Category Politics

If it is about politics, find it here.

Jan 19 2011

J-C DUVALIER: A NEW CLOWN ADDED TO THE CIRCUS

On the quiet afternoon of Sunday, January 16, 2010, as I was at my desk in front of my desktop computer putting the

J. - C. Duvalier, former dictator of Haiti

 final touch to the transcript of my radio talk show to be aired at 10 PM that night, as I was multitasking navigating between that and answering to comments from people reacting to my Facebook statuses, I kept reading on Facebook the feeds about the unconfirmed news of Jean Claude Duvalier’s return to Haiti after 25 years living in exile in France. I did not want to be bought into what I instantly called the biggest hoax and joke for this new decade because, so cynical and nonsensical it sounded to me, I just could not believe my eyes.

When the news I considered to be the biggest hoax and joke of the new decade was finally confirmed by the Associated Press and Agence France Press, I automatically found myself in a state of shock, speechlessness, disbelief and confusion. I literally got up and walked around as a way to check myself to make sure that I was conscious and that I was not dreaming. Well, it was real; Jean Claude Duvalier, the former dictator of Haiti who ruled the country ferociously for 15 years, has returned to the island.

Ever since the news of Duvalier’s return broke out, we all have been asking all types of questions just to try to get this new development of reality to make sense to us, for the Preval administration could not even come forth to address the nation and shed some light on the nature and significance of his return to the country. This is another piece of evidence added to many of Preval’s politics of nonchalance and absenteeism. The entire nation is left desperate for information and isolated in a vast ocean of confusion to swim its way out to the safety field of accurate and timely information.       

In politics, nothing happens in isolation, meaning there is a reason for and a motive behind everything. Though our long list of questions, unfortunately, has been disregarded and dismissed by the Haitian authorities, one thing we all can agree upon is that the determination of the return of the former dictator at this juncture in the country’s political life and after 25 years of exile has got to have the seal of approval of some powerful invisible hands outside the know of the leadership inside the country.

We have been starkly divided on what to do with Duvalier physically inside the country. Some argue that he must be kicked out, many want him released and not to face prosecution, a large group wants him to take over the leadership of the country, and others just want him trialed. I am going to address each and every single position to the best of my ability.

  • Exile for our former heads of state is not the solution, and I am against seeing them being dragged out of power and trashed in the dumpster of exile. Let’s be clear on that. Jean Claude Duvalier is in his country, how can you kick him out? Let’s assume he is being accused of many wrongdoings. You do not kick the accused out of the legal space where the legal offense was committed; you trial him there.  If President Obama is being charged of any wrongdoing while he is in office, for example, he is not going to be asked to leave the country; he will, rather, be held and trialed in the United States. So the notion that Duvalier must be kicked out of the country simply because we do not have a working justice system to trial him is extrapolation at its best.

 

  • We cannot be saying that he must not be arrested and trialed IF there are charges against him. It’s either we want a democracy or an anarchy. Democracy is all about allowing the democratic institutions to breathe on their own. Duvalier cannot be above the law. I am for his return to his country. Haiti is his homeland –not France, not the United States, not Canada; therefore, he has all the right to stay in his native land. However, if there are legal charges held against him, they MUST be addressed in court. That is how it should be. Otherwise, how can you hold our elected officials accountable for their mismanagement of the nation’s business during their terms in office if we don’t have a functioning justice system to give them a clean bill of service? If we want to enjoy the beauty of democracy, we need to strengthen our institutions. That’s what we ought to be   doing. We need to let the institution of justice in the country decide on his fate. That’s how democracy works. Well, I hope I am not mistaken; democracy is the system of government we claim having in Haiti. 

 

  • Should he be arrested and trialed, demagoguery or not, that must be within the realm of application of justice. If there is a warrant issued for his arrest, he must appear in court with his lawyer to answer to the charges; he deserves a fair trial. It’s a matter of principle. He could be in custody, but that would not mean he is guilty of anything. He is innocent until proven otherwise. However, justice MUST pursue its course.

 

  • Many of you are so naïve calling for a takeover of the country by him -someone who cannot even speak clearly, walk around with a steady gait, and raise his hands. In other words, you need a sick man, who is in no shape or form to lead, to be on the wheel driving us to safety. Other than the same old politics of the past, what new if anything would he bring to move the country forward? His politics is just as archaic as he looks aged. We must not be turning back the clock, and we must certainly not be living this new millennium with a mindset buried in the past. We need to retire all these old-timers and embrace the emergence of a new generation of leaders to lead this nation in this 21st century. So the notion that he must return in politics to lead the country again is just retarded and ridiculous.  

 In conclusion, Duvalier’s return to the country has surprised all of us; we did not see it coming. It took most of us by surprise. One thing we all can agree upon, regardless our politics, is that it did not occur in isolation; there is a reason why it happened when it happened. I see it as a political card used exactly to achieve a political end. It will be exploited by some political powers on the country’s political playing field to capitalize on. However one wants to look at it, the reception the former dictator received upon his arrival at Toussaint Louverture Airport in Port–au-Prince and beyond testifies of the failure of our political class and its repudiation by the people. So we need a new way with a class of new generation of leaders to turn things around in this country. To call for a takeover of the country by Duvalier is to turn the clock three decades back, and that is not smart politics. I am against exile for our heads of state. As far as I am concerned, all of them –from Raoul Cedras to Jean Bertrand Aristide –currently living in exile have their full irrefutable and inalienable right to return to their home country. As Haitian citizens, no one can take that right away from them. However, if there are charges held against them, they need to answer to them in court, and they do deserve a fair trial. As of yet, they are all innocent until otherwise can be proven. In the meantime, let me sit back with my popcorn watching how interesting this political circus in Haiti is going to be with this new clown added to the mix. I hope you too will have fun watching it.

Jan 15 2011

DR. KING’S “I HAVE A DREAM” ADDRESS

I Have a Dream – Address at March on Washington

August 28, 1963. Washington, D.C.

 

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. [Applause]

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor’s lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Jan 8 2011

“PE LEBREN” TO BE ADDED TO OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM

On Friday, June 18, 2010, at 02:52 AM (EST), on my Blackberry phone, I received this text message from CNN: “CNN Breaking news – Death row inmate Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed at 12:20 a.m. (MST) by a firing squad at Utah State Prison.”

Mr. Gardner, after being trialed for a crime he was accused of, was found guilty. And the only way for him to pay for that crime, according to the law in Utah, was for him to be executed by a firing squad. To that, everybody said justice has been served.

See, that’s in the United States, and most of us Haitians would accept it, and rightly so, as a matter of justice. Yet, if I were to propose media-covered death by fire or “Pe Lebren” in public for anyone found guilty of committing gruesome acts such as -the killing, kidnapping and raping of another citizen; committing treason against the republic of Haiti and/or stealing the people’s money -most of you here reading this would raise hell as though one way to die is inferior/superior or more/less civilized to another, without taking into account that death is death regardless the means by which it is inflicted.

We need to be burning alive these criminals for two main reasons:

  1. Budget wise, it does make sense. We don’t have the budgetary luxury to house these criminals and keep them alive. It costs us money to keep a criminal in jail. We cannot even find the money needed to spend in social projects to better the lives of our people, yet the little that we have, we want to spend it on caring for criminals having no business to be living.
  2. Psychologically speaking, it does make a lot of sense. Burning these people alive will discourage others, who may have been contemplating ways to carry out these shameful acts, from actually implementing them. That will get them to think twice about the consequences of their actions before they act.

Whether you call it death by fire or “Pe Lebren,” the end result, which is death, remains the same. So the issue, in my humble opinion, does not lie in the name used to identify the practice but, rather, what may come out of it.

We need to take the practice off the streets and place it in the hands of the judges in the courthouses to administer. In other words, we need to institutionalize it and work on the applicability and practicability of our system of justice.

The administration of justice should and must be made the sole responsibility of those officials recognized by the Constitution of the land to carry out. No one citizen should have the right to self-procure justice. Otherwise, unless acting upon self-defense, the individual must be addressed within the realm of our legal recommendations. Having said that, the only way we can prevent self-procurement of justice is by making sure that the citizens have faith and believe in our justice system. Otherwise, we can forget about it.

We cannot and must not let these criminals have their way and thereby turn our beloved Haiti into a crime state. We have to do whatever is in our human power to prevent that from happening.

To any drastic situation, we must always adopt drastic interventions. And death by fire is one of these drastic measures that must be implemented to turn things around in the country. On a long run, such measure will have a positive effect on maintaining a sense of order and security, which is paramount for the safeguard of our citizens, our sovereignty and our national security.

It is a national security issue when economically speaking we are vulnerable. And the only way we can counter that economic vulnerability is by maintaining political stability, protecting private investments, and instituting a culture of order and respect of the law, which will attract investments and keep them within our borders.

After all, death by fire or “Pe Lebren” could be a good thing to remove Haiti from the abyss she finds herself today. Crimes and political instability are two types of cancers that are destroying our nation. Therefore, we must do whatever we can to prevent them from getting to a point of no return or irreversibility. Our aim is not to have a crime-free Haiti, which, by any standard, is not a realistic goal; we only hope, rather, to see the country doing better, which will be beneficial to all of us Haitians.

Dec 25 2010

CALL FOR MARTELLY & BAKER TO FORM A COALITION

Martelly and Baker, at this point in the game, need to form a coalition to effectively fight the elections. Manigat and Celestin should not be the focus. Manigat is the weakest, so she does not really represent a major political threat. Celestin could be our target not because he represents a political force, but, rather, because he is favored by the man in the leadership of the country.

After the holidays, the turn, allure or magnitude of the fight is going to be serious. We’re gonna go back to battle mode to stop the January 16th elections from materializing.

The strategy forward is to be twofold –intensifying the fight on the ground while making sure we sell our case on both the national and international stages.

  1. The ground fight –putting real bodies or militants on the ground to resist the fraudulent November 28th elections by ANY MEANS NECESSARY.
  2. The psychological fight -engaging in a robust PR campaign to sell the case for the annulment of the elections in/to the press (national and international).

Why does it make sense for Martelly and Baker to form a political coalition? The coalition is necessary for two main reasons:

  • they both seem to have international appeal and connection
  • reading their plans for the country, they don’t seem to have major ideological differences

So it would be smart for them to work together and craft a bipartisan strategy to sell their case against the manipulation of the elections by the Preval CEP in favor of Jude Celestin. Where we are right now, working independently is not warranted. A coalition of strength for political leverage is the only way to win this battle.

They should not let their ideological differences keep them further apart and, as a result, prevent such winning coalition from taking shape. If they fail to do so, the consequences will be catastrophic. Not only will they lose the fight to Preval and Celestin, the entire country will lose another golden opportunity to make a comeback. So it is eminent for such coalition to surface for the betterment of the Haitian nation.

Dec 23 2010

PRESIDENT OBAMA DESERVES TO BE PRAISED

Sometimes, I go hard on the president, especially when I see him playing softball with the

President Obama signing bill

 Republicans who want to see him fail. But no matter how hard I go on him, it’s all out of love for the man I voted for. This time, I believe he deserves to be praised for such an outstanding cruise to the finish line.

In this lame duck session alone, in this one-month worth of legislative session, he won more legislative victories than some of his predecessors did in their entire years in office. In just one month, after he got slammed in the midterm elections, here are the legislative battles he won:

  1. he got his tax cuts bill passed
  2. he got unemployment benefits extended for the unemployed who lost their jobs to no fault of their own
  3. he got DADT repealed, which will allow homosexuals and bisexuals to openly serve in the armed forces
  4. he got the New START Treaty –a nuclear arms reduction deal with Russia -voted on in the Senate and passed with an overwhelming bipartisan majority (71-26 vote)
  5. he got the 911 Healthcare Bill for First Responders of the World Trade Center Terrorist Attacks passed unanimously

Those are some tough and serious legislative victories; they require that you have an iron spine to fight and win them. It was a tough year for the president. He got hit real hard in the midterm elections, but he recovered strongly and expeditiously.

The First Lady, the girls, and he -aboard Air Force One -flew out of Andrew Air Force Base to Hawaii for a well-deserved and relaxing two-week vacation.

Starting January, the 112th Congress is going to start its legislative operation. I can foresee some rough and tough arm twisting going on both sides of the political spectrum. Mind you, 2012 is already taking shape. So no need to mention it is going to get even more interesting than it has ever been. I just cannot wait!

Dec 21 2010

PRESIDENT OBAMA SMILING FOR A COMEBACK

It seems as though President Obama has made a strong comeback, according to most polls out there. And all that is due to what he has accomplished during the lame duck session –the passing of his tax cut legislation, extension of unemployment insurance, the repeal of DADT, possibly the passing of the START treaty and the 911 Health Care bill for the 911 responders.

This lame duck session –a one-month worth of legislative work –is by far the most productive lame duck session in recent Congress history.  

President Obama has done something EXTREMELY smart -he campaigned from the left, spent the first half of his term governing from the left and got slammed and crushed for that in the midterm elections, now he is moving to the center to outperform his opponents to the finish line -November 2012.

He had to bring Bill Clinton, the best political communicator and mastermind we have in the Democratic Party, to help him make the case for his move to the center. Of course, liberals did not like and approve of it at first, but one by one, they are getting on board. According to a recent CNN poll, his approval rating among liberal democrats has dropped 8 percentage points (80% in November vs 72% in December); that is understandable.

Obama is a smart dude. He knows that no matter what he does and how he governs, his base may get infuriated, but they will never turn their backs on him. So that has given him some degree of room to maneuver and go after the independents who had flocked in record numbers. The same CNN poll I cited earlier shows that his approval rating among moderates has risen 5 percentage points (55% in November vs 60% in December). Keep in mind that independent voters always decide or sway the vote. So he is doing great thus far with the independents.

The start was tough for the president, but it seems as though he has found his mojo. In the word of Hilary Clinton, he has found his voice.

The tax cut legislation has not been in effect as of yet, but I can feel a sense of optimism in the American people. How long that is going to stay is not quite certain. However, one thing I know for sure is that David Axelrod, the president’s brain in the White House, is going to make sure that the Republican leadership in the House gets blamed for not getting things done, if nothing gets done that is, so that the American people could go against them, which tends to translate in the polls in November 2012. So I have four words to say -happy comeback, Mr. President!

Dec 18 2010

MY TAKE ON “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” (DADT)

The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is the name coined to the policy that prevents the US military from going out of its way to reveal the sexual orientation of the closeted gay, lesbian and bisexual servicemembers or aspiring servicemembers, while at the same time banning those who are openly gay, lesbian or bisexual from serving. Not only does it prohibit any openly homosexual or bisexual person from serving in the United States military because of their sexual orientation, it also bars them from holding conversations about any homosexual relationships, including marriages, while serving.

In the event that they violate the policy and disclose their sexual orientation or engage in homosexual conduct, they will be expelled or discharged, except in the case where the conduct was “for the purpose of avoiding or terminating military service” or when it “would not be in the best interest of the armed forces.”

This policy was introduced, I must add, as a compromise measure in 1993 by President Bill Clinton who then campaigned on the agenda of allowing all Americans and legal residents to serve in the military regardless of sexual orientation.

Since then, efforts to repeal it have been undertaken to no avail. If you were to ask me, someone who had served in the US military, where do I stand on the issue, I would tell you blatantly that I am more in synchrony with Admiral Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary Gates, the US Defense secretary –who called for its repeal.

This is a discriminatory, hypocritical and senseless policy; therefore, it ought to be repealed without any condition.

It is discriminatory in that it suppresses the civil rights of a group of people, and thereby creating a group of second class citizens in the armed forces. For these people -the gays, bisexuals and lesbians – to serve in the military, according to the policy, they have to basically deny who they are. Otherwise, they will be asked to leave. It is the same nonsensical policy that used to put a ban on Blacks from serving in the armed forces back then solely because of the color of their skin. It is discriminatory towards them just like it was back then towards us Blacks.

To tell them they can serve in the armed forces (as long as they want) so long as they don’t unveil their sexual orientation is to me hypocritical. What does someone’s sexual orientation have to do with being a disciplined, well-trained and professional servicemember? As someone had said before, you don’t need to be straight to shoot straight. The hypocrisy embedded in the policy does really irk me.

Since the start of the two campaigns -the Iraq war and the Afghan War –we expelled thousands of outstanding servicemembers, some of whom specialized in the Arabic language and other skills need to effectively fight and win these wars. And we did not expel them because they could not cope with the military life and culture; we did simply because of their sexual orientation, leaving the military short of skilled warriors to effectively carry out the mission. If that is not nonsensical and ludicrous, I frankly don’t know what is.  

It is very ironic that most of the people who are against the repeal of the policy have never served a day in the military. Why do you think the majority of the uniformed military members agree with the repeal of the policy? It is because we are not afraid of the so-called monster they want to portray the gays and lesbians as. I served with gays and lesbians in the military; I did not have any problem with them. They did not bother me in my straightness; I did not bother them in their gayness. We got alone quite well. I found them to be outstanding human beings. In fact, we, gay and straight soldiers, because you could not tell who were gay and who were straight, ended up pulling guard side by side in the same foxholes and showering in the same shower rooms. Not once have we recorded a case where a straight male soldier got raped or sexually assaulted by a gay male soldier.

It is all about politics. To be honest with you, I don’t see what the fuss is about. It is time to stop all the nonsense and allow the people to be who they are. Just because they do not unveil their sexual orientation does not mean that they stop being gay, bisexual and lesbian. So what is the sense of having such policy? They are currently serving in the military, and they do not cause any more sexual problem than their straight counterparts do.

Today is going to be a big day for ALL progressive-minded Americans who have been fighting for the repeal of the policy ever since its inception in 1993 by President Bill Clinton. The Senate is going to vote on its repeal. Thanks to Independent Senator Joe Lieberman of CT and Republican Senator Susan Collins of  ME, the Democrats have the 60 votes needed to fight any Republican filibuster. We do have the vote to repeal it. And if it is repealed, which is highly likely to happen today, that will be a major victory for President Obama because he had campaigned on the promise to repeal it.

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.