100 Days...

I have been told by some that I am being too hard, expecting too much, that it is only 100 days that the People's Partnership Government is in Office.

I offer in comparison:

The United States:

In Barack Obama's first 100 days, he had to halt a worldwide recession, stop a US financial sector meltdown, end a war that was being fought on four fronts with more troops committed than we have people, and stop a worldwide swine flu pandemic that was threatening all of humanity before it gained traction.

Despite the anticipation that accompanies it, the marking of a president's first 100 days in office is a decidedly predictable affair. The White House, while downplaying the metric, nevertheless goes to great lengths to stress the enormity of its own accomplishments. Critics, not surprisingly, carry a diametrically different message; only this time, terms like socialist and fascist are bandied about.

That said, conservatives and progressives alike do seem to be in agreement on one aspect of the Obama presidency: one hundred days into office and a lot has been done. From new approaches to two wars to more than a trillion dollars of government spending; from pirate attacks to flu epidemics; from controversial cartoons to Senatorial defections; a full news day has not this administration lacked.

 Germany:

They're not exactly dancing in the streets, but indications are that Germans might be seeing the glass as half full these days instead of half empty. Consumer confidence is up, business sentiment higher than it has been in nearly 15 years, and surveys show Germans are less worried about their personal economic health and slightly more optimistic about their country's economic future than they have been in years.

German businesses, particularly those who export, have been enjoying strong profits and executives are more optimistic than they have been in years. A widely watched index of German business sentiment put out by the Munich-based ifo institute reported its index rose to 103.3 in February, its highest level since October 1991.

But it's not just publishers and industry executives who are reveling in the upturn. Even ordinary Germans are tending to find reasons to smile after years of dour faces. German consumer confidence is set to improve for a fifth month in a row in March, according to the GfK research group which issued its consumer climate report last week. 

Not quite storming the stores yet, but willing to spend a little more"The overall mood among German consumers is more positive than it has been for many years," the GfK said in a statement.

A higher percentage of Germans believe that there is a good chance of economic recovery, according to the institute.  

Britain:

'The overall judgement to date is positive. Business has a strong interest in the success of the coalition, the last thing it wants is a period of drift and political uncertainty. And it has been impressed by the speed and direction of policy-making to date.'

'This applies in particular to the government's determined efforts to get the public finances back into shape. June's budget was seen as bold and audacious, and it needed to be.'

'And it is not just in economic matters that this government is turning out to be more radical than expected ... if anything, the worry now is that the government is attacking on such a broad front - with big reforms proposed in the health service, education, policing, welfare and more - that the process might start to become unmanageable.'

'After 100 days of government we are delighted that the coalition has achieved two key early objectives - an ambitious deficit reduction plan and a bill facilitating more school competition. If we want the UK economy to thrive, tackling the crisis in our public finances and creating a better skilled workforce is absolutely central.'

France:

One hundred days can be a long time in politics. That's all it took to turn Napoleon Bonaparte from a returning hero into a twice-defeated general on the fields of Waterloo. Now another French leader is facing judgment after completing the first hundred days of his presidency, and Nicolas Sarkozy is proving more resilient than his predecessor--for the moment. 

Sarkozy stepped through the doors of the Elysee Palace on May 16 with 53% voter support behind him and gave himself the task of changing France in his first three months of power. Reforms would include the tax system, justice, security, universities and immigration, alongside bigger political hurdles such as Europe and the environment. 

And thanks to the dominance of his center-right UMP party in both the Senate and the National Assembly, Sarkozy has achieved the bulk of his promises in the hundred days preceding France's long summer vacation. An individual tax rate cap has been set at 50% of income; overtime will no longer be taxed; universities will have more autonomy; and finally, as of last week, public service reforms guarantee a "minimum" level of service during strike action. 

Trinidad & Tobago:

• Changed the number plates on the Prime Minister's official vehicle
• Changed the name of the old age grant to pension, increased it for some reduced it for others, none of whom are starting at sixty as promised
• Placed a controversial order for 24,000 student laptops (itself a silly plan) at one and a half times the price available at retail
• Passed a budget
• Planted a tree
• Got stamps in some passports
• Changed the name of Social Services Ministry to Ministry of the People and somehow rendered it even less effective
• Raised the minimum wage to still below the US poverty index earning ratio
• Fired the local Acting Commissioner, hired a Canadian to do the job better
• Is engaging in a massive exercise to prosecute members of the last Administration, while shielding friends already charged and wanted to answer elsewhere
• Appointed known and corrupt men to Ministries they allegedly pilfered before, so they could pick up where they left off

We are not a banana republic because of where we are or who we are, we are a banana republic because we the people think so low of ourselves not only do we allow others to piss on our backs from on high, we help them climb the ladder.

In a country whose economic might could cancel poverty at the stroke of a pen, we work to keep the lowest class in bondage, while the middle class strives to go from well off to wealthy through contracts, connections and corruption, so they could dress up pretty, buy a German car, and pretend they were never poor in the first place.

We are like rats, like lemmings but mostly like fools, because the wins are short term and the losses forever.

There are people who are intelligent enough to read the writing on the wall. These people migrate and raise their children in societies that work. The rest of us take jamming for five years and treat elections like musical chairs.

Who's next to jam us, you? 

Please, by all means.

We're already bent over....

Happy Republic Day