It is my commitment to submit my column to The Anguillian by the early hours of Wednesday morning, after having spent most of the night before, as well as a part of the same morning, putting it together. On this occasion my writing time has fallen on the night of the Presidential Elections in the United States. And like many Anguillians, as well as, I am sure, many other persons around the world, I spent the better part of the evening glued to the television anxiously awaiting the outcome. At the time of writing I have not yet heard the concession speech of Governor Romney neither have I heard the victory speech of President Obama. However, it seems pretty clear that President Obama has won a second term. Let me take this opportunity to congratulate the 44th President of the United States because it certainly seemed that the odds were against his re-election — given serious concerns about the dire economic situation.
I believe that the level of interest in President Obama’s re-election in the Caribbean is first and foremost based on the fact that he is the first Black/Afro-American President of theUnited States— a situation that few of us expected to see in our lifetime. Indeed, even during the Democratic Primaries preceding the Presidential Election Campaign it was considered a “long shot” that he could actually emerge as the candidate for the Democratic Party. The experiences of other Afro-American candidates in earlier Democratic Presidential Primaries, from Shirley Chisolm to Jesse Jackson, did not provide any encouragement for his decision to seek the Presidency.
In this context, the outcome of the election in 2008 can be seen as the culmination of the efforts of Martin Luther King and the other Civil Rights Leaders of the 1960’s. But their dreams and aspirations may not have been realized without the support of enlightened Presidents, like John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson, as well as their advisers and other social and political activists from among the white community. Equally, President Barack Obama could not have won that primary without the early endorsement of seasoned politicians like Sen. Edward Kennedy, Secretary Bill Richardson, Secretary Jane Napolitano and voters from the White and Hispanic communities. In plain words, the President’s victory at the polls in 2008, as well as in 2012, is a factor of his ability to garner support for his candidacy across racial lines. That, of course, is not to suggest that racism has been eradicated in the United States but rather it indicates that the American society has come a long way since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. Indeed, this victory can be said to have been won on a platform of civil rights issues, across the spectrum of the American Society, to include women rights; workers rights; student rights; rights to healthcare services; veterans rights; immigrant rights etc. It is obvious that this coalition of groups concerned about all of these issues helped President Obama to overcome strong criticism on his handling of the economy. This was the main line of attack used by Governor Romney and his surrogates. And for sometime the polls showed that it was extremely effective.
I would suggest that most Anguillians supported President Obama. I am also certain that their support was not based on anything objective. In fact, as I expressed earlier, it is because he is a history-making candidate who presented a passionate message of change that inspired them — rather than any real or particular concern with the issues in American Politics. In other words, they like him and want him to win a second term. End of story!
But should Anguillians go a bit further in considering the politics of the United States in embracing one candidate or the other — or identifying with the Republicans or the Democrats? The truth is that since the majority of us cannot vote in the United States it does not really matter who we support. However, I believe that based on the popular adage: “When the United States sneezes the Caribbean catches a cold!” it is important that we ask certain questions regarding how the various choices in United States elections affect us. For example, whose policies will be more beneficial to Anguilla and the issues we want to address? Obviously, since we have no leverage to influence those policies — the best we can do is to be aware of what they are and determine how best to deal with them.
The majority of the foreign direct investment in Anguilla comes from theUnited Statestherefore any US Administration that places restrictions on the flow of that investment can impact our industries here. Is there therefore something to be said for supporting the Republicans — since traditionally they impose less restriction on the movement of capital overseas? Or, alternatively, should we put in place legislation and policies thatfacilitate the flow of investment even if the Democrats are in power? In either case we need to know a bit more about the political issues in theUnited Statesso that we can develop appropriate strategies to manage them.
These are not vain statements. Some of us would have heard of the USA PATRIOT Act, passed during the George W. Bush Administration after 9/11, which had the effect of giving sweeping authority to United States Tax and Intelligence Agencies to regulate international business transactions suspected of promoting terrorism. The Act was supposed to be temporary. And the name of the Act is in fact a ten-word acronym meaning: Uniting (and) Strengthening America(by) Providing Appropriate Tools Required (to) Intercept (and) Obstruct Terrorism. The Appropriate Tools included “wiretaps”, “business record searches” and “surveillance” all carried out without the normal judicial authority. The implementation of this Act had the effect of restricting the ability of our indigenous banks to readily develop correspondent relationships with banks in the United States. The Act was supposed to facilitate the interception of terrorist financing but it has also been used for “fishing expeditions”into almost any financial transaction. The Act was further extended under the Obama Administration in 2011.
Again, the latest piece of U.S. legislation directly affecting Anguilla, in its efforts to attract investment and provide tax planning services for US companies and citizens, is the Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). This Act requires that US taxpayers with specified foreign assets that exceed certain amounts must be reported to the IRS. It also requires that Foreign Financial Institutions (like our banks) must report these accounts directly to the IRS. Failure to do so could result in certain sanctions on the jurisdiction. All these form a part of the latest regulations put in place under the Obama Administration. Obviously, a part of the Democrat’s strategy to stem the flight of taxable income to financial centers in the Caribbean and elsewhere. We have not heard of any strong opposition from the Republicans on FACTA.
So even as we revel in the impressive victory of our hero President Barack Obama— let us not lose sight of the fact that he is the President of the United States and his country’s interests, and its national agenda, may not necessarily be in accord with our own. And, don’t get me wrong – the same holds good for both Democrats and Republicans.
Far be it from me to interject myself into American politics. I have neither visa; green card or passport. But despite my admonition that WE moderate our expectations — I am sure that as far as the majority of the citizens in the United States are concerned they have already answered the question: – Does Obama care?… with their vote.
