by admin | May 25, 2021 | Books
By Saket Suman,
Title: Who Thought This Was a Good Idea; Author: Alyssa Mastromonaco; Publisher: Hachette; Price: Rs 499; Pages: 244
The unusual title of this book is inspired by a question which former US President Barack Obama frequently asked the author while she was serving as the White House Deputy Chief of Staff and the cover shows Obama sitting with the author inside Air Force One. In short, it has all that is required to attract eyeballs. But don’t judge a book by its cover.
Mastromonaco worked for Obama for almost a decade — and long before his run for President. From the then-Senator’s early days in Congress to his years in the Oval Office, she was a constant companion.
At first glance, the book appears more like a memoir and readers may be tempted to buy a copy just the anecdotes around the former President. But this expectation is belied as the author calls it an “advice book/memoir geared towards women between the ages of about 15-25”. Nonetheless, Mastromonaco has some good lessons in store for her readers.
It is a journey through some challenging phases of Obama’s presidency and, through the events that unfolded at those times, the author leaves behind her lessons for the readers. Described in vivid detail and anecdotal tone are accounts ranging from the tension when Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy or the Haitian earthquake struck to the riveting details on the lead-up to Obama’s inauguration.
Mastromonaco keeps her target readers in mind and makes it a point to mention every small detail that may serve as a lesson for young women — including how she got her period at a state dinner or suffered from diarrhoea at the Vatican.
Like a child, she expresses her excitement at visiting Buckingham Palace and shares insights into little troubles that she faced while moving house. She also mentions several instances of her feeling sick on a helicopter. It is through these little experiences that she reminds her readers that even people at the height of their success are faced with common problems like common people.
“I also wanted to write this book because I didn’t see anything like it out there. When I was trying, kind of desperately, to get a job in politics, and then once I got one, all my mentors were men. Most political memoirs are written by men — because most of the people who work in politics are men,” she writes.
The stories about the White House with Obama are wild and hilarious, overwhelming for the reader on many occasions. Obama is largely a well-respected man among common people in the US and abroad but Mastromonaco reminds us — through many anecdotes and personal experiences — that Obama is a legitimately thoughtful, caring and wonderful human being. The extraordinary amount of respect that Obama’s staff had for the President, the author points out in the book, is sorely missing from Trump’s White House.
The book is easy to read but does not follow a chronological order which is a bit confusing at times. Mastromonaco’s main aim is to reach out to young women who have a fiery desire and passion to enter politics. If you are curious about anything in the world of politics, you will enjoy this book.
(Saket Suman can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics, World
Hanoi, (IANS) Even though ratification of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has stalled in the US, President Barack Obama said he’s still “confident” the trade deal will earn the support of Congress.
“I remain confident we are going to get it done, and the reason I’m confident is because it is the right thing to do. It’s good for the country, it’s good for America, it’s good for the region, it’s good for the world,” Obama was quoted by RT online during a joint press conference with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang in Hanoi.
Leaders signed the 12-nation TPP, which includes the US and Vietnam as members, back in February, but it still requires ratification from each country’s lawmakers before it can go into effect.
That process has stumbled, though, as public outcry against international trade deals increases. In the US in particular, all three major-party presidential candidates have come out against the deal.
In Vietnam, Obama reiterated why he believes the TPP was so important, noting that the Asia-Pacific region is the fastest growing part of the world and represents a huge market for the US. He said the TPP would eliminate some 18,000 tariffs that have been placed on American goods sold in Asia.
“I have not yet seen a credible argument that once we get TPP in place we are going to be worse off,” he said. “We are demonstrably better off. American workers and American businesses are better off if we get this deal passed.”
However, opponents have railed against the TPP from the outset, criticizing the secret, years-long negotiations and arguing that it will primarily benefit large corporations, not workers. Protesters have argued that many of the regulations that would be stripped away would negatively affect laborers and the environment.
“It would make it easier to offshore American jobs, and it would push down their wages by putting them in direct competition with workers in Vietnam who don’t make but 65 cents an hour,” Lori Wallach, the director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, a non-profit consumer advocacy organization, told RT.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Washington (IINA) – U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday signed into law a measure aimed at expanding electricity to millions of households in Sub-Saharan Africa, AFP reported.
The Electrify Africa Act, which unanimously passed the House of Representatives and Senate, leverages partnerships with the private sector in order to bring first-time electricity access to some 50 million people in underserved parts of Africa.
Virtually no new US federal funds are allocated for the project, which instead will use a system of loan guarantees to add 20,000 megawatts of electricity to the continent’s grid by 2020.
Access to power is a fundamental development challenge in Africa, and boosting it will stimulate economic growth and improve access to education and public health, the bill’s backers argue.
“It’s a game-changer for small businesses that have to close at dark, and school children who are often forced to study by dangerous, inefficient kerosene lamps,” said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce.
“And too many families resort to using charcoal or other toxic fuel sources, whose fumes cause more deaths than HIV/AIDS and malaria, combined,” he added.
The law aims to build on a “Power Africa” initiative, launched by President Obama during in June 2013 – a project led by private businesses that aims to double electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa.
It would see the investment of about $7 billion in US funds, largely financed through the US Export-Import Bank, in order to create 30,000 megawatts of clean energy generation.
Through the plan, “we can make great strides in addressing African energy poverty and promote inclusive economic growth for communities in Africa and at home,” Senate Democrat Ben Cardin said.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Washington:(IANS) US President Barack Obama on Tuesday laid out his final budget proposal, seeking $4.1 trillion of spending plan for the fiscal year 2017.
The budget proposal highlights Obama’s priorities for fighting climate change, helping the poor, increasing taxes for the wealthy, and strengthening national security, Xinhua reported.
“The budget is a roadmap to a future that embodies America’s values and aspirations: a future of opportunity and security for all of our families; a rising standard of living; and a sustainable, peaceful planet for our kids,” Obama said in a letter sent to the Congress on Tuesday.
The budget plan envisions a deficit of $503 billion in fiscal year 2017, lower than the $616 billion of budget gap for current fiscal year which ends on September 30.
The spending proposal stayed within the confines of an agreement reached between the White House and Congress last year that lifted mandatory “sequestration” cuts on both defense and domestic spending.
It calls for $320 billion to promote clean transportation infrastructure, and another $11 billion for clean energy. The budget also seeks $150 billion to boost research and development in areas from biomedical research to space exploration, and $19 billion for cyber-security.
The proposal requests more than $11 billion for the Departments of Defence and State to fight Islamic State militants and stabilise Syria.
The proposed budget also calls for the lift of sequestration in 2018 and beyond. It also seeks to cut deficits by $2.9 trillion over the coming decade through reforms in health programmes, the tax code, and immigration.
The budget for the fiscal year 2017 which begins on October 1 is unlikely to be passed by the Republican-controlled Congress. Leaders of the House and Senate budget panels have already said they will not even give the proposal a hearing.
Although there is little chance that the budget will be passed in the Congress, there are some areas that the White House and the Congress can agree on, such as funding for cancer research and expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit to childless adults.