Guess who we had coming into work today - Barack Obama! As you all know he is running for president, and to be elected president you need to win the presidential elections (no kidding!), and to win the elections you need to campaign, and to campaign you need money to pay the bills, and what can be a better place to find funding than in a financial firm. It was the weird that I went. Firstly, I am not American so I cannot vote. Secondly, it is illegal for me to contribute to his campaign funds (do you know people what people who accept such funds are called - traitors!). In my company an easy 25% of the populace is non-American. Weird that everyone would go listen to him talk. He came in at about 4 in the evening, gave a short 30 minute speech and then took questions for another 30 minutes.
He comes across as a smart well educated guy. He a a Professor of Law at the University of Chicago and an editor or something of the Harvard Law Review. He is well poised, self-effacing and articulate, much unlike George Bush who has the grand prescence of a gerbil with a speech defect. I am pretty sure that 75% of the female population is going to vote for him. One manifestation of this fact was that I didn't hear him say anything that approximated to - "I am the President of the United States, my job is to help you so that you can do your job. If, I do my job well than you can do your job and I will save you from all the evil terrorists who want to drag your wife and children from your home and burn them at the stake. Bah. Bah. Bah.".
In America there are 3-4 main topics that get everyone heated up. Barak covered most of these topics , and proposed quite reasonable solutions I would think. In decreasing order of importance -
- Iraq War : Fund for now. Withdraw in a phased manner, without causing chaos. This is kind of the line that most Democrats tow now. Disagree with the whole war idea without alienating the troops.
- Social Security and Medicare i.e. entitlement programs : This a big problem in the Western world because the population is aging - this means you would need to pay increasing pensions and medical bills for the old people from money from a smaller working population. This is not as much of a problem in the US because the population is still relatively young. However, expenses have spiraled. Barak wants to trim the pork by streamlining the whole thing. Would be a hard thing to do. Historically success rates have been quite low. Lets see if he succeeds.
- Taxes ! He is going to pull out the freebies that Bush Jr. doled out to richest 5% of the population. Not surprisingly this 5% also pays 70% of all tax.
- Education. Wants to reform schools. Improve school teacher pay. Trim red-tape. Make the system more accountable and performance driven.
He comes across as a smart well educated guy. He a a Professor of Law at the University of Chicago and an editor or something of the Harvard Law Review. He is well poised, self-effacing and articulate, much unlike George Bush who has the grand prescence of a gerbil with a speech defect. I am pretty sure that 75% of the female population is going to vote for him. One manifestation of this fact was that I didn't hear him say anything that approximated to - "I am the President of the United States, my job is to help you so that you can do your job. If, I do my job well than you can do your job and I will save you from all the evil terrorists who want to drag your wife and children from your home and burn them at the stake. Bah. Bah. Bah.".
In America there are 3-4 main topics that get everyone heated up. Barak covered most of these topics , and proposed quite reasonable solutions I would think. In decreasing order of importance -
- Iraq War : Fund for now. Withdraw in a phased manner, without causing chaos. This is kind of the line that most Democrats tow now. Disagree with the whole war idea without alienating the troops.
- Social Security and Medicare i.e. entitlement programs : This a big problem in the Western world because the population is aging - this means you would need to pay increasing pensions and medical bills for the old people from money from a smaller working population. This is not as much of a problem in the US because the population is still relatively young. However, expenses have spiraled. Barak wants to trim the pork by streamlining the whole thing. Would be a hard thing to do. Historically success rates have been quite low. Lets see if he succeeds.
- Taxes ! He is going to pull out the freebies that Bush Jr. doled out to richest 5% of the population. Not surprisingly this 5% also pays 70% of all tax.
- Education. Wants to reform schools. Improve school teacher pay. Trim red-tape. Make the system more accountable and performance driven.
He has made the promised what every politician promises - change! Drastic change! A whole new world. Prosperity. Happiness. Lets see how much of it actually comes to fruition.
I know I keep repeating myself, and am running myself thin, but you know what - he comes across as a fresh open guy, practical, action oriented and free of ideological rhetoric. Has a natural sense of humor.
As you know April 17th is the day when all us humans need to pay our dues to the IRS. Not so shockingly, one of the first questions that came up was the changes he was going to make to the tax code. He said that he is going to roll back tax rates to Clinton administration levels (read increase taxes.) Then he said, "However, I am one of those unfortunate people. My book did well this year, and I earned just about enough to be at the highest tax rate, but not as much as K (the ultra big boss) to actually have fun with all the money." That broke the tension (and lost votes) from nervous professionals into a roll of laughter (and won votes + admiration.) Nice personal touch.
There were also some questions about the Iraq War (fielded by a veteran) and a couple of more mundane things I forget.
I feel that one of his biggest problems in getting elected is going to be the fact that he is too well educated and articulate. Will he be able to rouse the rural populace? Simple unadultrated emotion might go down better with them than sophisticated arguments. This is a problem that has plagued the Democrats in general I feel. By Democrats I mean, Hillary Clinton. Additionally, she appears to be a stuck up and I am not sure how many people want a re-run of the Clinton dynasty for another 4 years. She lacks the "breath of fresh air" factor.
Lets see what happens. I think he would make a nice President.
I know I keep repeating myself, and am running myself thin, but you know what - he comes across as a fresh open guy, practical, action oriented and free of ideological rhetoric. Has a natural sense of humor.
As you know April 17th is the day when all us humans need to pay our dues to the IRS. Not so shockingly, one of the first questions that came up was the changes he was going to make to the tax code. He said that he is going to roll back tax rates to Clinton administration levels (read increase taxes.) Then he said, "However, I am one of those unfortunate people. My book did well this year, and I earned just about enough to be at the highest tax rate, but not as much as K (the ultra big boss) to actually have fun with all the money." That broke the tension (and lost votes) from nervous professionals into a roll of laughter (and won votes + admiration.) Nice personal touch.
There were also some questions about the Iraq War (fielded by a veteran) and a couple of more mundane things I forget.
I feel that one of his biggest problems in getting elected is going to be the fact that he is too well educated and articulate. Will he be able to rouse the rural populace? Simple unadultrated emotion might go down better with them than sophisticated arguments. This is a problem that has plagued the Democrats in general I feel. By Democrats I mean, Hillary Clinton. Additionally, she appears to be a stuck up and I am not sure how many people want a re-run of the Clinton dynasty for another 4 years. She lacks the "breath of fresh air" factor.
Lets see what happens. I think he would make a nice President.
