Dysfunction

The US Constitution has been subverted. The US system of Government, the oldest in the world, no longer works. The President has been elected by an overwhelming majority that even gave him both Chambers. Yet he is unable to impose his policy. The 40% opposition minority decides. Worse, one or two renegade senators use the 60 vote rule to hold their own party hostage. It was a sad picture of American Democracy. Result: a bad bill that sends the taxpayer's money to the coffers of Big Insurance, and Big Pharma. Obama yielded on single payer and assured us we would have "a public option" instead. Soon he abandonned that idea for a muddled "exchange". That idea disappeared fast and even its short lived opening of Medicare to 54 year olds did not last long. Now we are stuck with a compulsory assurance for all . The worst part is that Big Insurance invested only 396million dollars to buy our elected Senators. Their reward will be 47 million more customers subsidized by my taxes. I had not voted Obama for THAT!
I guess the US of A will remain stuck at 37th place out of 40 OECD countries. France, with its single payer system will not lose 1st place anytime soon. Sure it costs French taxpayers a lot. But far less than it costs US citizens in Insurance bills, and with the certainty nobody will lose his house to pay their hospital bill or will be denied care because of income level. The US is actually the only country where healthcare IS rationned .
I will take the "carte vitale" any day.

Hermann van Rompuy

The Europeans have finally made up their mind on a President and Secretary of State of Europe. After many years of wrangling, the Lisbon Treaty is finally the Constitution of Europe. Since it had to be ratified by all 27 member states, the states which voted No were made to revote until they voted yes. And who is the newly (selected) President of Europe? A certain Hermann van Rompuy. This Belgian politician has many qualities. He is totally unknown. He was voted Belgian PM because he represented the smallest common denominator. M. Sarkozy, Mrs Merkel and Mr Brown feared that a European President with a strong personnality might reduce them to the ranks of Governors of their respective ministates. So now, Europe is saddled with a leader who, if able to find compromises to unify all 27 members, will never rise to the level of an Obama, a Putin, or a Hu Jintao.
Once again, Europe has chosen the Europe of Nations, so dear to General De Gaulle, a very 19th Century idea, to the detriment of a Federal Europe, that could be on an equal footing with other large Federations.

Exit strategy?

According to General Mc Chrystal, we are losing the war in Afghanistan. By all measures, the Talibans are gaining ground, and, worse, they are also winning the famous hearts and minds. Why is it that in spite of so much investment in blood and treasure , NATO forces are losing? The average Afghan is aware that western public opinions are tired of the war. They see that when one soldier dies, the French president, the Canadian Premier or the British PM give them national funerals. Opposition parties are against the war , and, in the US, President Obama's very supporters are very vocal against the pursuit of our engagement. Apart from a few countries, NATO members only pay lip service to their commitment. Their public opinion should be reminded that they are in Afghanistan under artcle 5 of the NATO charter which mandates help to any member who is attacked. Certain memembers, like Germany, have loaded their presence with so much "caveats", that it is said that the Bundeswehr is drinking beer in the North while the Caanadians are being killed in the South. And, GIs are wont to quip that ISAF stands for:" ISaw Americans Fight".
Barack Obama is deliberating, without much input from NATO, whether to stay or turn tail. Most Afghans, seeing the long discussions and the reluctant allies, have concluded that it was better to be friends with the next masters, the Talibans, than with westerners who have a long history of turning tails. Afghani farmers make more money selling opium to the bad guys than to see their fields eradicated by NATO forces.
Mr. Obama will probably emerge from his reflexions with an order to send 40,000 more troops. How many will be from Europe? It will be a watershed for the alliance. If the US leave the battlefield to the Talibans , and Al Qaeda, it will be the death knell for NATO. US voters will quickly decide they are tired of ensuring Europe's safety . I am not sure European taxpayers are ready to increase their defense budget (the Pentagon budget is equal to the budget of all other member states combined)
The future of NATO and the defense future of Europe is at play.

Istanbul

After Pittsburgh, where our Leaders gave directions to come out of the economic crisis, their finance ministers and central bankers met in Turkey to see about their implementation. I tagged along. The good news is: we are coming out of the 1 year old crisis caused by greed and the previous Administration's complicity. The bad news is that, although we are in full recovery mode, it takes a while to come out of a deep well. TARP is working and so is Obama's stimulus package. Employment will follow suit as soon as consumers will come back from where they are hiding. No consumption = no production = no jobs.
So far, the biggest victim of the banking cum subprime crisis caused by our Wall Street geniuses and the accomodating SEC, is the US dollar.
As to Turkey, it was my 4th visit, and, although I did work at the Finance Conference, I had time to explore its maze of streets and warrens of hammams, Turkish baths, coffee houses, bazaars, souks, spice markets, harems, mosques etc.. I took a trip down the Bosphorus and up the Golden Horn. I re-visited the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Topkapi.
Upon my return, I was very happy to hear of president Obama's elevation to Nobel Peace Prize. What an honor for the United States. And shame on the fanatics who chose to criticize him for it, siding with no less than the Talibans, hamas and Ahmadinejad!
When I shook his hand in Pittsburgh, little did I know I was sahking the hand of a Nobel Peace Prize. Allah is Great!

Back to work.

After the splendid beaches of Florida and the no less spectacular sites of the San Francisco Bay Area, it is back to work for me. I am about to drive to Pittsburgh, PA. to work at the G 20 conference. The G 20 is a gathering of heads of State and Bank officials. It was put together by European leaders, afraid to see the China-US leadership leave them in the dust. In order for France to be relevant, President Sarkozy decided to add the "emergent countries" India, Brazil, South Africa, and a few other nations, whose future is supposed to be bright, but unfortunately, always in the future.
In the French media, all the talk is about how tough our little president is toward Tax Havens. Of course, that is only one of the minor topics at the G 20. far more important to overcome the crisis, is the coordinated stimulus packages that unfortunately are very unpopular in France. So while the French TV news are all about Sarko's victory and Obama's disappointing performance at the UN global warming conference today, the US media are totally obsessed with what is left of the Health reform. Not much. but , hey, I will access Medicare in a few years, and if worse comes to worse, there is always France's generous insurance for its citizens.

Anyway, I will be in Pittsburgh tomorrow and will attend the G 20 conference. It will be interesting to see who is on top.

August recess

So here we are. Obama was not forceful enough to pass his Health care reform before the August recess. Blinded by his vain quest to look for bipartisanship with a Republican party reduced to a rump of Confederates, he dropped the ball. Too bad. While Congressmen and Senators repair to their constituencies to hear the latest Rush Limbaugh decree or the new Hannity attack, the French are taking the whole month off. They are at the beach courtesy of their social system. Not only do all French citizens enjoy 6 weeks off, but their 35 hour week system adds another 4 weeks to the bargain. So don't bother to try any business transaction in August, Closed for the duration. While the average American is stuck in traffic going to a job from which he can be fired at any time, his french counterpart is on the beach. He got there with his subsidized High Speed Train (managed by the government). His wife may be in a spa resort, enjoying free 3 weeks water treatment in a hotel paid for bythe State. OOps, even the kids, who each add family allowance checks to their parents'income, are on free summer camps in the Alps, or perhaps are busy gearing up for their free college in the fall. All the while on the beach, mom and dad review their utility bill (subsidized electricity supplied by government run nuclear power plants). See you in the fall in New York dear Americans , because we will always have time for a week in New York during the November holidays.
All this and socialized medicine too.

Burqa

The American public can be forgiven for not keeping up with the rest of the world, what with the 4th of July, Ms. Palin's antics, or the ubiquitous Michael Jackson. But North Korea is acting up, our boys are dying in Afghanistan, and the French have won the arms market in Iraq. Talk about unfair!
Talking about the French, their President, Nicolas Sarkozy, decided to ban the burqa in France. His argument is that it represents the oppression of women by men. He could have added that it was also a sort of " in your face" gesture by young, freshly converted French girls. (Two French Congressmen from Alsace recently confided to be worried about the rate of conversions into Islam by their young formerly christian constituents).
Already, the wearing of the scarf is not allowed for women in public service. Rightly so, given the separation of church and state.
In Holland and Sweden, potential immigrants are shown a film depicting topless sunbathing and sex ed in schools. If anybody has any objection, they are not allowed to immigrate.
Besides, when shorts and mini skirts are allowed in Riyad or Tehran, the law might be reviewed.