the cause of world peace by being a Kangaroo Court in trying to settle disputes between two nations or various groups within a nation. However, nothing much is likely to change as long as America believes that it is the unilateral power in the world to arbitrate world disputes. The sooner it realizes this fact, the better it would be for world peace.

Filed Under: General, United States Tagged With: , , ,

Universal Health Care Isn’t Such a new Idea

Official presidential portrait of Barack Obama...
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In the United States, the notion of universal health care is just shy of political suicide. If you have ever heard President Obama speak about health, he takes pains to express that the goal is always “insurance coverage,” ignoring the underlying principle of health care. The health of our nation, at the level of every citizen, has become downright commoditized in the modern age. The notion that we should be charged an additional tax, just so that the risk taking maniacs of the world can have a free ride, infuriates far too many people to ever pass into a serious discussion. If you try to bring it up, you will inevitably encounter eye rolling and jeering at every turn.

However, let’s think about what insurance companies already do. Whether you’re dealing with home insurance, auto insurance, life or health insurance, you have a body of individuals who will probably never use the service paying for those who will. The fact is, nobody knows when or even if they will ever end up using what the insurance company provides (payment for services rendered). You know you’ll get sick or injured sooner or later, but you don’t know if you’ll end up accidentally crashing into somebody. Yet, the law mandates having auto insurance, while your own health (or at least its payments) may end up putting you in bankruptcy court.

What is the difference between an insurance company being a pool of people’s payments, and a government entity being the same kind of pool full of the same type of payments? The main difference would appear to be that while one chooses a particular insurance company, the government provides only its own monopolistic, one-size-fits-all type of coverage. Moreover, nothing short of a grassroots movement could provide the kind of citizen-inspired change that businesses already have. It seems the main difference is a matter of some choice.

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Filed Under: United States Tagged With: , , ,

The Presidential Impeachment Process in the United States

Philadelphia - Old City: Independence Hall - T...
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The President of United States holds great power, and given that, its abuse must always be guarded against. For this reason, the U.S. Constitution of the United States includes a means for removing the President from office -Impeachment — should the President ever become involved in gross misconduct, or what is referred to as an “indictable offense.”

On the federal level, Impeachment is a two-part process. The first is a vote (which requires a 2/3 majority) to proceed and bring charges. Part two is a vote to convict, requiring a supermajority vote. Conviction leads to removal from office. Though the President may be removed for “high crimes and misdemeanors,” impeachment is not a criminal proceeding; it simply decides whether the official should be removed from office. The rules of Impeachment are written in Article One of The U.S. Constitution.

By design, Impeachment is a complicated process. Removing a high-ranking official, especially the leader of the free world, is no small thing. For this reason, the framers of the Constitution made it a drawn out process, as if to say, “Hey folks, let’s take some time to think about what we’re doing here. Do we really want to ask the freely elected President to leave office?” It’s not a small question, which is why the process is so rarely used in the U.S.

What is an impeachable offense? The Constitution loosely defines “treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors,” as impeachable offenses. In 1970 Gerald Ford, then the House Minority Leader, defined impeachable offenses as basically, whatever a majority of the House of Representatives deemed them to be, “at a given moment in history.” Ironically, it was Ford himself who was appointed President of the United States in 1974, after Richard Nixon was threatened with impeachment.

Only two Presidents, Andrew Johnson, in 1868, and Bill Clinton, in 1999, have had impeachment proceedings brought against them. In both cases the Presidents were acquitted of charges. Richard Nixon, caught up in the scandal of the Watergate break-in and subsequent cover up, resigned before impeachment proceedings could be initiated against him.

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Filed Under: Democracy, Politics, United States Tagged With: , , ,
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