Monthly Archives: December 2010

Dec 10 2010

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S TAX DEAL IS NOT TOO BAD

On the tax deal the president cut with the Republicans, I think at first, until I took my time to really read on and understand what is in it, I was a little too harsh on the White House. Being the pragmatist that I am, when I look at all the variables in the political and economic calculi, I can sense the rationale behind such deal.

In reality, it is not too bad of a compromise. The political dynamics in the House of Representatives and the Senate basically dictated the nature of the deal. It is not a perfect deal, but the provisions in it will help boost the economy in the short run.

What did the president and the Republicans want initially? Initially, the president wanted to give tax cuts to those Americans making less than $250,000. The Republicans, on the other hand, wanted to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. So the question was how to bring the two extremes to meet right in the center? To do that, both sides had to compromise. And that is exactly what they did. The republicans got the Bush tax cuts for the top 2% Americans extended only for two years; the president came out with a major economic stimulus package. What did the president get out of the deal? He got a package loaded with economic goodies. He got:

  1. Unemployment insurance extension –There is no way he could have gotten the extension to pass if he did not compromise; the republicans were not going to budge. Right now, millions of Americans are out of work. They lost their jobs to no fault of their own. The unemployment benefit is their only source of income. So he had unemployment insurance extended for 13 months for these people, which would have not happened otherwise.
  2. Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) –This is a tax provision given to the low income working Americans having dependents and struggling to make ends meet.  
  3. American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) –This tax provision gives up to $2500 to those Americans having a child in college. It may not sound a lot, but this is money that can be used in many ways for someone’s education.
  4. Child Tax Credit –This is a tax credit given to families depending on the number of dependents they have. This provision comes with a significant cut in the payroll tax that all workers pay, which will save them over a thousand dollars a year.
  5. Investment incentives –This provision gives tax break to companies that are willing to create jobs here in America by building companies and investing in equipment.

This is real money given back to real people to spend in the economy. And when money is being spent in the economy, it tends to get the economic growth rate up.

President Obama had to extend the Bush tax cut for 2 years (not permanently as the Republicans initially wanted) for the top 2% wealthy Americans to get these aforementioned provisions to pass the gridlock in Congress. If he did not make that compromise, come January the 1st, taxes would have gone up to thousands of dollars on the middle class, which would have been disastrous for the already struggling economy. So he had to do something. This is a situation where you are not looking for the infant to look like his/her dad; you just want a safe delivery. And that is exactly what he did.

The White House, as always, has a communication problem. The fact that they are not communicating effectively what is in the bill for the middle class, the people now turn to the political pundits and talk show hosts to have the bill explained to them. And quite often, these people do not seem to be telling the whole truth.  

So the president extended the Bush tax cuts for only two years to get most of what he wanted. Come election time in 2012, he will then have to fight to let them expired. I only hope at that time he will have the political leverage to do so.

Dec 9 2010

THE PREVAL ADMINISTRATION MUST BE INVESTIGATED

Rene G. Preval, president of Haiti

Accountability is the essence of good governance. When after the earthquake many so-called leaders in the likes of Tunebe Delpe were seizing the headlines in their misleading efforts of satisfying their selfish agendas, I was amongst the many people who had called them out. They were acting in an irresponsible manner which could have further endangered the existence of the nation. They were putting the people on the streets of Port-au-Prince protesting and asking for the resignation of the democratically elected president and the reinstatement of Jean Bertrand Aristide, who is now living in exile in South Africa, as President. I then took an active and bold stand to warn the people to not be following these political opportunists, these political mercenaries. Mind you, these same guys had contributed to the political conjuncture that culminated to the ousting of Jean Bertrand Aristide through a brutal coup d’etat.

My opposition to that reckless proposition from these self-proclaimed leaders was based on a matter of democratic principle. We all know that President Preval, whether you are a friend or a foe, was elected by the people, meaning democratically through an election which, per many people’s conclusive accounts, reflected the people’s choice. So if he was elected, and the choice was made in compliance with the prescriptions outlined in the Constitution; if he were to be disposed of his mandate, should that not be materialized by following the guidelines of the Constitution? I do think so.

 President Preval did not cause the earthquake that took the lives of 300,000 of our brothers and sisters and caused over one million to be living in tents. However, his management of the aftermath, his politics of nonchalance and mutism further aggravated the already chaotic situation. For about a week following the tragedy, the leadership of the country was totally inexistent; it was nowhere to be found, and the people were dying of desperation hoping to receive some directives from the president they elected to lead the nation in times of peace, war and distress. There was a vacuum of leadership, and it was very well exploited by some people from the international community, which once again had put the sovereignty of the nation in danger. The people, in the middle of the raging sea, were left to swim their way out –the exemplification of the “degaje w pou w soti” philosophy of President Preval.

We already know what Mr. Preval’s plan is, and we are actually witnessing it in the making. As I mentioned in many instances, his plan is to manipulate the election in his favor -to hand the continuity of the nation to his protégé, JUDE CELESTIN. That is why you see the Provisory Electoral Council (PEC) is saturated with nothing but his cronies. Mind you, this institution, the Provisory Electoral Council (a constitutional recommendation), is to be apolitical and nonpartisan with the mandate of organizing credible and honest elections in the country. Its members were handpicked by President Preval; they have no sense of credibility to get the people to have faith in the electoral process.

Now, once again, following the results of the FRAUDULENT November 28 elections published Tuesday night, the country is on the verge of a political crisis. Preval and the PEC, in their game of manipulation of the elections, were caught in the act of stealing the vote, causing the people to go on a rampage destroying and burning anything that comes to their minds –anything we have still standing after the disastrous earthquake. The sovereignty of the country, once again, is in great danger because of the sense of irresponsibility of our leaders.

I am not a constitutional lawyer; therefore, I am not quite aware of the dictate of the Constitution in terms of how to address Mr. Preval’s case. However, I do not think one needs to be a lawyer to know that this government has failed the people in many, many instances. So President Preval’s term is soon to be over, explaining the reason why we are now having this presidential election. I am calling on the lawyers –foreign and national -standing with the people of Haiti to investigate the government’s management of the January the 12th tragedy, its involvement in these fraudulent November 28 elections, and take necessary LEGAL actions to hold these people accountable.

These guys need to answer certain pertinent questions. We will never know the reasons behind the absence of the country’s leadership in the aftermath of the earthquake if we don’t take action to find out. We will never know the backroom deals that went down between Preval, the PEC and Celestin if we are not determined and resolute to find out.

The Preval administration needs to be investigated. What will come out of this legal action is unpredictable. However, if he and his acolytes are found guilty of the charges held against them, they need to face the legal repercussions. And we do not need exile for anyone of them. They need to be given a clean bill of service in the people’s court of law. When are we going to start holding our leaders accountable? If not now, when?

Dec 7 2010

PREVAL THINKS HE IS SLICK

Rene G. Preval, president of Haiti

The word out now in many political quarters in the Diaspora and inside the country is that PREVAL is succumbing to the intense pressures from the Haitian people and the international community to bypass his protégé, JUDE CELESTIN. He is now turning to both MARTELLY and MANIGAT for the next round. Though I do not have a political problem will such result, I still will not accept it.

It is a political trap, and I hope they (Manigat and Martelly) can be politically clever enough to see that. He will make sure he fills the legislative branch with none other than his cronies to prevent the next president from properly administering the country. Let’s face it… how effective can a president be when his/her hands are tied? If we sit and let the legislative branch be kidnapped by PREVAL and his cronies, it will be the same as having them in power.

When/if his party holds total control of both chambers of congress, the executive branch will be stalled, meaning nothing will get done in the country for the suffering and struggling majority. It will be business as usual. We cannot be walking on the same path of social and economic stagnancy as the one PREVAL had taken us for five long, disastrous and chaotic years. 

We need change in Haiti, not the perpetuation of the obsolete and ineffective status quo. So we still stand behind our firm position –we demand that the November 28 elections be annulled, and we will not bow down, not when we stand on principle. 

We need fair and honest elections in Haiti. At least, that’s what we the people of Haiti deserve. We are not going to let our vote be stolen from us by PREVAL, not this time. These masquerade elections need to be annulled. The only way to effectively deal with PREVAL beyond his term as president of the country is to make sure he is politically powerless, and we are working on that.  

PREVAL, you cannot outsmart us. I told you we already saw the cards in your hands. There is nothing you can possibly do. Did I not tell you that we got you exactly where we wanted you? When I said that the evening after the elections, I bit you did not believe me. You probably thought I was just blowing hot air. Bypassing CELESTIN to give us MANIGAT and MARTELLY to move on to the next round only to pacify us is not going to cut it.