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The Obama victory is a rejection of the philosophy of David Cameron
The Conservatives ARE LYING. They are claiming that Obama’s situation is fundamentally different, as the Conservatives inherited a mess from Labour. They LIE, LIE and LIE even more, and simply do not care. Unfortunately, the public are not stupid. In 2008, the then Shadow chancellor George Osborne has committed the Tories to matching Labour’s public spending totals for the next three years. Osborne said the 2% increases in the financial years 2008/9 to 2010/11 would also allow “sustainably lower taxes” as the economy is expected to grow faster than public spending. The shadow chancellor said triumphantly in a newspaper article: “I can confirm for the first time that a Conservative government will adopt these spending totals.” He then continued: “Total government spending will rise by 2% a year real terms, from £615 billion next year to £674 billion in the year 2010/11. Like Labour, we will review the final year’s total in a spending review in 2009. Just in case you were in any doubt, “The result of adopting these spending totals is that under a Conservative government there will be real increases in spending on public services, year after year. And why did Labour have to spend so much money to increase the deficit? To stop the banks from imploding, as an emergency measure. The Tories would have done the same had it happened on their watch. Fact.
In contrast to Iain Duncan-Smith and Dr Liam Fox who were actively helping the Romney campaign, it is no secret Labour were helping the Obama campaign. “It matters because America is the last superpower where who wins a leadership election really matters – it affects the whole world,” said Simon Redfern, chair of the Walthamstow Labour Party. Simon just returned from ten days of campaigning for Mr Obama in Cleveland, Ohio, as part of a 30-strong British delegation. He explained: “I was given the opportunity and I just jumped at it. In the Labour Party we’re trying to emulate many of the things the Democrats have been doing with community activism, so it was a real education. Simon added, “Getting people involved and battling cynicism has really been [Walthamstow Labour MP] Stella Creasy’s mission. Things like the pop-up respite centre during the riots last year are an example of that type of community, grass-roots involvement.” That, I think, is precisely it – instead of asking for votes by scaremongering over impending bankruptcy like Greece, losing our gold studded triple A rating, talking about spending sprees with the public finances, Obama uniquely offered hope not hate. It is therefore little wonder then that American President was left rather underwhelmed after a private discussion with Mr Cameron in 2008 and his impressions of the Conservative leader were reported in a confidential cable sent by US officials back to Washington. David Cameron was regarded by Barack Obama as a “lightweight” politician following their first meeting, the leaked documents have disclosed apparently. The embarrassing memo is among more than 1,000 documents from the American embassy in London that have been leaked and been publicly released, consequently. According to the Daily Telegraph, American officials had already warned Downing Street over the contents of the diplomatic cable. It is thought that they have stressed that Mr Obama’s opinion of Mr Cameron has changed as the two men have got to know one another better.
At least Obama was able to say last night that “Our economy is recovering”. Indeed in 2010, George Osborne inherited an economy that was growing at 0.7 per cent. Later that year he ignored the advice of many economists and set out plans to close the deficit within four years rather than eight. He also failed to set out a coherent growth plan, predicated on investment and jobs in the green economy that his party once championed. The result of Osborne’s slasher-nomics has been, as entirely predictable, that borrowing that is rising rather than falling. In this year’s budget, the Chancellor was forced to admit that public sector net borrowing (PSNB) would be 8.3 per cent in 2011-12 rather than 7.9 per cent as he’d predicted a year before. Since then, the situation has deteriorated. The most recent ONS release showed that the PSNB is up nearly 22 per cent in the first five months of the financial year compared to the same period last year. Borrowing is going up even as the departmental spending cuts continue apace.
It is thought that Cameron will seek to “seek change” in 2015 even as the incumbent candidate, but a François Hollande proved, it is possible for one-term oppositions to exist. Obama said last night, “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, able, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in America if you’re willing to try.” Meanwhile, here in the UK, ATOS has conducted about 738,000 work capability assessments on benefit claimants in the past financial year. However the assessments have been widely criticised and it has emerged that 40% of people appeal against the decisions – with 38% of those successful. The cost to the taxpayer of the tribunal system alone is £50m, around half of the amount spent on reassessment. In sharp contrast to Miliband’s “One Nation”, charities say jobcentre staff have been shocked “when someone who is clearly unwell turns up having been told that they are fit for work”. In May 2012, GPs called for the assessments to be scrapped. Tom Greatrex, whose investigation into Atos led to the National Audit Office this month calling for an overhaul of the government’s medical testing contract with the company, said the firm “would not fix its reputation by sponsoring the Paralympics”.
“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.” We in Labour support him, as we always have done.
Meanwhile, this Twitter exchange from last night sums it up nicely.
America Invents Act 2011 – a long way from Lincoln
The history of innovation in the US is formidable. Abraham Lincoln had an avid interest in cutting-edge technology. As an attorney, he represented railroads. During the Civil War, he frequented the telegraph office (which provided the instant-messaging of its day) for the latest news from the front, and was actively involved in directing troops. He encouraged weapons development and even tested some new rifles himself on the White House lawn. He is, in fact, the only US president to hold a patent (No. 6469, granted May 22, 1849). It was for a device to lift riverboats over shoals.
The US is very proud of its record on innovation, more than its history in innovation, some might say. In his 2011 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama, championing US innovation, research and development, called on Americans to “win the future“, This, he said, is “our generation’s Sputnik moment.” The Senate approved a sweeping reform of the nation’s patent laws on Thursday, sending to Obama an Act that changes the system for determining priority for inventions at the patent office, and provides more financing for an agency beset by application backlogs and outdated computer systems.
State of the problems
It now takes, on average, two years to get a preliminary ruling on an application, and an additional year for final grant, according to the US patents office. The Internet age, furthermore, has created a surge in applications: in 1997, 2.25 patents were pending for every one issued, but by 2008 the rate had nearly tripled, to 6.6 patents pending for every one issued, according to patent office statistics. A backlog of about 700,000 applications is made worse by computer systems that are out of date, according to Gary F. Locke, the current US Scretary of Commerce.
The America Invents Act (formerly the Patent Reform Act of 2011)is the product of extensive consideration. For four Congresses, the US have worked on this. A principal justification for the impending changes to patent law is that they will promote technological progress in the United States (and thus create jobs). It will possibly change America’s inventor-friendly patent system to favor whoever files for an application first. The House of Representatives passed their version of the Act on June 23, 2011 by a vote of 304-117. After rejecting proposed amendments to a bill approved by the House last June, the Senate voted 89 to 9 to pass the bill, completing an effort of at least six years to overhaul the patent office’s operations and the procedures by which patents can be challenged. The full text of the Act can be accessed here from JD Supra.
Some interesting key features of the new Act are as follow.
Changes to Novelty Rules
The shift to a first to file system is central to the America Invents Act. This provision has the potential to encourage early disclosures of information by the inventor. Although prima facie it appears to provide no more ability for inventors to engage in disclosures than the existing one-year statutory bar, under which an inventor was free to disclose whatever it wanted for the one-year period prior to filing, it perhaps may result in more disclosures than under the present structure. A disclosure race may be encouraged. It is perhaps rather simpler to award patents to the first person that files an application, regardless of whether or not they are the original inventor.
The new Act arguably favours big corporations who can file patents as soon as they hear about a new invention. Several groups representing small businesses, entrepreneurs and early-stage investors have said that change puts small companies, which usually account for the bulk of new jobs, and individuals at a disadvantage to large companies that employ fleets of patent lawyers. Many large corporations — like General Electric, Caterpillar and IBM — supported the bill, which opponents suggested was evidence that the bill favors behemoths at the expense of the little guy.
Creation of a Prior User Defense
Even as the changes to the novelty rules seem to encourage early peripheral disclosures of technological information, at least for US-only inventors, the creation of a prior user defense pushes towards less disclosure. The types of inventions that the prior user defense most applies to are those with the capability of being protected through secrecy. A prior user defense is less important for inventions whose workings are readily understandableM once they are placed on the market because these products already represent potentially invalidating prior art; thus, this type of defense is considered to have most relevance for non-self disclosing inventions, a category that includes many processes.
Elimination of Best Most Requirement
Section 15 of H.R. 1249 effectively eliminates the best mode requirement by amending the list of invalidity defense to exclude best mode While the best mode requirement remains in 35. U.S.C. 112, and thus theoretically could be used by a patent examiner to reject an application, failure to disclose best mode may also not be a basis for holding a patent unenforceable any longer.
Post-grant review
The Act currently contains a provision for an eight-year period of postgrant review of patents already issued. The measure was specifically aimed at so-called business method patents, which provide protection for a unique method of performing a task. The measure was, in fact, heavily favoured by the banking industry, which has been beset by patent infringement suits over things like electronic imaging of paper checks.
Transcript of President Obama's address to the U.S. nation (1/5US, 2/5UK)
11:35 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.
It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory — hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon; the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.
And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world. The empty seat at the dinner table. Children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father. Parents who would never know the feeling of their child’s embrace. Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts.
On September 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together. We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of community and country. On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family.
We were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice. We quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda — an organization headed by Osama bin Laden, which had openly declared war on the United States and was committed to killing innocents in our country and around the globe. And so we went to war against al Qaeda to protect our citizens, our friends, and our allies.
Over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals, we’ve made great strides in that effort. We’ve disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense. In Afghanistan, we removed the Taliban government, which had given bin Laden and al Qaeda safe haven and support. And around the globe, we worked with our friends and allies to capture or kill scores of al Qaeda terrorists, including several who were a part of the 9/11 plot.
Yet Osama bin Laden avoided capture and escaped across the Afghan border into Pakistan. Meanwhile, al Qaeda continued to operate from along that border and operate through its affiliates across the world.
And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.
Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.
Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.
For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda’s leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda.
Yet his death does not mark the end of our effort. There’s no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must –- and we will — remain vigilant at home and abroad.
As we do, we must also reaffirm that the United States is not –- and never will be -– at war with Islam. I’ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.
Over the years, I’ve repeatedly made clear that we would take action within Pakistan if we knew where bin Laden was. That is what we’ve done. But it’s important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding. Indeed, bin Laden had declared war against Pakistan as well, and ordered attacks against the Pakistani people.
Tonight, I called President Zardari, and my team has also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts. They agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations. And going forward, it is essential that Pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al Qaeda and its affiliates.
The American people did not choose this fight. It came to our shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens. After nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war. These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who’s been gravely wounded.
So Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda’s terror: Justice has been done.
Tonight, we give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who’ve worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome. The American people do not see their work, nor know their names. But tonight, they feel the satisfaction of their work and the result of their pursuit of justice.
We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country. And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that September day.
Finally, let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores.
And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed. Yet today’s achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people.
The cause of securing our country is not complete. But tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history, whether it’s the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place.
Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.
