American Politicians to Stick with China-Bashing Hypocrisy
Do American
politicians have a habit of bashing China to get elected, and then seeking its
help after entering office? According to this post-election analysis from
China's state-run Global Times, despite their apparent distaste for the
policies of the Middle Kingdom, Beijing fully expects newly-elected members of
the U.S. Congress to quickly change their tune.
For
the president of the United States,
the midterm elections are like a midterm exam. Before the
elections, there was no suspense about the fact that the Republicans would be the majority party
in the House of Representatives.
According to the final
poll by NBC and The
Wall Street Journal taken before the midterm polls, as many as 84 percent
of voters were dissatisfied with the current U.S. economy, and 60 percent believe the U.S.
is headed in the wrong direction.
The Democratic Party
clearly recognized the seriousness of the problem. Even the first lady, who has always been rather low-key, helped canvass votes for Democratic candidates.
But all the lobbying in the world couldn'tcompensate for the icy-cold
figures: in November 2008 when Obama won the election, the unemployment rate
was 6.7 percent; yet in September this year, it was 9.6 percent. In addition, this September, a total of 102,134
families lost their homes because they couldn't pay their mortgages, setting a new monthly record.
American voters have
clearly put the blame on the Democratic government,
but this was
something of an injustice for Obama. Britishcommentator
Martin Wolf of the Financial Timeswrote, "An ambulance stops by the roadside to help a man
suffering from a heart attack...the patient survives. Then, two years later, far from
feeling grateful, he sues the paramedics and doctors. If it were not for their
interference, he insists, he would be as good as new...That is
the situation in which Dr. Barack Obama finds himself." The Republicans
have led Americans to believe
this logic.
Forgetfulness and
impatience are distinctive features of modern man. Obama cannot meet the demands of Americans to
change the status quo quickly enough. So out of a kind of amnesia, they have written him off and forgotten all of his efforts to save the
U.S. economy.
Posted by
WORLDMEETS.US
Less than two years
is a bit short, but in fact, Obama's answers to his midterm exam could have been better. For Obama, the health care reform bill can be regarded as his first major achievement as president. From
Kennedy to Clinton,Obama made possible what many
Democratic presidents wanted do but always found impossible. But although
it was achieved, the timing wasn't
right. To push through such a
challenging reform while the economy is in the trough is like having
a tooth extracted while having a cold: it tends to make a person extremely uncomfortable.
Interestingly, China
became a common prop for Democratic and Republican candidates in these midterms. Democrats tended to criticize Republicans on trade and employment issues. OneDemocratic candidate from Ohio produced such an ad: in
the TV spot, his Republican rival claims to be a
supporter of free trade. The following shot is of a busy port and crowded China
street, which is immediately
contrasted with
run-down factories in Ohio where even the windows are shattered and American workers look on with helpless looks on their faces. Then the narrator says,
"we've lost 91,000 jobs to China through unfair trade deals." [see
video below]
AnotherRepublican candidate ran an ad that depicts a
university classroom in Beijing in the year 2030. [see
video below]. A Chinese professor
is teaching "global economics."
The professor says, "Why do great nations fail? From the Roman Empire tothe United States, they all make the same mistakes...Of
course, we owned most of their debt, so now they work for us." When the
professor finishes, the shot turns to the class of Chinese students who all laugh.
The ads convey two messages: First, all the two American parties can do is point out what the other party shouldn't, not what
it should. Second, policies to stimulate the
economy alone cannot create employment.
That is why, although
this debate - and
the game - will now move to Capitol Hill and the White House, U.S.
economic policy won't
significantly change because neither party can find a better solution. Therefore, the law of "battling it out with China before
being elected, then seeking
China's help after taking office" remains in effect.
