Thread: America can, and YES we also can!

If you like the above, you may also like to see the way the Americans voted. Here a link to the NY Times website:

President Map - Election Results 2008 - The New York Times

Further to the election in the USA:


New president to inherit economy from hell


As the next U.S. president, Barack Obama will face the worst economic crisis the country has experienced since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

What began with the explosion of the housing bubble has unfolded into a far-reaching global financial crisis affecting everything from banks to retail sales to the auto industry. Consumer confidence is hovering at record lows and consumer spending has declined for the first time in 17 years as Americans prepare to ride out what economists think could be the most severe recession in decades.

The first order of business for the new president will be to stabilize the economic crisis.

Plan for Homeowners?

Helping distressed homeowners will be a priority for the new president.

"Just over 1 million households will lose their homes this year in foreclosure," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Economy.com.

With one in six U.S. homeowners now "underwater" on their homes -- owing their mortgage lender more than what their home is worth -- this wave of foreclosures is likely to continue, economists say.

Obama proposes a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures, which would give some homeowners a chance to catch up on missed payments and give the government a chance to develop a systematic plan for rewriting the terms of unaffordable mortgages for qualified homeowners. Obama also wants to empower bankruptcy judges to lower mortgage payments to keep people in their homes, something the mortgage industry opposes.

Help for the Jobless?

Rising unemployment is another challenge for the new president. As consumers slow their spending, businesses are being forced to lay off growing numbers of workers. Some economists expect the next jobs report, due out Friday, to show that as many as 200,000 Americans were cut from company payrolls in October.

Obama igas pledged to extend unemployment benefits and eliminate taxes on those benefits. He also supports allowing more leniency on hardship withdrawals from 401(k) and IRA savings accounts, by temporarily lowering or suspending the tax penalties on withdrawals.

Who Will Be Good for Taxes?

Who will pay higher taxes and who will get a tax cut has been a defining issue in this election, with Joe the Plumber becoming a symbol of American fears of "redistribution" of wealth through changes in tax policy.

Obama says he wants to preserve the Bush tax cuts for families earning less than $250,000 and wants to expand tax credits for low-income families as part of his Making Work Pay program.

For families making less than $250,000, Obama supports higher taxes. But he would eliminate income taxes on seniors making less than $50,000 and encourage job creation; he wants to eliminate capital gains tax on small businesses and startups.

Cars, Energy and More Jobs

The ailing auto industry will also be a challenge facing the new president. Thousands may face unemployment if General Motors, Ford or Chrysler is forced into bankruptcy. Obama says he supports some aid to carmakers, in addition to the $25 billion loan program approved by Congress in September.

Obama says he would create 2 million jobs by rebuilding the country's infrastructure and he hopes to create 5 million "green jobs" through investment in renewable energy and building out the broadband network to all corners of the country.

Market Reaction?

And how will the stock market react to the outcome? While history shows that stocks tend to rally the day after a Republican victory and sell off on a Democratic victory, in the long term the outcome of presidential elections is not a reliable predictor of performance.

Like many American voters, traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange are just ready for this long campaign to be over.

"I mean enough," said Jason Weisberg of Seaport Securities. "It seems like it's been going for the last four years."

Other Challenges

Kenneth S. Rogoff, an economics professor at Harvard University and a former economist at both the International Monetary Fund and the Federal Reserve, said that the next U.S. president will grapple with a host of issues beyond the recession, such as a wave of retirements by the country's baby boomers that will put increased pressure on government services for seniors.

"Medicare and Social Security are just blowing up and calculations, which used to be long, dated problems, are starting to come to the fore," Rogoff said. The government's Social Security fund, in particular, will have no choice but to turn to deficit spending, he said.

The state of the environment, he said, will also have consequences for the economy in the coming four years. Rogoff said addressing environmental concerns may require new taxes or caps on pollution.

"To actually deal with it has profound economic implications -- that's why we avoided it," he said. "But we can't wait any longer." The president may also have to tackle the disparity in wealth among the country's economic classes, which, until recently, had reached levels not seen since the early 1900s, Rogoff said.

"Although the recent financial meltdown has gone a long way toward ameliorating those differentials," he said, "nevertheless that remains an issue."

The estate or inheritance tax, which generally applies to the very wealthy, is scheduled to be repealed in 2010. It may prove important to the president's work on income disparity, Rogoff said.

"Repealing the inheritance tax was highly questionable in terms of income distribution and the president needs to address issues like that," he said.

Social Security

Kent Smetters, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and former deputy assistant secretary of economic policy at the U.S. Treasury, said that the largest economic issue facing the next president is the "looming entitlement programs."

Smetters said the problems with Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are much larger in magnitude than the fallout from the subprime housing market and the government's bailout of Wall Street firms.

That bailout, he said, "is just an appetizer for the real deal to come."

He said the problems with these programs today are "much bigger" than what past presidents have faced.

"We've waited so long. You can't possibly increase taxes enough to deal with this problem," Smetters said. "We've actually exhausted all of our black powder at this point in terms of tax increases."

Next up, Smetters said, the president should work to cut the corporate tax rate.

"It's just not sustainable," he said. "We now have one of the highest statutory rates in the world."

India and China have a fast-growing middle class that now has money to invest. "It's going to be a lot less attractive for those countries to invest in the United States and for Americans to keep their money here," he said.

Keeping the tax rate at its current level would hinder investments and growth of our economy, Smetters said.

The third big economic area for the new president -- and Smetters emphasized that it was the third most important -- is the government bailout.

"In my opinion it is a far distant third," he said.

There is going to be a regulatory tangle administering the program and a call for a whole new set of oversight regulations for Wall Street.

But the key, says Smetters, is for the new president to determine what type of precedent the bailout sets for future businesses and investors.

"Does it allow," he said, "for entrepreneurs and corporate executives to game the system?"

A Global Economy

Lewis Alexander, chief economist at Citigroup Inc., sees a very significant set of economic challenges for the next president.

One key issue for the next president will be "getting the financial system back so that it is actually contributing to growth," he said

"In the last four weeks the situation has moved from what was a U.S. issue to a global issue, impacting emerging markets," Alexander said. Firstly, "the economy is contracting quite sharply, that would be challenge number one. The expectation is that the economy is going to be contracting through the middle of next year, with mild growth following that."

"The floor is just falling out from under, you saw that last week in the consumer confidence number," he said. "A lot of headway has been made with the [Troubled Asset Relief Plan] and other programs but that has yet to be played out."

Alexander said that when Bill Clinton took office in 1992 and when Ronald Reagan took over in 1980 they faced a sort of cyclical challenge that is not the acute problem in the financial and global sector that is seen now.

"Inevitably whoever wins is going to have to focus on getting the economy going. That inevitably means they are going to have to rein in their priorities," Alexander said. "Both candidates have focused on health care and despite what has gone on economically, I think that focus will continue because unless you get your arms around that it's going to be hard to make the long run work."

"If the economic situation weren't so bad you probably would have seen Obama come out with a big health-care push early on in the administration," he said.

EIN

Congratulations to the Americna people for choosing their new leader in a peaceful, democratic and mature way an dmaking history at the same time. From what I heard and saw from afar it was a hard-fought campaign, but the victor was gracious in victory, and the defeated gracious in defeat.

Senator McCain's concession speech was gracious and shows the true nature of this man. I commend him for his maturity and graciousness in defeat:

Remarks from Senator John McCain
November 4, 2008

Thank you. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening.

My friends, we have -- we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly. A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.

In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.

This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.

I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too. But we both recognize that though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.

A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters. America today is a world away from the cruel and prideful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African American to the presidency of the United States. Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.

Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer in my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day, though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.

Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain. These are difficult times for our country, and I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.

I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together, to find the necessary compromises, to bridge our differences, and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.

It is natural tonight to feel some disappointment, but tomorrow we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again. We fought as hard as we could.

And though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours.

I am so deeply grateful to all of you for the great honor of your support and for all you have done for me. I wish the outcome had been different, my friends. The road was a difficult one from the outset. But your support and friendship never wavered. I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you.

I am especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear mother and all my family and to the many old and dear friends who have stood by my side through the many ups and downs of this long campaign. I have always been a fortunate man, and never more so for the love and encouragement you have given me.

You know, campaigns are often harder on a candidate's family than on the candidate, and that's been true in this campaign. All I can offer in compensation is my love and gratitude, and the promise of more peaceful years ahead.

I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I have ever seen and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength. Her husband Todd and their five beautiful children with their tireless dedication to our cause, and the courage and grace they showed in the rough-and-tumble of a presidential campaign. We can all look forward with great interest to her future service to Alaska, the Republican Party and our country.

To all my campaign comrades, from Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter, to every last volunteer who fought so hard and valiantly month after month in what at times seemed to be the most challenged campaign in modern times, thank you so much. A lost election will never mean more to me than the privilege of your faith and friendship.

I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I'll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes, and I'm sure I made my share of them. But I won't spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been.

This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life. And my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Senator Obama and my old friend Senator Joe Biden should have the honor of leading us for the next four years.

I would not be an American worthy of the name, should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century. Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone and I thank the people of Arizona for it.

Tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama, I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president.

And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties but to believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.

Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history, we make history.

Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much.

Congratulations go to the American people and the Obama campaign. A job well done. Now the hard work will start.

Comrade_007: It will take time until we see a white African President in our part of the world. I don't think we as a people and country and political system are quire there yet, but that is not to say that it is impossible. We would need a brave, determined white African to give it a go to see where that leads.

Like Obama said, however: Yes, we can!

Regarding a white or mixed candidate being possible in Africa, Blessing Chimbwanda noted in the Zimbabwe Times:

I could not comprehend Zimbabwe electing a white Zimbabwean as President of the country in 2023, regardless of that person’s ability. I blame this on the hate language, and deeds that most of our African leaders have fed our population from the likes of Idi Amin to Robert Mugabe and all others in between.

Well, Namibia is more tolerant, or? I wonder, hm, will there ever be a president that is not from Ovamboland?

i don't mean to offend.

i have been here for 3 years and have been hated for defending and liking my Namibian helpers\trainees by some white folk.
so much so that they have tried every trick in the book to get rid of me but they failed miserably.

for me , the election of Obama just proves that i am not different then most white people around the world.

the old school black haters are a dying breed thankfully
what comes out of their mouths sometimes just makes me shake my head.

they keep trying to "educate me" , treating me like i am some sort of freak and too stupid to see what they see.

well , i am glad i don't have to look like an idiot anymore.

The USA has "educated them" although i know they will never change.

thankfully their kids don't seem to be as bad.

congrats USA , you voted for the best person for the job in that election

Stop day-dreaming. How dare you compare the USA with a backward African country such as Namibia?

A few points on illustrating my point are the following:

The US Government impeached Bill Clinton, a president, because of moral issues. The Namibian Government in return protect the SWAPO ministers and member of parliament in most criminial cases, when they loot Government money or other type of ill treatment. If at all, when they end up in court, they got free, depending only on which side of SWAPO they serve.

The SWAPO Government cannot take care of its meagre less then 2 million population. They together with the opposition parties are failures, for the people of Namibia still live with empty promises after the SWAPO takeover from the South African Government. The only thing that changed were that blacks got key positions regardless of the ability to be able in serving the nation.

Stop dreaming. Its time to wake up and follow in the steps of the ANC. Ministers and any civil servant should serve the nation and not focus on how they can enrich themselves. If not, change the civil service into mafia- style corruption, because the mayority are corrupt. Cut the wages of the top echelons, give them the same meagre wages that they expect the rest of the population to live on, and watch them change the songs they sing.

Namibia have still a long way to go or either wake up very quickly.

Welcome Barack.