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College Tribune | November 12th 2008
Features News
He reached the mou As a new era for America dawns, Chris Bond examines the path that lies ahead, speaking with Frank Llewellyn of the Democratic Socialists in America and Eric Lee of the Trade Union movement. “If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer’’. That was Barack Obama’s opening statement after claiming a landslide victory in the American Presidential election. Obama’s style of campaigning was unprecedented. Starting off with little money and few high profile endorsements, Obama galvanised thousands of grassroots activists, using innovative methods to get his message out. He was one of the first election candidates to successfully combine web based campaigning with community activism. Such tactics enabled him to outsmart clear favourite Hilary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic Presidential Primaries. Obama’s campaign revolutionised how elections will be fought for years to come. The question though that now must be asked is, will a different approach to winning elections mean a different approach to governing powerful and influential nation on Earth? During the 1980s Ronald Reagan transformed America with his Neo Liberal Agenda. From that point onwards it became conventional wisdom that the Free Market could solve all of society’s problems and that any form of Government intervention in economic affairs was harmful. Reagan was so successful in his efforts that not even the Democrats under President Clinton would dismantle the fundamentals of Reaganomics.
Will an Obama administration continue the same fundamental economic system that has prevailed over the last two decades? Albeit with some modifications. Or will he enact policies which will change the political and economic landscape in America for a generation. Neo Liberal economist Milton Friedman once remarked that “when a crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are
“The American taxation system was much more progressive under Richard Nixon than it was under Bill Clinton’’ lying around’’. That was true of both Ronald Reagan and Franklin Delano Roosevelt who upon election implemented a type of economic agenda which defined their generations. In Roosevelt’s case government intervened in the economy to help the country recover from the great depression. By the 1980s the policies of Roosevelt’s new deal were believed to be past their sell by date. Reagan’s economic recovery plan entailed dismantling government regulation and cutting taxes. Obama and his administration now have to devise a plan that can save the American economy
from the failure of Reaganomics. In a recent interview Barack Obama stated that he wanted to “fix the plumbing’’ in America’s financial system. However there are many who believe that Barack Obama’s economic policies will not go far enough.
Frank Llewellyn, national organizer of the Democratic Socialists of America, an affiliate of the Irish Labour party says that “it’s not enough to merely restore liquidity to the financial markets, an Obama administration needs to ensure that people
have money to spend”. Llewellyn welcomes Obama’s proposals to increase taxes on higher earners, but does not believe that they will bring about radical economic change “it’s not enough to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire, a more sharply pro-