What the fiscal cliff gained

After the Senate, even the U.S. House of Representatives approved the agreement  that avoids the "fiscal cliff". The vote ended with 257 votes in favor and 164 against. It provides in particular an increase of the tax burden for the wealthiest taxpayers: the tax rate on incomes over 450 thousand dollars a year will rise from 35% currently to 39.5%.
President Barack Obama welcomed the approval stressing that he had thereby complied with the promise made in the election campaign of a tax system more equitable. Barack Obama warned Republicans not willing to negotiate the conditions for an increase of the debt ceiling: “We can not pay the bill that it has already been presented…If Congress refuses to allow the U.S. government to pay this bill on time, the consequences for the entire global economy would be catastrophic, far worse than the fiscal cliff" Obama concluded, noting that a similar situation in 2011 had led to a downgrade of the debt rating by Standard & Poor's.
CONTENT:
- MORE TAXES FOR SUPER RICH. Increased to 39.6% from 35% tax rate for people who earn more 'than $ 400,000 a year and families whose earnings exceed $ 450,000 per year.
- EXEMPTIONS FOR MIDDLE CLASS. This confirmed the tax cuts for middle class families and make permanent the rate of the minimum tax.
- CLOSE ON DIVIDENDS AND CAPITAL GAINS. Will be taxed at 20% for people earning over $ 400,000 a year and families with more 'than $ 450,000 a year.
- INHERITANCE TAX INCREASE. The rate is increased from 35% to 40% on the properties' that exceed the value of 10 million dollars.
- EXTENSION OF UNEMPLOYMENT ALLOWANCE . The benefits for the long-term unemployed are extended until the end of 2013.
- BENEFITS FOR FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN AND STUDENTS. The tax credits for those who have children and students who have to pay the college - always in the middle class - are extended for five years.
- A RELIEF to enterprises that innovate. Are extended until the end of 2013 the tax credits for companies that invest in research and innovation and for those in the field of renewable energy.
- 'DOC FIX'. Stop the payment reduction to doctors of the Medicare program (for the elderly and disabled).
- SPENDING CUTS. Are postponed for two months and replaced with new revenue and targeted cuts in some sectors such as defense.

Fabrizio Creston

We need a change !

     Following the news events of the last few days, I decided to deal with a sensitive subject, the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

All Americans favourable to the right to bear arms are hiding behind this amendment. The problem comes, however, when we see the year when the amendment was adopted. We are talking about 1791. Europe is facing the French Revolution, Australia has recently gained its independence from the United Kingdom and the United States are a young nation which has to deal with many internal and external problems. 

If we consider the year of adoption of this amendment is comprehensible the needs of American citizens to defend themselves, but since then things have changed. After nearly 222 years the law requires an urgent action if we want to avoid incidents such as the massacre of Connecticut.

President Obama has taken a serious engagement in this sense, but it will be a hard battle against the powerful lobbies pro weapons. We just have to wait and see what happens. We are hopeful of a positive result.

Sources: http://www.tg1.rai.it/dl/tg1/2010/articoli/ContentItem-18cc0990-561b-4772-8f32-a89852c237a8.html?refresh_ce

                  http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_Am2.html

                  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aIXL9-0G6Y

Obama's Presidential announcement : The begin of the story.

 

On the February 10^th 2007 in Chicago, Barack Obama announced officially his candidacy for President of United States.

First through this speech, he clearly explained the reasons why he decided to become the next 44^th American President. In fact it’s possible to summarize his Presidential announcement in few words: Believe in America-Peace-Hope-Poverty-Health-opportunity and Change. It’s obvious that when he pronounced this address, “Change” was his favorite slogan, instead of “Yes we can”.

Announcing his candidacy, Barack Obama tried to present his story, how he arrived in Chicago, what kind education he learnt there, but he also expressed his view about America. The challenge they must overcame for bringing change in America. Despite the fact he didn’t stay a long time in Washington, he said:” I know I haven’t spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington, but I have been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change”.

On the other hand, we can consider like important the choice of Springfield. That is the place where Lincoln started his campaign in 1858 and also the place where North, South, East and West came together. Knowing the challenges he had to face, he particularly underlined a fact that “Each and every time, a new generation has risen up and done what’s needed to be done. Today we are called once more- and it is time for our generation to answer that call”. Facing all of those challenges, afterward he asked to American citizens to support his campaign. For the future battles arguing: “So let us begin this hard work together. Let us transform this nation...Let’s be the generation that ends poverty in America”.

Finally this Presidential announcement has been the first time for the future President to express his view about the war in Iraq. He clearly argued his opposition to this mistake and promised to bring home the American troops.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2007/02/obamas_presidential_announceme.html

Critical Discourse Analysis. Kennedy's speech "Ich bin ein Berliner"

John F. Kennedy delivered this speech during his state visit to West Berlin in 1963; the ‘Berlin Wall’ was just built. In this fraught political situation, Kennedy talked about freedom and justice, contrasting the ‘free world’ to the ‘communist world’.

He addressed the Berliners directly but he obliquely referred also to ‘the world of freedom’. However, he tried to captivate the Berliners repeating several times the famous sentence: "Ich bin ein Berliner", I am a Berliner. He decided to pronounce these words in German in order to pose himself at the same level of each Berliner. Moreover, he said that he was proud to say “I am a Berliner”. This escamotage brought him the confidence of Berliners: ordinary people were placed at the same level of the President of the USA. In fact, the audience expressed its sentiment of togetherness applauding after every sentence said in German. This rhetorical device is called ‘claptraps’ and it is a strategy to catch applause. Besides the use of German, another Kennedy’s claptrap was when he referred to the sad situation of Berlin, especially after the sentence “Let they came to Berlin”. He utilized this expression in the comparison between the world of freedom and the communist world in order to discredit those who thought that the communism could be a concrete alternative. The first part of the speech is focused on this division, expressed also in the dichotomy between on the one hand ‘freedom and democracy’ and on the other ‘the wall’. Kennedy wanted to point out that it was impossible to work with the communist because the communist system was dictatorial and it did not bring prosperity and wealth. Berlin was the most palpable example of the difference between these two worlds because both of them coexisted in the same city.

In the second part of his speech, Kennedy shifted the attention from Berlin to the whole world. However, the Berliners still had a role: they lived in a ‘defended island of freedom’ but they had to concur to the exportation of freedom in East Berlin, East Germany and ‘everywhere in the world, for all mankind’. In this second part Kennedy’s will in the join of the two Berlin and the two Germany filtered out, because ‘freedom is indivisible and when one man is in slave, all of us aren’t free’. In this sentence we can find both the contraposition between the two worlds and the desire to defeat the despotic one in order to export freedom and democracy everywhere. Then, Kennedy talked about the future and the hope to live in a world of freedom, justice and peace. 

Kennedy’s speech is organized in three sections: in the first one he addressed the Berliners and he reported the gloomy political, social and economical situation of Berlin. In the second one, the contraposition between the two worlds is no more referred only to the local situation of Berlin but to the international situation: in fact, Kennedy talked about Europe and the whole world. His desire to destroy the communism is quite clear. This wish is expressed also in the third part, when Kennedy talked about the future and the desire to live in a free world. He took his responsibility to bring freedom but he also encouraged the Berliners and “the world of freedom” in doing so. He expressed also his personal conviction that ‘that day will come’. The self-confidence expressed by the President brought him prolonged applauses. The speech ends as it started: “…as a free man, I take pride in the words Ich bin ein Berliner”. The roundness of Kennedy’s speech gives a sense of completeness and links the three parts of the speech together.

Lexical choice: the words freedom, justice, peace are repeated several times. This reveals us that the speech is focused on these topics. These words are used to describe the world embodied in Kennedy, while the adjective evil is used to describe the communist system. Communist had had to build up a wall in order to prevent that people leave them, while Americans didn’t. Here Kennedy used the first person plural pronoun, “I” plus a group, in order to stress that the lifestyle and the values that they offer are better than the ones posed by the communists, embodied in the Wall.

Kennedy used also the first person singular pronoun “I” in order to show a clear sense of personal involvement. In fact, at the very beginning of the speech he repeated three times that he is proud ‘to come here….to visit the Federal Republic… come again if he (the Chancellor) ever needs it’ . This is also an high impact ‘list-of-three’, which is a rhetorical device used in political speeches in order to elicit approval. The three-part list can have different words with a similar general meaning, for example: ‘… democracy and freedom and progress’ . This list-of-three implies that democracy, instead of communism, is the condition to be free and wealthy.

The repetition of ‘I am a Berliner’ had a great impact on the audience and this statement played an important role in the fusion between the speaker and the audience.

The repetition of the sentence ‘let they come to Berlin’ is another three-part-list and it gives a sense of unity and completeness at the first part of the speech that could be read as a critic to the communism. This sentence is said also in German.

Another three-part-list used by Kennedy is when he praised the quality of the citizens of West Berlin: ‘… the force and the hope and the determination of the city of West Berlin’. This was also a ‘claptrap’: when Kennedy wanted huge applauses he had only to praise the qualities of West Berliners. Another one is when Kennedy expressed his desire for the reunification of Berlin accusing the communist system to ‘…separating families, dividing husbands and wives and brothers and sisters…’ . This is also a three-part-list. Implication: the communist system is wicked because does not allow people who wants to stay together to join each other.

The reunification of Germany in Europe is another important issue of the speech and when Kennedy talked about it, he repeated several times the word free. The main line of the speech is that the communists do not allow people to be free, while freedom is one of Americans’ values: ‘the right to be free, to live in peace and justice’.   

Susanna Gallini. 

"The best is yet to come"

   The speech given by the newly elected President Obama on November 7, 2012 is, in my opinion, the most intense of his political career.

Right from the start of the speech, President Obama thanked all those who participated in the elections, and greets the challenger, Mitt Romney.

“I want to thank every American who participated in this election. Whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line for a very long time -- by the way, we have to fix that.  Whether you pounded the pavement or picked up the phone -- whether you held an Obama sign or a Romney sign, you made your voice heard, and you made a difference.

I just spoke with Governor Romney, and I congratulated him and Paul Ryan on a hard-fought campaign. We may have battled fiercely, but it’s only because we love this country deeply, and we care so strongly about its future.  From George to Lenore to their son Mitt, the Romney family has chosen to give back to America through public service, and that is a legacy that we honour and applaud tonight.”

Obama also dedicated a part of his very touching speech to his family, tearing many cheers from the crowd.

“And I wouldn’t be the man I am today without the woman who agreed to marry me 20 years ago.  Let me say this publicly -- Michelle, I have never loved you more.  I have never been prouder to watch the rest of America fall in love with you, too, as our nation’s First Lady. Sasha and Malia,  before our very eyes, you're growing up to become two strong, smart, beautiful young women, just like your mom.  And I’m so proud of you guys.  But I will say that for now, one dog is probably enough”

The President then focuses on the problems he will face in his forthcoming mandate asking the full cooperation of the Republican Party.

“In the weeks ahead, I also look forward to sitting down with Governor Romney to talk about where we can work together to move this country forward.”

“Our economy is recovering.  A decade of war is ending.  A long campaign is now over. And whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you.  I have learned from you.  And you've made me a better President.  With your stories and your struggles, I return to the White House more determined and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do, and the future that lies ahead.

Tonight, you voted for action, not politics as usual.  You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours.  And in the coming weeks and months, I am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together:  reducing our deficit;  reforming our tax code; fixing our immigration system; freeing ourselves from foreign oil.  We've got more work to do.”

President Obama concludes his speech by praising the diversity that has always characterized the United States of America.

“America, I believe we can build on the progress we’ve made, and continue to fight for new jobs, and new opportunity, and new security for the middle class.  I believe we can keep the promise of our founding -- the idea that if you’re willing to work hard, it doesn’t matter who you are, or where you come from, or what you look like, or where you love -- it doesn’t matter whether you're black or white, or Hispanic or Asian, or Native American, or young or old, or rich or poor, abled, disabled, gay or straight -- you can make it here in America if you’re willing to try.”

Sources:

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamasecondpresidentialvictoryspeech.htm

The Obama advices about African’s challenges

 

This is a speech pronounced to the Ghanaian parliament in 2009 by Barack Obama.

The context: As President, it was his first trip in a sub Saharan African’s country. The choice of Ghana was justifying by the fact, Ghana is considered like an African democratic and development model. Through this speech he wanted to underline his view and especially the way that Africa must take to the development. Although this speech has been pronounced in Ghana, but really his target was  to speak to all Africa and give  some advices. Obviously, he focused his speech on some important words like: Africa – Democracy- Opportunity – Health and the peaceful Conflict resolution 

First, he considers:”Africa as a fundamental part of our interconnected world”, but African people must work hard to improve their situation and resolve all African crisis. Secondly, he recognized the fact,” Ghanaian people worked hardly to put his democracy on a firmer footing”. In the same way, he argued:” Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions”. For moving forward, Africa should apply good Governance because development depends on it and it’s a good way to struggle against corruption to create opportunity for all. He said: “No country is going to create Health if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves”.

 Finally, in spite of the fact, there are only conflicts in few countries, he argued that:” African’s diversity should be a source of strength, not a cause of division”and“any faith or culture shouldn't condone the violence against women and child”

 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-ghanaian-parliament

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkNpUEWIhd4

The great silent majority

Richard Nixon in his address to the nation delivered on the 3 of November 1969 in order to defend its policy in Vietnam.

Lexical choice

The language used is concentrated in a few clear words, which recall the topic of the speech: the search for a solution to the Vietnam War.

Then we find: Vietnam, Peace, War, Withdrawal, Forces, People, …

Structure of Nixon’s Speech

Approximately the speech can be characterized by four part: in the first, Nixon tries to imagine the questions that the American people has in his mind; for example: “How and why did America get involved in Vietnam in the first place?”

In the second part he blames the failure of the Paris Conference to communist countries, and in particular the Ho Chi Minh’s refusal of any compromise.

Then he describes why precipitate withdrawal would be a disaster of immense magnitude.

Finally, he asks the support of the silent majority of Americans to achieve the objective “of a just and lasting peace”.

Characterizing words and phrases

-          precipitate withdrawal as disaster;

-          defeat in our nation’s history;

-          our proposals;

-          unprecedented step;

-          obstacle in negotiating;

Fabrizio Creston