Barrack Hussein Obama became the 44th President of the United States this week. He was inaugurated (twice) and has already set about righting some of the wrongs of the George Dubya Bush era . I’m a Political Science graduate, so questions have been posed to me during the last week “Why should I care about the US President? What impact will it possibly have on my life?”. Therefore, I crave five minutes of your time whilst I demonstrate that the UK and the US are two sides of the same coin.
History
First, I need to go back. Way back, to the beginning of the USA as we know it. Christopher Columbus may have “sailed the ocean blue” in 1492, but settlers from Britain first populated the Eastern seaboard of what we now call the USA. Jamestown, Virginia was settled in 1606 before the Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts in 1620.
For the next 150 years, there was an uneasy alliance between the New World and Great Britain. Rising taxation from Britain angered the Colonists, especially as they had no political representation in Parliament. The Colonists wanted the British influence removed from their shores, and so The War of Independence began in 1775, lasting until 1783. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed and in 1789 George Washington became the first President of the United States of America.
More Recent history
So much for history? Well, maybe just a little bit more. Let’s move forward from 1789to 1941, and the USA’s introduction to the Second World War. Pearl Harbour had just woken the USA from it’s slumber, and Britain was tiring in it’s efforts to hold back the Nazi troops. Harry S Truman, 33rd President of the USA, enabled the “Lend-Lease Act”. The USA supplied Britain and other Allies with vast amounts of war material in return for military bases in Newfoundland, Bermuda and the British West Indies. A total of $31.4 billion (equivalent to nearly $450 billion at 2007 prices) worth of supplies were shipped to Britain and eventually the tide was turned, and Germany defeated.
Very generous of the USA, one might think, but this agreement took a surprise turn at the end of WWII. The USA suddenly terminated Lend-Lease on September 2nd 1945. Britain needed to retain some of this equipment in the post war period, resulting in the “Anglo-American loan”, which totalled a whopping £1,075,000,000. Payment was to be stretched out over 50 years at 2% interest. The final payment of $83.3 million (£42.5 million) was made as recently as December 29th 2006. This is an awful lot of money that could have been spent on schools, transportation and lowering taxes. And who was paying for this loan? Well the tax-paying British public, of course.
War. What is it good for?
Let’s come back to present day, and the current political situation. None of us outside of CIA briefings had heard of Osama Bin Laden prior to 9/11. It was an horrific attack, the slaying of innocent lives watched by millions of us on CNN. The USA was shocked and angry, understandably wanting quick revenge, but Bin Laden had gone underground. By declaring war on terror, they needed to have a visible member of the Axis of Evil, and Saddam Hussein fitted the profile perfectly. He was a “quick win”.
Not only did the Bush family have unfinished business with Hussein, but Iraq had oil. Lots of oil. Oil makes the world go round, keeps our factories working and cars on the road. Whilst oil is kept relatively cheap, it is the most precious commodity in the modern world and cleaner alternatives such as Wind and Solar power will remain in the shadows. Importantly, Dubya was a Texan Republican who just loved oil. So all it takes is a few hastily scribbled memo’s, a catchy phrase like “Weapons of Mass Destruction”, an unblinking Ally such as Great Britain and Bang! We have got ourselves a war.
But wars aren’t cheap. I apologise if the next paragraph is a little statistic-heavy but they’re there to prove the point. Wars aren’t cheap. Thousands of men went to Iraq, and Afghanistan. They get paid, just like you and I. They serve at the pleasure of Queen and country, and thus will go unflinchingly into battle when ordered. The United Kingdom was a major contributor to the United States-led War in Iraq, sending 46,000 army personnel to the region, the second largest force after the US. Aside from troop salaries, there is the hardware to consider.
The F-22 Raptor is a fighter aircraft, built by Lockheed-Martin and Boeing at a cost of £90,000,000 each. £90m is equal to the total amount of Council tax paid by a combined 112,500 British households each year and the US Air Force currently owns 127F-22’s. The Challenger 2 Tank, used by the British Army in Basra, costs upwards of £3,500,000 to build. The British Army paid for 386 of them to be built. And who pays for the British Army? Once more, the British tax-payers foot the bill for a war. A war which we weren’t allowed to vote for or against, and a war which was centred around the USA’s search for Weapons of Mass Destruction, which never existed.
The Economy
Okay, leaving war aside, let’s move onto something more tangible. The credit crunch. We’ve all felt the pinch recently, less of us are socialising because it’s pricey, we’re going to restaurants less, pubs are closing and holidays remain unbooked. We all know someone who has been affected by this. A friend, who I play football with every week, just told me that he has been put onto a three-day working week. He has a pretty wife, a lovely daughter and a mortgage to pay. It’s all around us.
The credit crunch has seen the collapse of banks around the world, and the most shocking of which was Lehman Brothers. This ties in with the original question – what does it matter to the average British citizen that a big bank in America has gone bankrupt. Well, the event itself might not have an affect, but the ripple effects are spreading across the Atlantic and gathering pace. Banks in the UK had money invested in Lehman, and they were then bailed out by the British government. And where did the British government get the money for the bail out? You’ve guessed it.
The Banks had invested the money that their customers had deposited. Their customers, by the way, are Mr & Mrs Taxpayer. It wasn’t the banks money, but they invested it anyway, as that’s how a bank makes its profits. Unfortunately, the investments crumbled due to corruption and bad judgement on Wall Street and when their customers asked for money that they simply didn’t have, it caused panic. People lost faith in banking institutions, and banks became afraid to lend money for fear they might not get it back. Six months after the first danger signs and the full extent of the financial collapse can only be estimated, although no-one actually wants to do that as the final figure may be too frightening. No-one is spending, no-one is lending. Gridlock. Socialism is victorious.
Democrat v Republican
The Banks were encouraged to take risks by a Republican government whose ethic of putting money into churches and charities and leave everyone else to fend for themselves has failed. Democrats are far more involved in the economy, and thus more responsible. President Obama himself claimed that the age of irresponsibility is over.
In times like these, it’s important to remember the age-old distinction between Republicans and Democrats. The Democrats are for the working man. The Republicans are for the Businessman. Democrats tend to favour social action programs, which help the poor and middle class; while Republicans believe more in a 'pull yourself up by your own bootstraps' philosophy.
The future
History has shown us how the lives of British and American people are constantly intertwined, through war and peace, bust and boom. Which brings us back to the main question. Why should Britain care about the 44th President’s appointment? Early signs indicate that he will be the ‘anti-Dubya’. He is riding the crest of a wave at the moment, and even a staunch Republican congress doesn’t want to oppose him at the moment for fear of losing credibility themselves. The light is shining on President Obama at the moment and even the opposition party wants to feel the warm glow, allowing him to pass whatever legislation he chooses during this honeymoon period.
President Obama will begin by creating policies for which liberals have long clamoured, from alternative-energy sources to school renovations, infrastructure repairs and technology enhancements. For example, his $800bn stimulus package includes plans to help school districts($41bn), provide higher unemployment benefits ($36bn), rebuild roads ($30bn), computerise medical records ($20bn) and fund a Green electricity grid ($11bn). He’s closing Guantanamo Bay and pulling troops out of Iraq.
The Republicans told people to do what they like with their money. The Democrats are telling people exactly what to do with their money. Spend it, but wisely. Save it, but in a bank. The security of a watchful American government will help the rest of the world recover from what is officially “a recession”. Nobody make a sound, just wait and watch President Obama. Quietly, he’s going to save the world.
