Without getting into a discussion on politics or the virtues of each party, how do you see the new presidency affecting your business, the economy and the world in general.
The general consensus here in Australia that GW was a loose cannon and in the latter years drove the economy and the reputation of the uS down.
It is also felt that with the change of governing parties that there will be a renewed confidence throughout the world and that Obama will bring enthusiasm and trust back to how the world see the USA.
Although he is not the sole responsibility for what happens, as much as Bush wasn’t for everything that happened in the past 8 years, it appears that “the new broom will sweep clean” mantra is raising it’s head.
Hopefully the new change will generate confidence in the monetary markets and get the economy flowing again, especially those who buy pizzas ( had to get the last part in so I wouldn’t be criticised for having a non pizza post :lol: )
I just erased a LONG response I typed up here, but upon further consideration I decided to erase it and ask how you could possibly expect someone to answer your question without getting into a political discussion.
Hopefully the new change…
Change, I’m confident you will see. How that change plays out, I’m pretty scared to see.
I don’t know why anyone would have “confidence” in someone nobody knows anything about. Could be great times, could be really shaky times. Hard to tell. He’s really short on experience dealing with real issues. We can hope.
For the record, when the world nearly fully agrees with something we do in the U.S., I start to get a little nervous.
The United States has been drifting toward a European style, big government socialism for years, with the government subsidizing various sectors of the economy.
We are still a free market economy, for the most part, but a decreasing number of our population seem to understand what that means. It is obvious, given the recent financial bailout, that our elected leaders do not.
Our economic juggernaut is a direct result of free market principles, but as we slowly drift away from them, we may see our prosperity slowly (or not so slowly) erode. (Smaller growth)
Will we feel better about ourselves if the world likes us better? Will people buy more pizza if they have less disposable income? Can government fix all our problems? Does water run uphill?
Well the Canada US exchange changed 3 cents in my favour overnight so, so far so good…While visiting KS recently there was a lot of fear about Obama and what will happen to the economy if he gets you elected…I do not think his government will be much different than what we have in Canada (not as socialist as some think) and we are doing fine…Yesterday it was reported that car sales in Canada were up at least 20% (Oct 07 vs Oct 08) for every manufacturer (some as high as 35%) compared to huge drops in the US…
I think this election showed how much can be accomplished by people who set their minds to making a change and showing up to do something about it (in this case it was voting). Now the tricky part will be for those same voting people to step up and work on whatever issues they are concerned about in their own governments (from local school and city boards to federal). Government doesn’t work in a vacuum and squeeky wheels get the grease!! Too many years of letting someone else run things can be dangerous. When the people stand up and pay attention, stuff gets done. It’s amazing how it actually works.
I agree that a whole lot can be accomplished by people who set their minds to it, but did they really think it through first? Voting is one of the greatest responsibilities we have, and just voting American Idol style is a terrible thing! I can’t believe how many people I heard say they were voting for Obama because he was handsome, such a good speaker, and young. I even heard people say that they would not vote for McCain because he was old and could hardly walk! None of those reasons, for either candidate, are a good reason to vote, or not vote, for someone for the president of a country!!! Change just for the sake of change is not a good thing! They wanted change, and I think that is exactly what they will get, but is it the change that we needed? Right now I would rather have change for a dollar!!! LOL!
I am not going to get drawn into this as I think politics is bad for the TT. However, I did vote for Obama, despite my libertarian leanings, because I felt our government needed an intelligent, emotionally stable, organized, and fresh leader. I hope President-elect Obama is able to use the same skills and wisdom he exhibited in his campaign to address the very serious issues we are facing.
I,m going to be honest and tell you that i voted for McCain. I think Obamas domestic policies could be good but my fear is how will he be able to deal with this very tumultulous world we live in. I think he is a little naive to think he can negotiate with Iran or North Korea or any of the numerous rogue nations that exist today. Most people dont remember history very well or care too. Most of them care about the now. Chamberlin (i may have misspelled his name thought he could negotiate with Hitler in the 30’s and look what it got us. Almost 70 MILLION people dead because of world war 2. We, and I mean all of us the US, Great Britain, Australia etc could have stopped him in his tracks if we would have took action instead of trying to negotiate. Iran will tell us anything they want us to hear to buy time to build their weapons just as Hitler did in
the 30’s. Unfortunately we never seem to learn from our past mistakes. I pray to God that I’m wrong but thats the way I see it. We may see a situation like happened at the fall of Rome. People screaming at the forum
panum e circusii (bread and circuses) the whole time the barbarians were crashing in on rome. It might be in our case us screaming pizza and movies. texasdave
Without getting into the man’s politics or whom I supported, I have to say that the historical significance of electing the country’s first black president hit me like a ton of bricks while he was giving his victory speach. As he spoke about the history of the 104 year old woman in Atlanta… well, I found that very moving.
Just a mere 40 years ago this country still had segregation. I can’t believe that actually happened in my home country just 4 decades ago. I can’t begin to imagine what the rest of the world thought of us.
We’ve come a long way as a country in that time, and that makes me proud to be an American.
I agree with Piper. I felt very proud of our country that night. I also think that John McCain’s speach that night was the most graceful political speach that I ever heard as it was given.
One thing I found interesting was a comment that the only President we have ever had who had less “experience” than Obama when he was elected was… Abraham Lincoln.
Yes that speech by McCain was unbelievably sincere, respectful and showed a great deal of humility. I don’t think I have ever heard such a speech before by a losing politician. Props to “the Mac”.
Sometimes you are hated for all the right reasons.
I very truly feel that we are getting ready to enter into some of the darkest times in US history. Educate yourselves on his policies and then read history, scary how it tends to repeat.
