Thoughts on the debt limit debate in Washington

It has been difficult to watch how polarized U.S. politics has become in recent years, and especially how acrimonious and partisan the debate on the debt ceiling has been in Washington.  Most of all, it has been painful to observe how President Obama seems to have been unable to lead from the front and forge a path forward. The Republican party has instead found a way to force the President into an unseemly compromise on spending cuts and has at the same time appeased its more conservative members who see the world in very simplistic terms.  While most public opinion polls in the U.S. show that Americans prefer a balanced approach to managing the country's finances, an approach which would include taxing the wealthy and reducing military spending, politicians in Washington have so far been unable to craft a deal that matches public opinion. They have focused instead on winning partisan points.  The country's party leaders appear to have sought ideological, self-interested victories instead of focusing on nation-building (or should I say "nation-saving"?).  It appears the crisis has weakened President, who has found it exceedingly difficult to fix the political mess in Washington he said he wanted to clean up when he was elected.

It will be interesting to see, when we look back, whether this crisis proves the President lost his way or whether it shows him to be an understated but sophisticated leader.

More info:

> Ross Douthat writes in The New York Times that Obama is a "diminished president."

>Across the Atlantic, however, Tim Stanley at The Guardian newspaper sees things differently, arguing that Obama "looks like a winner." He says the President's passive approach has paid off and his centrist stance will help him in the next election.

(Check the monthly archives on the right for more posts.)

Italians heading to the polls

As expected, (see posts in previous days) Italy's parliament was dissolved today, following unsuccessful efforts to form an interim government. Italians will go to the polls on April 13 and 14 for new national elections, three years ahead of schedule.

The campaign will see former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right party begin with a slight lead in the public opinion polls, facing Walter Veltroni's centre-left party as his main rival.

Since World War II, Italy has had 60 different governments, a very high number that points to the need for electoral reform.

Thanks to Marco Caliulo for his photograph of the flags hanging outside the Italian parliament building, Palazzo Montecitorio.

A thorny time in Italian politics

An update to the post of January 26th ("Government in trouble"):

Italy's political crisis remains unresolved. After another round of negotiations, Senate Speaker Franco Marini has gone back to the country’s Head of State, President Giorgio Napolitano, and reported he cannot find the consensus needed among the country's parties to form a caretaker government.

Now it seems likely that the country will head to early elections, probably in mid-April. It's not a surprise. With over 25 political parties represented in parliament, and so many fragile coalitions, legislative work has consistently ground to a halt. The country needs an effective electoral system that will streamline the number of parties, eliminate needless bickering and allow lawmakers to govern effectively.

Everyone agrees. But the solution is proving difficult, as many party leaders appear unwilling to accept any formula that would result in their parties being dissolved or absorbed into larger parties. Individuals are reluctant to give up their seats and their parties are reluctant to give up the valuable government subsidies and many other privileges that come with representation.

The question this week is: are the leaders of the major parties willing to work out some rules for electoral reform before a general election is forced on them, or will the country wait until after general elections and a new government is formed to tackle this problem? It's a very thorny issue either way. The President doesn’t have many alternatives: most groups want the parties to once again go to the people and ask for their support.

And no matter what's decided this week, Italian citizens will either watch the unfolding of another painfully slow process of negotiation or they will be subjected to a fresh barrage of campaign advertising and the vague promises that come with it. Meanwhile, the country's problems, sadly, fester.

For another summary, you can refer to the following article in the International Herald Tribune, located here.

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Thanks to expatriate Canadian Sam Veres for his close-up shot of cacti needles. He made it available through the stock.xchng.

Would you want to vote for a World President?

Will it ever be possible to create a world democracy to govern the planet? Something that could replace the United Nations, perhaps, and allow people from all countries to participate in an international democratic government? Could such a government help us overcome the challenges of global warming, for example?

These are some of the intriguing question posed by a world-wide project called "Why Democracy?"

The project revolves around a series of documentaries; ten unique films. The documentaries are being used to stimulate a global discussion about democracy.

One of these films is called "Please Vote for Me." It's a gripping, personal story of eight-year-old children voting for Class Monitor in a school in Wuhan, China. Director Weijun Chen conducts a clever experiment to see how democracy might be received if it developed there. He explores the question of whether democracy is a shared human value, and he does it in the heart of a country where elections only take place strictly within the Communist Party.

The "Why Democracy" project presents another nine documentaries, most of which have been shown at international film festivals and won awards.

"Why Democracy" has a website, http://www.whydemocracy.net/home, that is run from a house in Cape Town, South Africa, where young people from different countries coordinate the project. They also produce an interesting blog, that you can see here.

A number of media organizations are supporting the project, including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). The CBC and the Metro Express chain of commuter newspapers have been interviewing famous people on the subject of democracy. Former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali noted that "in a great part of the world 50 per cent of the population are illiterate" and that this represents an obstacle to democratic participation, particularly for women, who are more disadvantaged than men in many parts of the world.

The democracy project asks a number of intriguing questions in its web polls.
Here are a few:

Who would you vote for as President of the World? (Boutros Boutros-Ghali picked Nelson Mandela.)

Is religion more powerful that politics?

Are democracy and capitalism compatible?

It's an interesting project and a wonderful dialogue.