Europe Disappointed with Obama: Showdown between Europe & U.S. on climate change/financial reforms

[Better Believe It]

Obama the impotent
The disappointment with Barack Obama is tangible – on climate change and financial reform Europe leads while the US lags
By Steven Hill
Steven Hill is Director of the political reform programme at the New America Foundation
September 22, 2009


Besides the ongoing battle over healthcare, this week sees two showdowns between Europe and the US that will reveal further slippage in American global leadership. The first showdown comes today at a UN special session on climate change in New York City; the second will come at the end of the week at the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, where America and Europe will butt heads over financial system reforms designed to ensure that the AIGs of the world can never again cause an economic collapse.

With the US Senate bogged down in the fight over reforming healthcare, American leaders have said that the senators might not move on climate legislation until 2010, well after the global climate change conference in Copenhagen in December. That drew a sharp response from John Bruton, head of the European Union delegation: "The United States is just one of the 190 countries coming to this conference," Bruton said, "but the United States emits 25% of all the greenhouse gases that the conference is trying to reduce. I submit that asking an international conference to sit around looking out the window for months, while one chamber of the legislature of one country deals with its other business, is simply not a realistic political position."

That's the start of President Obama's week. At the end of it, President Obama will appear at a meeting in Pittsburgh of the G20, a bloc of both developed and developing nations, representing 85% of the world's economic output and most of its population. On the table will be reforms designed to avoid a repetition of the financial panic and global economic collapse perceived as having originated on Wall Street. Despite immense, taxpayer-financed rescue packages needed to overcome the crisis, the financial sector in the US is rapidly returning to business as usual. Indeed, three US banks – Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan – which received some $45bn of bailout aid, each paid billions of dollars more in bonuses in 2009 than they earned in 2008.

Here again, Europe is leading, while the Obama administration is dragging its feet. Europe has proposed far-reaching reforms designed to impose new rules on executive pay and bonuses, requiring that banks link pay to long-term rather than short-term performance, and that they "claw back" any bonuses received in the face of losses. Europe wants a financial police force that has powers to slash payments where investments prove to have failed, and to force boardrooms to control levels of speculation. Europe also wants to block the exercising of stock options for set periods and expose top bank directors to penalties, following huge payouts to failed bank chiefs.

In response to American foot-dragging, European leader Jean-Claude Juncker said Europe should act on the bonus issue "whether the Americans are with us or not." He said that a Europe-only charge "will take on such force over time that the Americans will not be able to sit on the sidelines."

It appears that the wheels may be coming off the world's post-war leader, and not even Barack Obama can stop it happening.

Please read the complete article at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/sep/22/obama-un-climate-change-europe

[uponit7771]

1. They know he's in the middle of health care debate, Gaurdian tells half the story some times

[SeattleGirl]

4. Yeah, I heard something today where they were poo-pooing him

for focusing so much on health care, something they think should have been dealt with 40 years ago. While I agree it should have been dealt with already, the reality is, it wasn't, and now Obama needs to deal with it. Sorry Chaps, but Obama has a lot to deal with, and can't put everything aside for your agenda.

[Deja Q]

10. +1

[SpartanDem]

2. I don't think anyone would say that progress hasn't been slow

it has, but it is wrong to lay all or even most of the blame of Obama. Much of the blame for lack of progress on climate change and regulation reform can be layed sy the foot the healthcare debate something European governments aren't having to deal with right now.

[Better Believe It]

3. Read the article. The undemocratic political structure of the U.S. is also blamed.

[Thrill]

5. This sounds like its written by someone who doesn't know how the US govt works

They certainly don't know that the US Congress is bought and paid for by the Financial, Coal, and oil industries.

[Better Believe It]

8. Read the article and you'll see that the writer does in fact know how this undemocratic system works

[BlooInBloo]

6. lolol!

[JeffR]

7. Quit laughing.

It's time for the "Two Minutes' Hate". These fresh anti-Obama screeds don't stay fresh long, you know.

[dionysus]

9. smells like someone farted in here.

[AspenRose]

12. You better believe it!

[City Lights]

13. This should help...

[Baltoman991]

11. Well geez

you and the Guardian have something in common.

You both slam Obama and don't have a clue what you're talking about. Go figure.

[Jennicut]

14. Our system of govt. is slow. And other countries laugh at us about denying health care to everyone.

Sigh. But that is not Obama's fault.

[Bullet1987]

15. America is Johnny-Come-Lately to the Healthcare situation

which is only a crisis in the U.S. Corporatism seems to work differently here than in other countries. Even European leaders get things done when the time calls for it (I'm not saying they're perfect, but they don't always bend over either). American politicians are either too scared to challenge other elites, or are in bed with them. That's a major part of the problem. American leaders aren't stepping up and doing their jobs. It's all talk and no action. Empty threats. The rest of the industrialized world had universal healthcare years ago.