Liam FoxBritain is currently in the throes of a scandal over a politician named Liam Fox, who resigned as Minister of Defence last Friday after the discovery of his close friend's unauthorised lobbying.
This morning Dan Damon of BBC World Service's World Update and I discussed the wider issues, both in the US and Britain, of the episode.
The clip starts at the 48:25 mark.
This morning I appeared on the BBC World Service's World Update, speaking about the politics behind President Obama's decision to extend the 2003 tax cuts of the Bush Administration. The discussion includes Brian Carney, the Wall Street Journal's editorial page editor in London, and American comedian Dave Fulton.
The item begins at the 14-minute mark.
See also on EA: US Politics Analysis --- The Progressives Attack Obama
UPDATE 1605 GMT: Amongst all the post-mortems, I was struck by this conclusion from Alexander Cockburn: "By 1996 Clinton had outmaneuvered the Republican leadership and won reelection. Today the economic situation is far worse than it was in 1994. No effective political and economic strategy for recovery is on the cards in the current atmosphere. As always, these days in America, our last best friend will be gridlock."
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With the notable exceptions of health care reform and financial regulation, the situation in Washington has been one of stalemate, with the Republicans blocking Obama's legislation --- even in the limited success on health care, not one GOP Senator voted for the bill --- but lacking the strength or willingness to make deals with the Democrats to put forth their own measures.
That situation has not changed. So the best prospect is to try and keep the American economic ship on the water, rather than under it, amidst protracted recession and unemployment. (And, although this was largely forgotten in campaign coverage, to do so while keeping large numbers of troops in Iraq and fighting a war in Afghanistan and Pakistan.)
The Democrat/Obama strategy will be to present this pragmatic "stay the course" approach, appealing to the good sense --- political and economic --- of an American centre. It is unlikely they could do more, even if they wanted to take the risk. No prospect of climate change legislation, no campaign reform measures, no further moves on health care. And unless the Republicans do more than put forth a vague "Pledge for America", unless the Tea Party can move beyond the appealing but illogical mantra --- given the existence of programmes like Medicare and Social Security, let alone US defense --- of "slash taxes, slash Government", they will not be putting forth any significant programme for progress.
So the ultimate outcome of Tuesday night is stalemate. And as even a beginner chess player will tell you, that's not a win.
Monday, October 17, 2011 at 20:16