Ein Erfolg am Ende des Jahres

Präsident Obama ist es am Ende eines schwierigen Jahres doch noch gelungen, den Abrüstungsvertrag mit Russland durch den Senat zu bringen. Mit den Hintergründen dieser Entscheidung beschäftigt sich meine neue Kolumne im Social Europe Journal:

2010 has been an annus horribilis for the President of the United States. At the midterm elections in November, his Democratic Party suffered a devastating blow, and lost the majority in the House of Representatives to a newly energised Republican Party. And with unemployment still close to ten percent, he soon saw his approval ratings in freefall. In this situation the White House put its bets on the lame duck session of the 111th Congress. In a controversial move, the President signed up to a deal with the Republican leadership on taxes that essentially extended the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy in return for prolonged unemployment benefits. A deal that not only adds more than 700 billion to the federal deficit, but also infuriated his base. Obama, so the reading goes, had not only granted the GOP a triumph over his progressive agenda, he did not even really fight for his cause.

Hier geht es weiter

Ein frohes neues Jahr wünscht
Niels Annen