America’s economy, stupid

It’s again the economy, stupid! As Americans enter the 2012 electioneering phase, the Republicans have chosen economy to be their stick to beat President Barack Obama.

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Published: Wed 15 Jun 2011, 11:09 PM

Last updated: Mon 6 Apr 2015, 6:56 PM

In a surprising show of cards, seven of the Republican hopefuls in New Hampshire refrained from attacking each other, preferring to hit out at Obama, by cat-calling his healthcare policy as ‘Obama-care’ and blaming the administration for the socio-economic mess all around. The very fact that the Republicans, who are widely considered to have a good nose in foreign affairs and for being hawkish at the same time, have chosen to campaign on monetary and growth sensitivities of America speaks high of the restlessness and lack of a considerate charter in their ranks.

Obama’s soundness, as far as opinion poll is concerned, seems to have unnerved the GOP. Having netted the world’s dreaded terrorist, Osama bin Laden, and practically out of the woods in Iraq, the incumbent in White House is safely placed for a second-term in office. This is why war on terrorism, Afghanistan and the ensuing Arab Spring has little meaning for the Republicans, as they rightly believe that they won’t be eyebrow-raising issues for the inflation-laden constituency at home. How effectively could the GOP choreograph this unity as it heads for primaries in February, by widening the scope of debate, won’t be hard to guess.

The Republicans, however, could not get away with diatribe on economics. With the United States struggling under a trillion dollar budget deficit and more than 24 million Americans unemployed, an effective strategy to deal with the ground realities cannot be dispensed with. In fact, both the Democrats and the Republicans are quite clueless when it comes to rewriting a spur strategy, in the wake of real estate bubble burst and an inadequate social security at hand. Despite the stimulus package, which Obama floated as the way to go ahead by soaring spending in private and public sectors, the economy has gone through the worst.

The American financial crisis is the deepest since the Great Depression, and the Wall Street backlash has simply complicated recovery in the near future. Yet, the progress that the economy has shown despite dismal growth is owing to strict regulations and an apt intervention at the hands of federal authorities. Though the Hampshire standup went on to criticise Obama’s stimulus doctrine, the Republicans’ inherent desire to cut spending in the short run would have only resulted in more unemployment and slower growth. The GOP has no recourse but to swing a surprise and get categorical on growth and employment. Laughing at Obama will not work.


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