THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Arianna Huffington tells WSJ's Jerry Seib and Alan Murray that the Obama Administration's big flaw was to underestimate the extent of the economic devastation on Main Street. The answer to a solution, she says, is to stop seeing everything as a left/right division.
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Arianna Huffington tells WSJ's Jerry Seib and Alan Murray that the Obama Administration's big flaw was to underestimate the extent of the economic devastation on Main Street. The answer to a solution, she says, is to stop seeing everything as a left/right division.
LE POINT: Les démocrates ont évité l'apocalypse annoncée. Le camp Obama devrait conserver la majorité au Sénat. Mais alors que l'Amérique compte encore ses bulletins de vote, les républicains sont assurés de reprendre le contrôle de la Chambre des représentants en raflant plus de 60 sièges. L'issue de ces élections de mi-mandat, qui se tenaient mardi 2 novembre, est inhabituelle, car, d'habitude, les deux chambres changent de main en même temps.
C'est surtout un vote sanction. Les électeurs, notamment beaucoup de seniors plus nombreux à s'être déplacés d'après les sondages à la sortie des urnes, se disent très inquiets et très mécontents de la situation économique et de la gestion Obama. >>> De correspondante du Point à Washington, Hélène Vissière | Mercredi 03 Novembre 2010
WELT ONLINE: Die Kongresswahlen sind ein Debakel für US-Präsident Obama. Seine Gegner haben die republikanische Antwort auf ihn gefunden.
Auf der Bühne steht ein Mann, der das darstellt, was er verspricht. Davon sind zumindest die rund 1000 Besucher bei der Siegesfeier des am Dienstag furios in den Senat gewählten Republikaners Marco Rubio überzeugt.
Der 39-jährige Sohn kubanischer Flüchtlinge prophezeit die Wiederherstellung des amerikanischen Traumes, und er selbst, Sohn eines Barkeepers und eines Hausmädchens, scheint zu bestätigen, dass in den Vereinigten Staaten jeder alles erreichen kann, wenn er nur an sich glaubt. Marco Rubio, an dessen Wahlsieg im März 2009 nur drei Prozent in Florida glaubten, wird seit dieser Nacht in den USA als die republikanische Antwort auf Barack Obama gehandelt.
Denn den Präsidenten und seine Demokraten haben die Midterm-Elections wie ein Hurrikan gepackt, geschüttelt und gerupft. Die Mehrheit im Abgeordnetenhaus ist bei den Wahlen zur Halbzeit der ersten und möglicherweise letzten Obama-Legislatur an die Republikaner gegangen. Im Senat haben die Demokraten ihre Mehrheit gehalten, aber sie ist geschrumpft.
Der Präsident, angeschlagen durch hohe Arbeitslosigkeit und schlechte Wirtschaftsdaten, ist künftig selbst in der Tagespolitik auf den Kompromiss mit den Republikanern angewiesen. Gegen Mitternacht, so hieß es, rief Obama bereits John Boehner an, der als republikanischer Kongressabgeordneter aus Ohio der nächste Sprecher des „Hauses“ und damit der nach Präsident und Vizepräsident mächtigste US-Politiker werden soll. >>> Von Ansgar Graw | Mittwoch, 03. November 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: America has taken stock of Mr Obama’s presidency – and it doesn’t like what it sees, says Simon Heffer.
The extent of the kicking the Democratic party has received in the mid-term elections will be clear by the time you read this. America has been concentrating in recent days not on who would win – that seemed obvious – but on how big the Republican gains would be among the 435 seats in the House of Representatives, the 36 Senate seats, the 37 governorships and the 6,118 seats in state legislatures being contested. There is a more striking consideration, however: why has the Obama phenomenon imploded with the force it has, just two years after the President’s stunning triumph? For it is so mighty a fall that it is something of an achievement.
In recent days both the President and his rather clumsy Vice-President, Joe Biden, have been touring America trying to get the Democratic vote out. They do not appear to have been very successful. Two years ago, hundreds of thousands of people turned up for great outdoor rallies for candidate Obama. When he went to Cleveland, Ohio, on Sunday the indoor sports stadium he spoke in was a little over half-full. The media here are full of former Democratic voters voicing different degrees of disappointment with him. The greatest criticism is about his failure to improve the economy; the second greatest is about his apparent inability to modify foreign policy. In this lies the truth of what the difficulty is: a fundamental failure to manage expectations.
On the morning after Mr Obama’s election two years ago, I watched on television an Illinois woman weeping with relief at the outcome, on the grounds that her house would not now be foreclosed upon. She made it clear where she got this idea from: the Democrats had promised prosperity and, she believed, to protect the homes of those facing foreclosure on their loans. I hope that woman still has the same roof over her head, but I wouldn’t bet on it. The wild economic promises and the failure to damp down some of the inferences drawn from them have proved disastrous for the Democrats’, and the President’s, reputation and credibility.
Many states are going broke. Nevada, home of the Senate leader Harry Reid, is $3 billion in the red. The combined level of their debt is $134 billion. That is a drop in the ocean compared with America’s total debt, which is around $15 trillion, a figure incomprehensible to most people. Unemployment nationally has risen from 7.7 per cent two years ago to 9.6 per cent today. The President’s own economic advisers said it would peak at 8 per cent and Mr Biden recklessly said it would fall month-on-month. Last month, 96,000 more people joined the dole queues. Unemployment has risen disproportionately among young people, black people and the white working class, precisely the groups who supported Mr Obama two years ago. The President has a particular problem in northern rust-belt states where he was supported heavily in 2008 because he represented the last hope. He and Mr Biden have been again and again to the states around the Great Lakes trying to maintain that support. There, as elsewhere, they appear to have failed. There is no real anger against them, though: just a fog of disappointment. Read on and comment >>> Simon Heffer | Wednesday, November 03, 2010
THE INDEPENDENT: Republicans seize momentum in House of Representatives as voter disillusionment leaves Democrats facing a tough futureA conservative wave roared across the American political landscape last night, humbling President Barack Obama and instantly redrawing the landscape in Washington with a new place on the high perches of power for the flag-bearers of the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement.
As night gave away to dawn in America, a huge power-shift had materialised with the Republican Party set to seize control of the House of Representatives with a significant majority. Television networks projected that the Democrats had held on to control of the US Senate.
Thus utter humiliation was averted - but barely.
“Tonight there is a Tea Party tidal wave,” declared Rand Paul, the victor of the Senate race in Kentucky and among the most high profile winners backed by the insurgent conservative movement. “They tell me that the Senate is the most deliberative body...deliberate on this: the American people are unhappy with what’s going on in Washington. >>> David Usborne, US Editor | Wednesday, November 03, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Republican Party has recaptured the House of Representatives from the Democrats, delivering a stunning rebuke to President Barack Obama just two years after he won the White House.
The party won a slew of Democratic seats in America's eastern time zone such as Indiana and Virginia, and were on course for an overall gain of 52-55 seats by the time votes in the rest of country had been counted.
But Republicans fell short of their ambitious target of the ten seats needed to win the Senate, which would have given them total control of Congress.
The Democrats keep a narrow lead in the Senate, which will give the party considerable leverage against what is expected to be a barrage of Republican legislation from the House designed to unpick President Barack Obama’s achievements in his first two years.
Early in the evening the Republicans celebrated as Tea Party favourites Marco Rubio and Rand Paul won in Florida and Kentucky respectively.
Mr Paul achieved the historic feat of becoming the first member of the anti-tax, small-government Tea Party member to win a Senate seat. The committed libertarian, son of Representative Ron Paul, who was a maverick 2008 presidential candidate, prevailed in Kentucky.
In his victory speech, he proclaimed that "tonight there is a Tea Party tidal wave and we are sending a message” He continued: “It's a message of fiscal sanity, limited constitutional government and balanced budgets."
Mr Rubio delivered a warning to the Republican leadership in Washington that the party had to learn from the mistakes made after it last won a majority in 1994, when it abandoned the principles of balanced budgets and small government. >>> Toby Harnden and Alex Spillius in Washington | Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
MAIL ONLINE: An Iranian woman who faced being stoned to death will hang tomorrow, a human rights group has claimed.The International Committee Against Stoning said that the authorities had given the go-ahead for the execution of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.
Her fate has provoked international outcry after she was sentenced to death by stoning for committing adultery.
Under huge pressure, Tehran eventually ruled that the 43-year-old mother-of-two would be hanged instead.
Ashtiani has been on death row ever since.
'The authorities in Tehran have given the go-ahead to Tabriz prison for the execution of Iran stoning case Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani,' the human rights group said on its website.
'It has been reported that she is to be executed this Wednesday, 3 November.' >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Tuesday, November 02, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Switzerland is poised to vote on a controversial law that will allow for all immigrants – EU citizens included – to be automatically expelled from the country if they commit a crime.
Even benefit fraudsters and burglars are targeted by the proposed new law, which polls show is likely to be passed in a referendum scheduled for November 28.
The pro-expulsion campaign involves posters featuring a black sheep being kicked out of the country by several white sheep. The referendum will be held almost exactly a year after a previous plebiscite banned minarets on mosques. >>> Allan Hall in Berlin | Tuesday, November 02, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: This is the moment caught on CCTV when Roshonara Choudhry stabbed former Labour minister Stephen Timms in the stomach.
Armed with a three-inch kitchen knife, the 21-year-old student smiled before plunging the knife twice into the MP.
Grainy images filmed in the local community centre and released on Tuesday show Choudhry walking up to Mr Timms’ desk.
They emerged at the end of a two-day trial in which she was convicted of attempted murder and two counts of possessing an offensive weapon.Choudhry refused to go to the Old Bailey because she did not accept the authority of the court and will be sentenced via videolink on Wednesday.
The CCTV footage of the attack showed her wearing floor length black Islamic robes, her head covered by a scarf and her face can be clearly seen. >>> Caroline Gammell | Tuesday, November 02, 2010
How long is it going to be before our mentally-challenged leaders figure out that these barbarians really don’t belong in the civilized West? – © Mark
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron has hailed a "new chapter" in the history of defence co-operation between Britain and France after two signing two treaties with President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The Prime Minister and the French president signed agreements for greater military co-operation including aircraft carriers, submarines, nuclear technology and ground forces.
As part of the agreement, the two countries will share aircraft carrier capability.
When France’s single carrier is out of service, Britain’s one vessel could conduct missions for both nations, and vice versa.
Mr Cameron said the British Prime Minister said citizens of both countries would be "better protected" as a result of the two treaties.
"Today we open a new chapter in a long history of co-operation on defence and security between Britain and France," Mr Cameron told a press conference at the Anglo-French Summit in London.
"The result will make our citizens safer, more secure and better protected in the global age of uncertainty in which we now live," Mr Cameron said.
Mr Sarkozy said the “unprecedented” agreement marked “a level of trust and confidence between the two countries never equalled in history.” Read on and comment >>> James Kirkup, Political correspondent | Tuesday, November 02, 2010
NEWS.COM.AU: LAUREN Booth, a broadcaster, journalist and sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, defiantly explains her conversion to Islam."It is the most peculiar journey of my life. The carriage is warm and my fellow passengers unexpectedly welcoming. We are progressing rapidly and without delay. Rain, snow, rail unions, these things make no difference to the forward rush.
Yet I have no idea how I came to be on board nor, stranger still, quite where the train is heading, apart from this: the destination, wherever it might be, is the most important place I can imagine.
I know this all seems gloriously far-fetched, but really it is how I feel about my conversion, announced last week, to Islam.
Although the means and mechanisms that brought me to this point remain mysterious, the decision will determine every aspect of my life to come as firmly as the twin rails beneath that exhilarating express.
Asked for a simple explanation of how I, an English hack journalist, a single working mother, signed up to the Western media’s least-favourite religion, I suppose I would point to an intensely spiritual experience in an Iranian mosque just over a month ago.
But it makes more sense to go back to January 2005, when I arrived alone in the West Bank to cover the elections there for The Mail on Sunday. It is safe to say that before that visit I had never spent any time with Arabs, or Muslims.
The whole experience was a shock, but not for the reasons I might have expected. So much of what we know about this part of the world and the people who follow Mohammed the Prophet is based on disturbing - some would say biased - news bulletins.
So, as I flew towards the Middle East, my mind was full of the usual 10pm buzzwords: radical extremists, fanatics, forced marriages, suicide bombers and jihad. Not much of a travel brochure.
My very first experience, though, could hardly have been more positive. I had arrived on the West Bank without a coat, as the Israeli airport authorities had kept my suitcase.
Walking around the centre of Ramallah, I was shivering, whereupon an old lady grabbed my hand.
Talking rapidly in Arabic, she took me into a house on a side street. Was I being kidnapped by a rather elderly terrorist? For several confusing minutes I watched her going through her daughter’s wardrobe until she pulled out a coat, a hat and a scarf.
I was then taken back to the street where I had been walking, given a kiss and sent warmly on my way. There had been not a single comprehensible word exchanged between us. >>> Lauren Booth | From: Mail on Sunday |November 01, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Anwar al-Awlaki, the man believed to be behind the cargo plane bomb plot, is tried in his absence in Yemen for crimes against foreigners.Yemen, under pressure to crack down on militants operating there after a foiled bomb plot involving US-bound parcels, began the trial in absentia on Tuesday of the radical US-born preacher, wanted dead or alive by Washington.
Anwar al-Awlaki, who has been linked to a failed bombing of a US-bound plane in December 2009 that was claimed by Yemen's al Qaeda wing, is thought to be hiding in southern Yemen.
Also on Tuesday, the trial of a Yemeni journalist and al-Qaeda expert was set to continue in Sanaa. Abdulelah Shai is being tried for alleged links to al-Qaeda, including helping to publicise the views of Anwar al-Awlaki. >>> Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Tuesday, November 02, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Prisoners will be given the vote in general elections for the first time in 140 years after David Cameron conceded there was nothing he could do to halt a European court ruling demanding the change, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
For months, the Government’s lawyers have tried to find a way to avoid allowing 70,000 British inmates the right to take part in ballots.
But tomorrow a representative for the Coalition will tell the Court of Appeal that the law will be changed following legal advice that the taxpayer could have to pay tens of millions of pounds in compensation.
The decision, which brings to an end six years of government attempts to avoid the issue, opens the possibility that even those facing life sentences for very serious crimes could in future shape Britain’s elections. >>> Andrew Porter, Political Editor | Monday, November 01, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Saudi Arabia's top clerics have challenged the government's policy to expand jobs for women with a fatwa ruling that they should not work as cashiers in supermarkets, according to reports.
The Council of Senior Scholars, the official fatwa issuing body, said that "it is not permissible for a woman to work in a place where they mix with men," the news website Sabq.org said.
"It is necessary to keep away from places where men congregate. Women should look for decent work that does not make it possible for them to attract men or be attracted by men," it said. >>> | Monday, November 01, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: As the US Federal Reserve meets today to decide whether its next blast of quantitative easing should be $1 trillion or a more cautious $500bn, it does so knowing that China and the emerging world view the policy as an attempt to drive down the dollar.
The Fed's "QE2" risks accelerating the demise of the dollar-based currency system, perhaps leading to an unstable tripod with the euro and yuan, or a hybrid gold standard, or a multi-metal "bancor" along lines proposed by John Maynard Keynes in the 1940s.
China's commerce ministry fired an irate broadside against Washington on Monday. "The continued and drastic US dollar depreciation recently has led countries including Japan, South Korea, and Thailand to intervene in the currency market, intensifying a 'currency war'. In the mid-term, the US dollar will continue to weaken and gaming between major currencies will escalate," it said.
David Bloom, currency chief at HSBC, said the root problem is lack of underlying demand in the global economy, leaving Western economies trapped near stalling speed. "There are no policy levers left. Countries are having to tighten fiscal policy, and interest rates are already near zero. The last resort is a weaker currency, so everybody is trying to do it," he said.
Pious words from G20 summit of finance ministers last month calling for the world to "refrain" from pursuing trade advantage through devaluation seem most honoured in the breach.
Taiwan intervened on Monday to cap the rise of its currency, while Korea's central bank chief said his country is eyeing capital controls as part of its "toolkit" to stem the flood of Fed-created money leaking out of the US and sloshing into Asia. Brazil has just imposed a 2pc tax on inflows into both bonds and equities – understandably, since the real has risen by 35pc against the dollar this year and the country has a current account deficit.
"It is becoming harder to mop up the liquidity flowing into these countries," said Neil Mellor, of the Bank of New York Mellon. "We fully expect more central banks to impose capital controls over the next couple of months. That is the world we live in," he said. Globalisation is unravelling before our eyes. Read on and comment >>> Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor | Monday, November 01, 2010
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