Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 9

Project Management - Essay Example There exists various ways in which the projects of PFI offer a better time value of money than the original traditional option of purchasing the asset and taking the entire responsibility of maintaining the asset. The operator of the private sector takes the fundamental risks which are involved in designing, operating and financing the asset hence the additional costs and damages that may be incurred thus the local authority is less likely to account for these costs. The local authority indirectly finances the depreciation costs of the asset thus the contractor has the capability of repairing and maintaining the asset in a good condition which is a major advantage over the traditional methods of procurement for it increases the efficiency and performance of the local authority (Hill, 88-126). Since the introduction of the PFIs in the mid-1990s as a tool of funding the private sector it has been very successful and it has most commonly used method to fund health and transportation services. The fundamental principle underlying the operation of the PFIs is the fact that risks and responsibilities that are connected with running the public service are delegated to institutions where they can be well managed. For instance procuring a new building for running a school using the PFI is very different from the traditional procurement method where since the Local Authority enters into an agreement and pays for the accommodation in the school building for a period of time. With reference to the traditional methods, the Local Authority uses funds that have been approved and provided by the central government but the building is designed by architects from the Local Authority however the private sector is limited to the bidding of the contract. The procurement process of the PFI is basically a negotiated process (Allen, 12-62). One of the major

Starbucks Coffee Company Diversity Audit Essay Example for Free

Starbucks Coffee Company Diversity Audit Essay In this paper, we will be discussing a diversity audit that took place with the Starbucks Coffee Company. The audit consists of the company’s background, what the team’s criteria for a diverse organization should be and the findings on what the organization diversity practices truly consist of based on research provided from interviews, company statements and news articles. The remaining of the paper will focus on the organization in terms of Thomas and Ely’s paradigms, building an inclusion breakthrough and a business case for diversity in the organization. Finally, recommendations for improvements will be discussed for the company. â€Å"Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time. † This is the opening mission statement for Starbucks Coffee Company. Since Howard Schultz, CEO, took over the company in 1982, this has been the words that have helped make Starbucks the most successful gourmet coffee company in the world. The first Store opened in 1971 in the Pike Place Market in Seattle Washington. It was a small store only catering to whole bean sales. However, one trip to Italy by Howard Schultz would change everything. In 1983, Schultz goes to Italy where he discovers the idea of a coffee house and believes it is a marketable concept that could take hold in the US. In 1984 the Pike Place Store serves its first latte, and in 1987 Starbucks starts to open stores in Vancouver and Chicago as well as other cities nationwide. As of Dec of 2009 Starbucks has 16,706 stores serving handcrafted beverages and creating an entire cultures with coffee being in the epicenter. From the first barista ever hired, Starbucks has been committed to its partners and has prided itself on being a company based on diversity and acceptance of all cultures; not only from the partners but from the coffee farmers they do business with. Diversity has become a part of the mission and culture at Starbucks and it is something that Starbucks values greatly. It is so much a part of who they are that they have received many awards including an award from the Human rights campaign in 2010 for being one of the best places to work for the LGBT community. An organization is a group of people intentionally organized to accomplish an overall, common goal or set of goals. For a company, an organization is a means to an end to achieve its goals, which are to create value for its stockholders, employees, customers, suppliers, and community. Members of the organization often have some image in their minds about how the organization should be working. When members of an organization have different images or different approaches of how the organization should be, is where diversity becomes a factor within an organization. According to the explanation in Gladstone, diversity means understanding that each individual is unique and recognizing our individual differences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies. Diversity is about understanding each other and moving beyond acceptance to implementation and celebrating the dimensions of diversity contained within each individual. All of this sounds ideal and easy to apply; then again, the worlds increasing globalization requires more interaction among people from diverse cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds than ever before and it is not always easy. As a result, managing diversity has become an organizational challenge. People no longer live and work in a guarded organization; they are now part of a worldwide economy with competition coming from practically every continent. As a result, maximizing and capitalizing on workplace diversity has become an important matter for management. An organizations success and competitiveness depends upon its ability to embrace diversity and realize the benefits. When organizations actively evaluate their handling of workplace diversity issues, develop and implement diversity plans, several benefits are reported. For example, increased adaptability, variety of viewpoints, and a diverse collection of skills and experiences that allows a company to provide service to customers on a global basis. For this reason, organizations need diversity to become more proactive and welcomed within an organization and its employees. Managers must learn the managerial skills needed in a multicultural work environment. Managers must be prepared to teach themselves and others within their organizations to value multicultural differences in both employees and customers so that everyone is treated with respect. The organizations that manage diversity well will come out ahead in the competitive environment. Based on these key ideas and concepts, these will be the factors used to determine the level of diversity that Starbucks has reached as a company and how that plays into the everyday operations of each store. Steve Ogo has been with Starbucks for fourteen years originally from Portland Oregon. He migrated from Portland to Chicago a few years back and has been one of the district managers for Chicago ever since. Mr. Ogo has been a part of the organization for over a decade and has been a part of many changes including changes in diversity. Unlike Chicago, Portland has a very different population which made it very hard to create a diverse work environment. In trying to keep with the ideas and philosophies of Starbucks, Mr.  Ogo was the leader of a special diversity team committed to the idea on inclusion in not just places like Portland, but the entire Starbucks communities. â€Å"We believe in the idea of inclusion. Instead of focusing on a hard number, we need to create an environment that has a spirit of inclusion. That’s more important. It’s not just color, age, gender or sexual orientation. It’s about what you identify yourself as and having an environment that you feel comfortable in†. As the former VP of Diversity and inclusion, it was their mission to create this exact type of environment where everyone feels comfortable and welcome. Mr. Ogo believes if there is any challenge that Starbucks has faced in trying to make the idea of inclusion a part of their culture it is recognizing what that looks like outside of major cities. It is easy in major cities to incorporate the idea of inclusion because there is a more diverse atmosphere, however, Mr. Ogo is not sure that Starbucks as a whole has given a face to inclusion in rural areas such as Portland where mathematically it may not be easy to balance the scales because there just are not enough people of different backgrounds. As District manager for approximately 10 loop stores in Chicago, Mr. Ogo has a diverse management staff. Although his managers are mostly women, they do range in different ethnicities as well as gender and sexual orientation. He however is looking to even the playing field with hiring a few more men. Starbucks has always been committed to providing a place where everyone can feel comfortable working and expressing who they are. Starbucks was one of the first companies in the late 1980’s to offer benefits to same sex couples when it became public knowledge that an mployee was infected with the HIV virus. Starbucks has been recognized many times by the human rights campaign in their efforts to create a comfortable and accepting work environment for the LGBT community. In order to create awareness and diversity within the African American communities, Starbucks paired with basketball great Magic Johnson to develop UCO (Urban Community Outreach) stores which would open Starbucks locations in underdeveloped areas and provide the residents with benefits and jobs to help support the neighborhood and families. Mr.  Ogo is proud to announce that Starbucks has also changed their hiring practices. All applications must now be filled out online, eliminating the â€Å"Halo or Horn† effect. A lot of times when applications are handed in, there are ones that are pushed to the back solely based on the appearance of the applicant. Since the applicant could be handing the application to the first person behind the counter, depending on how the barista feels about the individual would determine whether or not they received a call back. With the new hiring practice, it is solely based on qualifications first. Mr. Ogo believes that Starbucks has made a continuing effort in supporting diversity among their communities and believes that the majority of the success is based on the fact that the ideas and beliefs are imbedded in not just the partners but the leadership. It is an idea that is practiced every day and will continue to be at the forefront of success for Starbucks. Three different Stores in different parts of town were visited to understand more about how Starbucks builds its diversity particularly in Chicago. The loop store (202 N Michigan) was the more diverse store. Being in the center of the city, partners of all different walks of life call the store home. There was an equal balance of men and women, older and younger, different sexual orientations all coinciding and working together as one. The second and third stores are conducive to their environments. The Store on 38th and State is a UCO store in a predominately black neighborhood. The majority of the employees are African American and range in all genders however there does not appear to be as many sexually diverse individuals or older individuals. The baristas are in their mid twenties and are from the surrounding neighborhood. The artwork as well as music resembles what one would think of African American culture; however it still has the feel of a Starbucks. The third Store is situated in Lincoln Park, a predominately-white neighborhood. There are only two men and two African American women working in this store. The Store fits a very suburban life style. The employees are college or graduate students and are looking to supplement their income. Each store seems to be a representation of their environment which keeps in line with the idea of the â€Å"third place† atmosphere Starbucks would like to achieve. Although Starbucks tries hard to cater to their environment surrounding their store, it can arguably create more segregation than acceptance if the only other baristas that surround a barista are ones that look like him/her. It may create more of a divide rather than acceptance. According to the textbook, Thomas and Ely recognize that organizations can be in different stages in terms of managing diversity. Some are still operating in the discrimination and fairness paradigm. Others are in an access and legitimacy paradigm, where diversity is considered a competitive advantage in terms of understanding changing customer markets. On the other hand, to make managing diversity really work, organizations need to be operating in a learning and effectiveness paradigm, where an organization internalizes diversity as part of its mission, connects the needs of diverse workers to the way that work is done, and makes workers feel valued an included. Using this paradigm Starbucks has reached the learning and effectiveness paradigm. They are a company that has made diversity part of their culture. It comes to everyone from the CEO to the baristas as easy as pouring a cup of coffee. Former Senior Executive of Starbucks Howard Behar said it best when he said, â€Å"We are in the people business serving coffee, not the coffee business serving coffee. † Behar, like the rest of Starbucks, believes it’s about the people and the importance they play in helping to create the culture of a company and through that helps to sustain its life line. Starbucks employees are motivated and loyal because Starbucks answers the question, â€Å"What’s in it for me? † They give employees a reason to stay and that mainly has to do with the equality that one feels while working for Starbucks. Thomas and Ely suggest that the best way to build a business case is to link diversity to the specific needs of an organization, such as increasing market opportunities, developing creative solutions to problems, or decreasing the turnover of talented diverse employees. Then make a plan to achieve these goals and track and measure the long-term results. Since its conception in 1982, Starbucks has done all of the above. It has created market opportunities by opening in communities that would otherwise not be inhabited by big businesses and it employs the people of the community which puts revenue within that community. It adheres to the needs of its employees by creating partner contact centers for the main purpose of the partners and giving them a place to go for whatever reason and creating outside avenues. Starbucks listens and answers questions when asked by partners, making them feel as though they have a voice. Programs such as tuition reimbursement, health care for part time employees and same sex partners has pushed Starbucks to the forefront and decreases turnovers within the company. These are business practices that have made Starbucks one of the top ten companies to work for on Forbes 100 list multiples times. According to the inclusion breakthrough, there are four phases that a company can be in. It is a cycle of elements that are built upon to raise the standards of an organization. In theory, it should increase job satisfaction, develop communities, attract and retain its employees and in the end create the idea of inclusion within its culture. Starbucks would be in the fourth phase of the inclusion breakthrough; currently trying to sustain and challenging new change. Howard Schultz completed phase one by setting the groundwork for what he wanted the company to be and placing people in specific roles that shared in his vision. It literally trickled from the top down, and everyone shares the same ideas and beliefs that Schultz envisioned. Mobilizing change was a huge issue for Starbucks within the past few years, particularly due to the collapse in the economy. With the idea of always trying to protect its people, Starbucks initiated change and kept in constant contact and emails, some personally from Howard that informed all employees of the change and why they were happening. It was a hard road for Starbucks for some time, however because the belief, culture and sense of inclusion had already been established, change was able to take place. In order to keep with changing times, Starbucks adapted to the culture of society and took ideas that may have appeared radical at the time and made them apart of who they were. The idea of giving health benefits to partners who work twenty hours was not practiced amongst big businesses, yet Starbucks dared to venture outside of the box because their people come first. The last and final stage is where Starbucks stands today. Through reviews of all partners and partner surveys Starbucks is able to create new ideas and values based on the needs of their employees. Starbucks is continually evolving. The idea that there is no end is what keeps Starbucks in the running. The company believes that there is no end to inclusion and this key idea is what keeps them chasing more ideas and making a conscientious effort to create change and growth. As the world evolves, so does this company and with evolution comes new ideas and new concepts that can change and shape not just Starbucks but the way everyone does business. The business case for diversity, states that in a global marketplace, an organization that employs a diverse workforce is better able to understand the demographics of the marketplace it serves and is therefore better prepared to succeed in that marketplace than an organization that has a more limited range of employee demographics. Consequently, an organization that supports the diversity of its workforce can also improve employee satisfaction, productivity and retention. Starbucks turns this idea into an equation: Diversity = Inclusion + Equality + Accessibility. The way we have built our company by including the success of the company with everyone in it and not leaving our people behind is a great example of building a business the right way,† says Schultz. â€Å"We’re not ever going to turn our backs on our [employees]. † (http://www. evancarmichael. com/Famous-Entrepreneurs) Although Starbucks would not share the exact numbers, if any, on how the idea and implementation of inclusion has affected the business it can still be seen by the average consumer and employee. Three stores in Seattle in 2009 were opened up by Starbucks under a surname. The â€Å"15th avenue coffee and tea shop† on Capitol Hill is slated to have a neighborhood feel and reflect the style and culture of the people and employees of the neighborhood. Although Seattle is a test market, if the concept fares well, it will become a trend for Starbucks to create and add new identities to existing neighborhood stores. In 1998, a company-supplier diversity program was implemented in the US. It was estimated in 2005 that Starbucks would spend 95 million dollars on women and minority run businesses. This helps create jobs and revenue to communities that might otherwise not have any. It builds a sense of community and partnership. The list and awards for Starbuck can go on for days. Like all companies, they are not perfect and have been the subjects of much scrutiny and criticism. There is no such thing as a perfect employee or employer and there is no way that a mogul giant like Starbucks will be able to create a utopian society. There are many ways however, for Starbucks to continue to have success and growth within the company. Steve Ogo, a District manager for the loop stores thought that one of the biggest issues Starbucks faces in bringing the idea of inclusion to every market they are in. It is easy to create a diverse work force in a metropolis like Chicago. It is hard to create a diverse work force in a city like Chattanooga, TN. Starbucks has not mastered that idea and would be better for it if they created new ways to tap into the market in smaller rural areas and create an atmosphere of inclusion and diversity. The company has made many efforts to promote gender equality and LGBT rights on a company wide scale yet it does not fair so well in creating small acknowledgments within the stores. Small details such as recognizing black history month or women’s history month, helps to also create an environment where partners feel they are being recognized personally. Through its efforts to create a diverse work environment, it is clear to see when walking into a store that the idea of diversity may not include the older population. Mr. Ogo believes that this may not entirely be the fault of Starbucks alone. One would be correct in assuming that there is no one over forty behind the counter of a Starbucks, but there never seem to be any applications from the older generations. Mr.  Ogo believes that this may have to do with intimidation upon walking in to drop off an application just to see a lot of young people behind the counter, including the manager. However, he believes that the new application process being entirely online will allow for a different kind of candidate, including those who would not normally apply. Throughout the years, Starbucks has made great strides and innovations that have helped change the way business is done. They have made a conscientious effort to willingly include all walks of life and create inclusion, just not with their employees, but customers and communities alike. If given a letter grade based on this diversity audit Starbucks would pass with an A effort. Inclusion is a word embedded into the heart and soul of this company. They have expanded this idea not just nationally but globally and continue to create and promote change wherever they break ground. After analyzing Starbucks’ audit, some of the recommendations we would provide the company with would help the company to continue to strive to be the best gourmet coffee company in the world with a diverse group of employees, suppliers, and consumers. Establish a consistent review of diversity in the workplace. Top management need to make assessing and evaluating their diversity process an integral part of their management system. An employee satisfaction survey can accomplish this assessment for your company efficiently and conveniently. It can help the management team determine which challenges and obstacles to diversity are present in the workplace and which policies need to be added or eliminated. That report will be the beginning structure of the organization’s diversity in the workplace plan. The plan must be comprehensive, attainable and measurable. An organization must decide what changes need to be made and a timeline for that change to be accomplished. The personal commitment of executive and managerial teams is necessary. Leaders and managers within organizations must incorporate diversity policies into every aspect of the organizations function and purpose. Involve every employee possible in preparing and performing diversity initiatives in the workplace. Promote an attitude of openness in the organization. Encourage employees to express their ideas and opinions and attribute a sense of equal value to all. Promote diversity in leadership positions. This practice provides visibility and realizes the benefits of diversity in the workplace. Utilize diversity training. Use it as a tool to shape the diversity policy. Use the results to build and implement successful diversity in the workplace policies. According to Azine, as the economy becomes ever more global, our workforce becomes gradually more diverse. Organizational success and competitiveness will depend on the ability to manage diversity in the workplace successfully. Starbuck’s needs to continue to evaluate the organizations diversity policies and plan for the future if they want to continue to be successful. References http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hr022 http://ucsfhr.ucsf.edu/index.php/pubs/hrguidearticle/chapter-12-managing-diversity-in-the-workplace/

The Birth of the Congo as a Free State :: African History Essays

The Birth of the Congo as a Free State In the beginning years of his sovereignty, King Leopold the Second of Belgium began to show an interest in the natural resources of Central Africa, especially the wild rubber that was growing within the heart of the jungle. In the year 1876, he called a conference of humanitarians and travelers together who met at Brussels for the sole purpose of debating various plans of how the â€Å"Dark Continent† could be opened up (Doyle). From this conference, the International African Association was formed, which, in spite of its name, was almost entirely a Belgian body, with the Belgian King serving as the President. Its objective was the exploration of the country and the establishment of civilization centers and â€Å"rest-houses† for travelers (Doyle). At the same time, Leopold also pursued the spread of Christianity and freedom to the â€Å"savages† of Africa, so he hired the famous journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley to travel the length of the river t o begin signing treaties with the native tribes (Kinshasa). For almost six years from 1879 to 1884, this great explorer labored on behalf of King Leopold, investigating the basin of the Upper Congo River and simultaneously hoping to establish his own imperial society in Central Africa. Upon Stanley’s return from his great journey in 1878, he was met by a representative from the King of Belgium who enrolled him as an actual agent for his Association (Doyle). The immediate task given to Stanley was to open up the Congo for trade at once. Furthermore, he was to make terms with the natives that would enable the stations to be built and the depots established. Thus, in 1879 Stanley finally began his work (Doyle). Stanley labored hard among the Native Chiefs, undisturbed by any of the destructive effects that his own work created, and returned to his employer with at least 450 alleged treaties which transferred land to the Association. There is no record of the exact payment made in order to obtain these treaties, but there is evidence of a similar transaction carried out by a Belgian officer in 1883 at Palabala (Doyle). In that particular case, the payment made to the Chief consisted of "one coat of red cloth with gold facings, one red cap, one white tunic, o ne piece of white baft, one piece of red points, one box of liqueurs, four demijohns of rum, two boxes of gin, 128 bottles of gin, twenty red handkerchiefs, forty singlets and forty old cotton caps.

Stresemann Exam Question Answers

Describe the key features of the Stresemann foreign policy in the years 1923-1929 (6 marks). In 1924 Stresemann and Charles G. Dawes created the Dawes Plan. The Dawes Plan reduced annual reparation payments to an affordable amount. It was also agreed that American Banks would invest in German industry. This also improved the trust the allies had in Germany, as they were reassured that they would get their reparation payments. In 1925 Stresemann signed the Locarno Pact. This was a treaty between Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Belgium.The Pact consisted of Germany agreeing to keep its border with France and Belgium if Allied troops left the Rhineland and France promised peace. This opened talks about Germany joining the League of Nations, as the Allied troops began to see Germany as a friend instead of an enemy. In 1929 Stresemann signed the Young Plan. This reduced the total reparations debt to ? 2 billion. Also Germany was given a further 59 years to pay. This helped Germanyâ₠¬â„¢s debt problems, as they didn’t have the worry of not being able to afford the annual reparation payments.Describe the key features of the Dawes plan (6 marks). In 1924 The Dawes Plan was created between Stresemann and Charles G. Dawes, an American Banker. One feature of The Dawes Plan was that annual reparation payments that Germany had to pay were reduced to an affordable amount. This meant that there would be less chance of an incident, like the occupation of the Ruhr, would happen again; as the annual payments were much more realistic to Germany’s financial state. Another feature of The Dawes Plan was that American banks would invest in German industry.This meant that Germany could rebuild their industry, therefore increasing employments, which lead to increased profits. One bad feature of The Dawes Plan was that it relied heavily on American banks. This would prove to be a bad idea after the Wall Street Crash; as America called in all their foreign loans, deva stating Germany’s economy once again. Explain the effects of the Great Depression in Germany (8 marks). The Great Depression led to mass unemployment in Germany. In 1928 fewer than one million people were unemployed; by 1932 over six million people were unemployed.This meant that an increasing number of people were living in poverty. Because people were unemployed, they had less money to spend on products made in Germany. This further damaged Germany’s industry, leading to mass debt and further unemployment. The Great Depression also led to people voting for extreme political parties, in hope that they could drag Germany out of the state that they were in. Most of these people were unemployed citizens, as they were the most desperate. This later led to Hitler’s rise into power. Was inflation the worst problem that the Weimar Republic faced in the years 1919-1928?Explain your answers. You may use this information to help you (16 marks). * Weaknesses in the consti tution. * Uprising against the Government. * Hyperinflation. * The effects of WW1. One problem the Weimar Republic faced was the high reparation payments they had to make. These reparation payments send Germany into massive debt, leading to mass poverty and unemployment. I think this is one of the worst problems Weimar faced, as not only was it bad in itself, but it also lead to many other problems, such as hyperinflation and industrial problems.The Treaty of Versailles also meant that Germany lost lots of land- leading to further debt. This lead to further debt in Germany as they lost many resources which made them money. They had lost 50% of their iron resources and 15% of their coal resources- which were their main means of earning money. I think this was important as it contributed to all the other problems they faced, such as debt and hyperinflation. Another problem the Weimar Republic faced was that extreme political parties were attempting uprisings against the government.In 1919 the Spartacist League attempted to overthrow the government and have a communist government instead, by: taking over key buildings such as newspaper offices, set up workers and soldiers soviets and demonstrated with 100,000 supporters in Berlin. In 1920the Kapp Putsch took place. They also wanted to overthrow the current German government, but they wanted to bring back Germany’s previous leader, the Kaiser. They attempted an uprising by taking over Berlin. They were successful, but the German government ordered a general strike.The gas, electricity, water and transport in Berlin were stopped, as no-body was producing them, so they fled Berlin. The constant threat of uprisings led to an unstable government, which the public didn’t trust. Because the public didn’t trust the government, they started to vote for extremist parties, in hope that they would be able to improve the state of Germany. This was a large issue, as it showed, not only to the public, but a lso other countries that Germany was unstable and untrustworthy. Hyperinflation was also a massive problem Weimar faced.When Weimar failed to pay the reparation payment in January 1923, French and Belgian troops marched into the Ruhr, an industrial area with lots of coal, iron, steel and factories. France and Belgium began to take what was owed to them in coal, steel and iron. The German government ordered its workers in the Ruhr to go on strike and not to help the soldiers remove the goods from the country (passive resistance). But because the government ordered the workers to go on strike they had to pay them, but they had no money!So they printed more money, reducing the worth of money. As the worth of money went down, the price of goods went up. This cycle continued until people were being paid daily by the wheelbarrow full, and spending their money in their lunch breaks, before the prices rose again! This was a massive problem in Weimar as the country was already in poverty, du e to the reparation payments they had to pay, but prices were still rising. This meant people couldn’t even afford essential goods- leading to further poverty.I don’t agree that hyperinflation was the worst problem that the Weimar Republic faced. Although it was a huge problem, I think that debt- due to reparation payments- was the worst problem; as it lead to all the other problems they faced. Draw designs and then final designs Draw chosen design, with a 1. 5cm seam allowance, on spot and cross paper and cut out. Include grain line and how many need to be cut for 1 pillow Draw half of the design, with 1. 5cm seam allowance, on A3 paper. Add on 5cm for fold over and 2cm for seam. Cut out.Include grain line and how many need to be cut for 1 pillow. Cut material using guides. Sew front material together with wadding in between, for quilting. Cut wings, feathers and eyes out of different materials. Sew on feathers made out of polar fleece, with a straight stitch. Appliqu e on wings using bond-a-web. Applique on eyes using bond-a-web. Sew buttons on for eyes Sew on nose with a straight stitch. Sew 2cm seam on straight edge of the two back pieces. Sew the back pieces onto the front piece, so that they overlap by 5cm.

Master Harold and the Boys

Master Harold and the Boys, a play written by famous playwright Althol Fugard, shares the story of a seventeen year old white boy, Hally, who spends time with two African- American servants, Sam and Willie. While the majority of the play is a conversation between the three inside a tea room, Fugard does a brilliant job of exposing the struggles that is dealt with at the time. The context of Master Harold and the Boys is deep and meaningful, especially since the play sets in South Africa. He depicts how industrialized racism really is, showing that when an individual lives under a certain set of assumptions, it is really easy to catch others views of hatred, bigotry, and at the time, apartheid. Fugard shows his true artisism for publishing this play because it takes a true artist to be able to confront problems that a society deals with and to be able to make people more considerate of their actions towards others. There is a great deal of emotional value that comes with this play. When this play was written back in 1982, South Africa was still dealing with apartheid which is similar to the United States' time of segregation. In fact, the emotional value of this play was so enormous that it was actually banned in South Africa at the time. The plot is heavy because it takes Hally's childhood innocence and turns him towards a poisness bigotry, just like what most of the adult society did during that time. The real turning point is when Hally finds out about his father returning home from the hospital. In the beginning of the play, Sam and Willie talked about ballroom dancing. They could relate to readers of the play who also dance because they might understand the pressures of dancing and the amount of skill that goes into it. However, no matter what the pressures of dance may be, it is never acceptable for a man to hit a woman. Fugard might have showed this side of Willie because domestic relationships were very common back in the 1950s. Even though there was a rise in feminism movements, men still had most of the control and strength. While blacks were still considered to be property, women during that era did not have many rights as well. Hally, Sam, and Willie have more of a friendship during the beginning of the play, but when Hally becomes distraught with the news of his dad coming home, he violently unleashes on his servants. It becomes clear that his father's vicarious racism was a learned behavior observed by Hally. From this point on, Hally no longer treats Willie and Sam as friends, but as subservient help. Hally demands that they must call him â€Å"Master Harold† as he spits on his servants. Using the word â€Å"master† showed that Hally had full possesion over them, and he wanted them to know it. He also used the spitting incident as a way to show control because that was typical during that time era. Spitting on someone is considered to be very degrading to that individual and is a form to show their unworthiness. I think my personal impact on the play has definitely changed. After I read the play, I understood what happened, but it was not until our class discussion where I really put the pieces of the play together. One eye opener during out discussion was when we were talking about the word â€Å"boys† in the title. I simply thought that Fugard used that word because of their gender, but I had no idea that using the word â€Å"boy† towards a black person is degrading. I really admired how Fugard attacked this problem that was facing South Africa's society and how he exposed the realities of bigotry. I think it would be great to see this play as a production. I believe the acting of the words verses just a persons imagination could be a real eye opener to how people see and treat others. This play will continue to be relevant in American and South Africas societies because it is a reminder of our history and how our society needs to continue to grow away from racism and towards a more accepting society of all. Master Harold and the Boys â€Å"Master Harold†. . and the Boys is not an overtly political play, but a depiction of â€Å"a personal power? struggle With political implica-tions. † The only definition that the South African system can conceive of in the relationship of White to Black is one that humiliates black people. This definition â€Å"insinuates itself into every social sphere of existence, until the very language of ordinary human discourse begins to reflect the policy that makes black men subservient to the power exercised by white children. † In the society depicted by Fugard White equals â€Å"Master† and Black equals â€Å"boy. It is an equation, continued Durbach, that ignores the traditional relationship of labor to man-agement or of paid employee to paying employer. During the course of the drama, Hally rapidly realigns the components of his long? standing friend-ship with Sam into the socio? political patterns of master and servant. Hally changes from intimate familiarity with his black companions to patroniz-ing condescension to his social inferiors. It is an exercise of power by Hally, himself a â€Å"boy† who feels powerless to control the circumstance of his life and therefore seeks some measure of autonomy in his interaction with Sam and Willie.Robert Brustein, in a review in the New Repub-lic, described' ‘Master Harold† . . . and the Boys as the â€Å"quintessential racial anecdote,† and ascribed to Fugard's writing â€Å"a sweetness and sanctity that more than compen sates for what might be prosaic, rhetorical, or contrived about it. † There is a sugges-tion that Fugard' s obsession with the theme of racial injustice may be an expression of his own guilt and act of expiation. As Brian Crow noted in the Inter-national Dictionary of Theatre, Critical Overview 24 biographical in-formation, however, is not needed in order for the play to make its full impact in the theatre.This is achieved primarily through an audience's empathy with the loving relationship between Hally and Sam and its violation through Hally's inability to cope with his emotional turmoil over his father, and its expression in racism. If to what extent the play manages. . . to transmute autobiographical experi-ence into a larger exploration or analysis of racism in South Africa is arguable; what seems quite cer-tain is its capacity to involve and disturb audiences everywhere. Yet not all critical reaction to Fugard's work has been positive. Failing to see the play's wider mes sage on racism, Stephen Gray saw â€Å"Master Harold† as nothing more than a play about apart-heid. In a 1990 New Theatre Quarterly article, Gray noted that South Africa's dissolution of apartheid has made the play obsolete, stating that it â€Å"feels like a museum piece today. † Other negative criticism found the play's black characters to be falsely represented As Jeanne Colleran reported in Modern Drama, â€Å"To some black critics, the character of Sam is a grotesquerie.His forbearance and forgive-ness, far from being virtues, are embodiments of the worst kind of Uncle Tom? ism. † Such reproach prompted Fugard to clarify his intentions during the Anson Phelps Stokes Institute's Africa Roundtable. As Colleran reported, Fugard stated that his inten-tion was to tell a story: â€Å"I never set out to serve a cause. . . . The question of being a spokesman for Black politics is something I've never claimed for myself. † Such criticism for â€Å"Master Har old† was spo-radic, however The majority of Critics and audi-ences embraced the playas important and thought? rovoking. Commenting on Fugard's ability to fuse theatricality with strong political issues, Dennis Walder wrote in Athol Fugard, â€Å"Fugard's work. . . contains a potential for subversion, a potential which, I would suggest, is the hallmark of great art, and which qualifies his best work to be called great. † In this essay Wiles examines Fugard' splay as a political drama, taking into account the dissolution of the apartheid system in South Africa and how that affects contemporary perceptions of the work. He concludes that the play is still relevant as a chroni-cle of human relations.What happens to the overall effect of a play when the societal forces that shaped it have changed to the point where the playwright himself says: , , [A] political miracle has taken place in my time. † Such might appear to be the case for Athol Fugard and his play â€Å"Ma ster Harold†.. and the Boys The South African system of apartheid? legislated separation of the races? has been dismantled; free and open elections have been held; a black man, Nelson Mandela, has been elected president of the country. The power of whites, regardless of their age or station, to subjugate and humiliate blacks with he full blessing of the government and society at large has evaporated. The question that begs to be asked, then, is: What is this play about if not about political struggle? By focusing attention on the adolescent antago-nist Hally, Fugard creates a more personal drama-, a drama rooted in the uncertainties of a youth who attends a second? rate school and whose parents own and operate a third? rate cafe. Displaying â€Å"a few stale cakes,† â€Å"a not very impressive display of sweets,† and â€Å"a few sad ferns in pots,† the St.George's Park Tea Room hardly seems the seat of power. And, the arrival of Hally, in clothes that are â€Å"a little neglected and untidy† and drenched from the heavy rains that keep customers away, does little to prepare the audience for the play's explosive confrontation. When Hally enters the cafe, it appears that he is glad for the lack of patrons so that he and Sam and Willie can have a â€Å"nice, quiet afternoon. † There is the implication that both he and the two men have enjoyed these types of days in the past.Hally's world, however, begins to crumble when Sam in-forms him that his mother has gone to the hospital to bring his father home. Hally's annoyance at the comic books piled on the table? â€Å"intellectual rubbish†? changes into fury when Willie throws a slop rag at Sam, misses, and hits Hally. Hally swears and tells both Willie and Sam to â€Å"stop fooling around. † Hally calls Sam back to have him explain what Hally's mother said before she left for the hospital He convinces himself that his father is not coming home, that Sam heard wro ng, and that the world he has created for himself will continue undisturbed.His willingness to shift the discussions to the varieties of textbook learning and then to the more Important learning gleaned from the servants quar-ters at the old Jubilee Boarding House under the tutelage of Sam and Willie, indicate Hally's inabili-ty to accept that his life is about to change once again. Hally returns to the comfort of the historical past, discussing Joan of Arc, World War I, Charles Darwin, Abraham Lincoln, and William Shake-speare with Sam. He also returns to his own familiar past and the flying of a homemade kite that Sam made for him.It is the kite that provides Hally with the defin-ing moment of his young life a black man and a young white boy enjoying each other's company and a shared accomplishment. Hally says, â€Å"I don't know how to describe it, Sam Ja! The miracle happened! † Hally appears to want to return to the safety of their shared past when he mentions to Sam tha t â€Å"[I]t's time for another one, you know. † The uncertainties of adolescence challenge Hally's place, not only in the world at large but in his family as well. Of his time spent with Sam he summarizes: â€Å"It's just that life felt the right size in there. . . ot too big and not too small. Wasn't so hard to work up a bit of courage. It's got so bloody complicated since then. â€Å"Hally's violent reaction to the news that his father is indeed returning home (the stage directions describe Hally as â€Å"seething with irritation and frustration†) clearly illustrate the complications Hally must now face. â€Å"Just when things are going along all right, without fail someone or something will come along and spoil everything. Somebody should write that down as a fundamental law of the Universe The principle of perpetual disappoint-ment† Hally's attack on Willie's backside WIth a ruler and the â€Å"I? llow? you? a? little? freedom? and-? what? do? you? do? w ith? It† speech show that Hally resists acknowledging the changes and accompany-ing complications that will inevitably take place when his father returns home. In the ensuing ballroom dancing discussion (Fugard himself was a dancing champion in his teens), Sam describes the dance finals â€Å"like being in a dream about a world in which accidents don't happen. † Sam's view of the world as dance floor contrasts sharply With Hally's nostalgic view of life as the right size in the old Jubilee Boarding house. Hally wants things to remain static, to never change.Sam, on the other hand, wants the world â€Å"to dance like champions instead of always being a bunch of beginners at it. † There are no collisions in Sam's view because the participants have discovered ways of moving around the dance floor without bumping into one another; symbolically, this is Sam's hope that the world can live together peacefully without prejudice or inequality. Hally appears momentarily co nvinced at the end of this discussion: â€Å"We mustn't despair. Maybe there is hope for mankind after all. † But then the phone rings and Hally's world shatters with the news that his mother will be ringing his father home. At this point, Hally's demeanor becomes â€Å"vicious† and â€Å"desperate,† and at the end of the conversation Hally is â€Å"desolate. † He slams books and smashes the bottle of brandy his mother had told him to get for his father. With reckless words and ugly laughter, Hally mocks his crippled father, insinuating him into the dance metaphor as the ones who are â€Å"out there tripping up everybody and trying to get into the act. † His childhood world is now smashed beyond recognition as Hally swears at Sam and chastises him for meddling in something he knows nothing about.Hally's adolescent posturing leads him to de-mand that Sam call him â€Å"Master Harold, like Willie [does]. † Because he cannot control the events sur-rounding his father's homecoming, Hally lashes out at the convenient targets of Willie and Sam, people he feels he can control. The youth's petulance manifests itself with a vengeance. Hally lets fly with a racist comment and compounds the ugliness of the offense by insisting that it is a â€Å"bloody good joke. † Hally's final act of naked cruelty is to spit in Sam's face. For Hally, the bond with Sam is forever broken.The demarcation between master and ser-vant is clearly defined. Although sorely tempted to repay violence with violence, Sam remains the gentle father, the true friend, the moral teacher. Having removed the symbol of servitude (the white servant's jacket) that distinguishes him as a â€Å"boy,† Sam presents the personal rather than political response to Hally's indignities? an extended hand and the offer to try again and â€Å"fly another kite. † But Hally has shamed himself beyond compassion and cannot respond to Sam's final lesson.Errol Dur bach wrote in Modern Drama that the final dramatic images? he rain of despair, the wind where no kites fly, the hopelessness of rela-tionships ripped apart by racist attitudes, the com-forting music that elicits compassion for children who are a victims of their own upbringing, and â€Å"the image of a world where ‘Whites Only' leave two black men dancing together in an act of solidari-ty†? represent Fugard's movement between hope and despair, qualified only by the realization that â€Å"‘Master Harold' grows up to be Athol Fugard and that the play itself is an act of atonement to the memory of Sam and ‘H. D. F. [Harold David Fugard]? the Black and White fathers to whom [the play] is dedicated. â€Å"So, then, back the original question? what is the play about if not political struggle? It is a play about fathers and sons, and how those roles can be both supportive and destructive. It is a play that illustrates how relationships can be strained by factors beyond the participants. It is a play that offers suggestions and gestures for forgiveness and compassion. It is a play ultimately about race. Not black, or white, or red, or yellow, or brown, but human. Master Harold and the Boys In the play Master Harold and the boys, the telephone is a very significant symbol. It acts as a scene changer, as well as a mood changer the most for one particular character, Hally. In this summary, I will briefly describe a few instances throughout the play where the telephone is described, and the effects it has on the characters. In the beginning, Hally, a young white man arrives at his mother and father’s restaurant where he is greeted by two black â€Å"servants. † One of the â€Å"servants†, Sam informs Hally that his mom had phoned for him about a half an hour ago.Hally’s mood immediately changed from happy/content to nervousness/worry. Hally seemed to know that when his mother called, it was for good reason. Hally began pestering Sam with questions about the phone call. He wanted to know where his mother called from, what she called for and how long ago it was that she called. Sam explained that his mother had told him that she was bringing his f ather home from the hospital. Hally then became even more worried and tried to accuse Sam of lying. There was no way Hally’s mother was bringing his father home from the hospital, because he was still too sick.He then tried to call his mother at home, but there was no answer. This made Hally contemplate if the news could be true. As the two servants went back to work, Hally stood alone in confusion and worry. All he could seem to do is think about what this news means, and how it will affect him. Ring†¦ring†¦ring. Sam answers the phone while Hally stops his train of thought. He is listening and holding on to every word Sam says. This telephone call acts as a scene changer and also a mood changer for Hally and the servants; they all stop what they are doing to find out what is happening.Hally relates the phone ringing to something bad happening. Sam tells Hally that it is his mother on the phone for him. In worry Hally asks if the call is local or private, almost as if he is preparing his speech to his mother. Once Hally musters up the courage to speak on the phone, Hally finds out that the news is true; Hally’s father is asking to come home. Shocked, he cannot believe what he is hearing. He becomes angry with his mother, demanding that she make him stay at the hospital. But you know that Hally doesn’t really seem to care how his dad is feeling, he just doesn’t ant him back home. Hally’s mom agreed to try to keep his father at the hospital, but she wasn’t making any promises, Hally’s father was acting too persistent with his decision. Hally’s mother told him that she would call him back. After he hung up the phone, he was in complete shock. All he could do was stare at the telephone as Sam and Willie began bombarding him with questions. Hally had told them that Sam was right and his father wanted to come home. Hally’s mood changed to anger after that phone call.He kept going back and forth across the restaurant saying what kind of a mess this was going to make for him. He even got so angry about this news, that he began ordering same and Willie around, telling them to quit fooling around and to get back to work. As the servants obeyed his command, all Hally could do is pace back and forth through the restaurant and wait for that next phone call. Then, finally†¦ring†¦ring†¦ring. Hally took a lot longer to answer the phone this time. Sam even had to remind him not to keep his mother waiting.Hally’s mom was calling from home this time. She told her son that his father was home. Infuriated, Hally scolded his mother, asking her why she didn’t stop him and why she didn’t make him stay. He went on to tell his mom that he had an exam coming up, and how could he focus on that when his father is home causing trouble. Hally’s mom tells him that his father wanted to speak with him. Hally’s tone immediately changed when he spoke w ith his father. He sounded happy to speak with him, asking him how he was feeling. He also told his father that he was happy that he was home.After he hung up the phone he went right back to being angry. He acted like he was so much more superior to the black servants, walking around telling them what to do. In conclusion, the telephone was a very important symbol in the play Master Harold and the boys. Every time the phone rang, it changed all of the characters mood. Although the telephone acted like more of symbol to Hally, it did affect all the characters. Each time the telephone rang, Halley’s mood grew more nervous and more angry. He related the telephone ringing to anger, worry and frustration

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Obama Stimulus Package Pros and Cons

Obama Stimulus Package Pros and Cons President Obamas stimulus package, the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, was passed by Congress on February 13, 2009 and signed into law by the President four days later. No House Republicans and only three Senate Republicans voted for the bill. Obamas $787 billion stimulus package is a consortium of thousands of federal tax reductions, and expenditures on infrastructure, education, health care, energy and other projects. This stimulus package was to jumpstart the U.S. economy out of recession mainly by generating two to three million new jobs and replacing decreased consumer spending. (See specific Pros and Cons at page two of this article.) Stimulus Spending: Keynesian Economic Theory The concept that an economy would be boosted if the government spent large sums of borrowed money was first set forth by John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946), a British economist. Per Wikipedia, In the 1930s, Keynes spearheaded a revolution in economic thinking, overturning the older ideas... that held that free markets would automatically provide full employment as long as workers were flexible in their wage demands. ... During the 1950s and 1960s, the success of Keynesian economics was so resounding that almost all capitalist governments adopted its policy recommendations. The 1970s: Free-Market Economic Theory Keynesian economics theory receded from public use with the advent of free-market thinking which postulated that the merket works optimally when without government inteference of any kind. Led by U.S. economist Milton Friedman, 1976 Nobel Economics Prize recipient, free-market economics evolved into a political movement under President Ronald Reagan who famously declared, Government is not the solution to our problems. Government is the problem. 2008 Failure of Free-Market Economics Absence of adequate U.S. government monitoring of the economy is blamed by most parties for the 2008 U.S. and worldwide recession. Keynesian economist Paul Krugman, 2008 Nobel Economics Prize recipient, wrote in November 2008: The key to Keynes’s contribution was his realization that liquidity preference - the desire of individuals to hold liquid monetary assets - can lead to situations in which effective demand isn’t enough to employ all the economy’s resources. In other words, per Krugman, human self-interest (i.e. greed)occasionally must be prodded by government to facilitate a healthy economy. Latest Developments In July 2009, many Democrats, including some presidential advisors, believe that $787 billion was too small to bolster the economy, as evidenced by the continuing U.S. economic slump. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis admittedon July 8, 2009 about the economy, Nobody is happy, and the president and I feel very strongly that we have to do everything we can to create jobs. Dozens of respected economists, including Paul Krugman, told the White House that an effective stimulus must be at least $2 trillion, in order to replace the drop in consumer and governmental spending. President Obama, however, aspired for bipartisan support, so the White House compromised by adding Republican-urged tax breaks. And hundreds of billions in desperately-sought state aid and other programs were chopped from the final $787 billion stimulus package. Unemployment Continues to Climb Unemployment has continued to climb at an alarming rate, despite passage of the $787 billion economic stimulus package. Explains The Australian News: ... only six months ago Obama was telling Americans that unemployment, then at 7.2%, could be held to a peak of 8% this year if Congress passed his $US787 billion stimulus package. Congress duly obliged and unemployment has galloped ahead ever since. Most economists now believe the 10% mark will be reached before the year is out. ... Obamas jobless prediction would be out of whack by more than four million jobs. As it stands now, he has miscalculated by about 2.6 million jobs. Slow to Spend Stimulus Funds The Obama administration has stumbled in rapidly circulating stimulus funds back into the economy. Per all reports, as of the end of June 2009, only about 7% of approved funds have spent. Investment analyst Rutledge Capital observes, In spite of all the talk we have seen about shovel ready projects, not much of the money has actually made its way into the economy yet... Economist Bruce Bartlett explained in The Daily Beast on July 8, 2009, In a recent briefing, CBO director Doug Elmendorf estimated that only 24 percent of all the stimulus funds will have been spent by September 30. And 61 percent of that will go to low-impact income transfers; only 39 percent is for high-impact spending on highways, mass transit, energy efficiency, et al. By September 30, only 11 percent of all the funds allocated to such programs will be spent. Background President Obamas stimulus package of $787 billion includes: Infrastructure - Total: $80.9 billion, including: $51.2 billion for roads, bridges, railways, sewers, public transportation $29.5 billion for government facilities and vehicle fleets $15 billion for other projects, including $7.2 billion for public broadband, wireless Internet access, $750 million to the National Park Service, $650 million to the Forest Service, and $515 million for wildfire prevention. Education $44.5 billion to local school districts to prevent layoffs and cutbacks, with flexibility to use the funds for school modernization and repair $15.6 billion to increase Pell Grants from $4,731 to $5,350 $13 billion for low-income public schoolchildren $12.2 billion for IDEA special education $300 million for increased teacher salaries Health Care $86.6 billion for Medicaid $24.7 billion to provide a 65% subsidy of COBRA healthcare premiums for the unemployed $19 billion for health information technology $10 billion for health research, National Institutes of Health facilities $1.3 billion for medical care for military members, families $1 billion for the Veterans Health Administration $2 billion for Community Health Centers Energy $11 billion funding for an electric smart grid $6.3 billion for state, local governments to invest in energy efficiencies $6 billion for renewable energy, electric transmission technologies loan guarantees $6 billion for the cleanup of radioactive waste from nuclear power plants $5 billion for weatherizing modest-income homes $4.5 billion to modernize the U.S. electrical grid $2 billion for manufacture of advanced car battery systems $400 million for electric vehicle technologies Housing $4 billion to HUD for repairing, modernizing public housing $2.25 billion in tax credits for financing low-income housing construction $2 billion to help communities purchase and repair foreclosed housing $1.5 billion for rental assistance and housing relocation Scientific Research $3 billion to the National Science Foundation $2 billion to the United States Department of Energy $1.3 billion for university research facilities $1 billion to NASA American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 BY Wikipedia Pros Pros for the Obama administrations $787 billion stimulus package can be summed up in one obvious statement: If the stimulus works to shock the U.S. economy out of its steep 2008-2009 recession, and stems the unemployment rate, then it will be judged a success. Economic historians persuasively argue that Keynesian-style spending was largely instrumental in pulling the U.S. out of the Great Depression, and in propelling growth of the U.S. and world economies in the 1950s and 1960s. Meeting Urgent, Worthy Needs Of course, liberals also fervently believe that many thousands of urgent and worthy needs... long ignored and exacerbated by the Bush administration... are met by spending initiatives included in Obamas stimulus package, including: Long overdue repair and renewal of dangerously crumbling U.S. infrastructure, including highways and roads, the electric power grid, dams, bridges, levees, water mains and sewer systems, airports, and more; Vital aid to beleaguered local school districts to prevent layoffs and cutbacks, plus $300 million for increased teacher salaries Expansion of public transportation systems, building new high-speed passenger rail systems $116 billion in payroll tax relief for individuals making less than $75,000 annually, and for couples jointly making less than $150,000. $40 billion to extend unemployment benefits, and to increase benefits by $25 weekly Increased medical coverage for military members and their families, and $1 billion for the Veterans Administration, which suffered major cutbacks under President Bush Food programs for low-income Americans, including $150 million to help refill food banks, $100 million for meals programs for seniors, and $100 million for free school lunch programs . Cons Critics of President Obamas stimulus package either believe that: economic stimulus spending is doomed to fail, especially when it entails borrowing to obtain the funds to be spent (i.e. deficit spending); or the compromise size or focus of the stimulus bill doomed the measure to be inadequate to pull the U.S. out of the 2008-2009 recession. Stimulus Spending Coupled with Borrowing Is Reckless A June 6, 2009 Louisville Courier-Journal editorial eloquently expresses this con perspective: Lyndon is getting a new walking path between Whipps Mill Road and North Hurstbourne Lane... Lacking sufficient funds, the U.S. will borrow from China and other increasingly skeptical lenders to pay for luxuries like Lyndons little walkway. Our children and grandchildren will have to pay back the unimaginable debt with which we are saddling them. Of course, the fallout from their forebears financial irresponsibility could first consume them in revolution, ruin or tyranny... Obama and congressional Democrats are making an already awful situation exponentially worse... Borrowing from foreigners to build paths in Lyndon is not only bad policy, but ought to also be unconstitutional. Stimulus Package Was Inadequate or Wrongly Focused Lamented liberal economist Paul Krugman, Even if the original Obama plan - around $800 billion in stimulus, with a substantial fraction of that total given over to ineffective tax cuts - had been enacted, it wouldnt have been enough to fill the looming hole in the U.S. economy, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will amount to $2.9 trillion over the next three years. Yet the centrists did their best to make the plan weaker and worse. One of the best features of the original plan was aid to cash-strapped state governments, which would have provided a quick boost to the economy while preserving essential services. But the centrists insisted on a $40 billion cut in that spending. Moderate Republican David Brooks opined ... theyve created a sprawling, undisciplined smorgasbord, which has spun off a series of unintended consequences. First, by trying to do everything all it once, the bill does nothing well. The money spent on long-term domestic programs means there may not be enough to jolt the economy now... The money spent on stimulus, meanwhile, means there’s not enough to truly reform domestic programs like health technology, schools and infrastructure. The measure mostly pumps more money into old arrangements. Where It Stands Congressional Republicans tore into the Obama administration over the economic stimulus plan,... arguing that the White House is mishandling the distribution of the money while overstating the ability of the package to create jobs, reported CNN on July 8, 2009 about a contentious hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. CNN continued, The White House Office of Management and Budget defended the plan, arguing that every federal dollar spent has, by definition, helped to ease the pain of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. A Second Stimulus Package? Obama economic advisor Laura Tyson, former Director of the National Economic Council, said in a July 2009 speech that the U.S. should consider drafting a second stimulus package focusing on infrastructure projects because the $787 billion approved in February was a bit too small per Bloomberg.com. In contrast, economist Bruce Bartlett, a conservative Obama supporter, pens in an article entitled Obamas Clueless Liberal Critics, that the argument for more stimulus implicitly assumes that the bulk of stimulus funds have been paid out and done their work. However, the data show that very little of the stimulus has actually been spent. Bartlett argues that stimulus critics are reacting impatiently, and notes that economist Christina Romer, who now chairs the Council of Economic Advisers, says the stimulus is working just as planned and that no additional stimulus is needed. Would Congress Pass a Second Stimulus bill? The burning, relevant question is: Is it politically possible for President Obama to push Congress into passing a second economic stimulus package in 2009 or 2010? The first stimulus package passed on a House vote of 244-188, with all Republicans and eleven Democrats voting NO. The bill squeezed by on a filibuster-proof 61-36 Senate vote, but only after making significant compromises to attract three Republican YES votes. All Senate Democrats voted for the bill, except those absent due to illness. But with public confidence falling in Obamas leadership in mid-2009 on economic matters, and with the first stimulus bill failing to quell unemployment, moderate Democrats cant be relied on to solidly support additional stimulus legislation. Would Congress pass a second stimulus package in 2009 or 2010? The jury is out, but the verdict, in summer 2009, doesnt look good for the Obama administration.