Democrats Bruised, Obama Needs to Self Reflect

Published in Wenweipo
(Hong Kong) on 4 November 2010
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Alice Cwern. Edited by Gillian Palmer.
The results of the U.S. midterm elections are set in stone. The Democrats, President Obama’s party, have lost power in the House of Representatives, and barely keep control of the Senate. The results of the elections reflect the public’s disappointment and dissatisfaction toward Obama’s policy on recovering the economy. It is not an easy task to solve the economic crisis. It has actually been a long-existing problem within the American society, and cannot be resolved so easily by either Republicans or Democrats. If America does not find and solve the internal problems within its system, but instead blames the problem on other countries such as the exchange rate of the Chinese Yuan and enforces protectionist policies, its effort will all be in vain.

Barack Obama became the first black President of the United States with high popularity. American voters had high hopes that he would bring great changes to the country, clean up the mess left by Republican President George W. Bush, and lead the bad economy out of the bottom. However, two years later, as the economy is still in terrible shape and the unemployment rate remains high at around 10 percent, the American public has lost its patience with Obama. This election is said to be an election for the voters to express their dissatisfaction with Obama and the Democrats’ performance in the past two years.

In fact, the Bush administration is the one responsible for the bad economy. Its lack of regulations on financial institutions allowed elites in Wall Street to run wild in the financial market. When Obama took office, in order to save the weak economy, he let the government take charge of the financial system instead and tightened regulations on financial institutions. He also increased government spending and carried out quantitative easing in order to simulate the economy and create more jobs. However, the economy still shows no sign of recovery, and the atmosphere of the market remains negative; it indicates that the economy crash is not only a result of the financial crisis, but a result of America’s tradition of over-spending and over-borrowing, which causes banks, corporations and the public in America to lose confidence in the economy. Aggressive measures are needed even more during an economic downfall in order to bring the economy back to normal. However, the results of the midterm elections show that the U.S. government is losing its power.

China becomes a sensitive topic during every election season in America. Since the beginning of his presidency, Obama has been blaming the issues of trading imbalance and unemployment on the exchange rate of Chinese Yuan to redirect the public’s attention. However, the key for America to promote economic growth and create jobs is to change its protectionist policies and raise American corporations’ abilities to compete. Obama did not start resolving the problem by working on improving America’s economy; instead, he attempted to suppress China’s profit. It brought Obama an opposite result. After the midterm elections, both Republicans and Democrats should realize the importance of the diplomatic and trading relations between China and America and the need to remain rational and pragmatic in order to maintain a steady relationship with China.


美國中期選舉塵埃落定,總統奧巴馬所屬的民主黨失去眾議院多數地位,僅以微弱優勢保住參議院多數。選舉結果反映選民對奧巴馬未能振興經濟感到失望,對其施政成效表示強烈不滿。但要解決由金融海嘯引發的經濟危機絕非容易,這其實是美國經濟、社會長期存在的深層次矛盾,不論民主、共和兩黨誰主政,都不易解決。美國若不從內部尋找解決問題的辦法,而把矛盾外轉甚至將責任推卸到人民幣匯率上,推行貿易保護主義,必然是緣木求魚、徒勞無功。

奧巴馬挾高人氣當選為美國首位黑人總統,美國選民對其寄望甚殷,希望奧巴馬能大有作為、扭轉乾坤,盡快收拾共和黨布什總統遺下的爛攤子,帶領美國走出經濟低谷。但兩年過後,美國經濟依然萎靡不振,失業率持續在百分之十的高位徘徊,美國民眾已對奧巴馬失去耐心。這次選舉更被認為是選民對奧巴馬及民主黨政策的「公投」,用選票來表達對奧巴馬執政兩年成就乏善足陳的不滿。

其實,目前美國經濟不景的始作俑者,是布什政府疏於監管金融機構,任由華爾街精英在金融市場上翻雲覆雨所致。奧巴馬上任後為挽救疲弱的經濟,實際上已改變美國一貫奉行的「小政府、自由主義」政策,改由國家強力接管金融體系運作,不斷增加財政支出,實施量化寬鬆政策,務求刺激經濟、改善就業。經濟沒有出現起色,市場氣氛依然悲觀,這顯然反映美國的經濟不振已非僅僅是金融領域的問題,而是與美國長久以來過度消費、過度借貸及奉行高財赤政策所引發的錯綜複雜的結構性社會矛盾有關,導致美國銀行體系、企業以至民眾對經濟前景失去信心。在經濟危機時更需要一個強勢政府,才能帶領經濟重新走上正常軌道,但這次中期選舉的結果,反而揭示美國可能陷入一個弱勢政府的僵局。

每逢美國選舉,中國總成為敏感議題。而奧巴馬自上任以來一直將美國的貿易、就業問題與人民幣匯率掛鹇,意圖轉移民眾視線,將經濟不振的矛盾轉嫁到中國身上。但要促進美國經濟增長、創造就業機會,關鍵在於改變貿易保護政策、提升美國企業的競爭力。奧巴馬不從改善美國本土經濟著手,反而企圖靠打壓中國獲利,結果當然適得其反。經過此次中期選舉,無論民主黨或是共和黨,均應認識到中美關係在外交、經貿等領域的重要性,必須理性務實地保持中美關係的平穩發展。
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