Obama's plan vs. McCain's plan vs India - Part 2

Before I continue, let me update that a focussed plan for the American Middle Class was published on the Obama-Biden campaign website. This was the revised The Economic Rescue Plan for the Middle Class. Couple this with the detailed plan on the website and all my past assumptions of the McCain plan being more comprehensive go right out of the window. Obama matches McCain's plan with added detail to boot. So I must revise my score...

Score: Obama 2: McCain 2

Now, going ahead with the analysis:

4. The Economic Crisis:

I'm taking this seperately as both sides have rather varying stances on how to handle this.

Obama's Stand: Free up the withdrawal of savings by legitimate savers if required, without any taxes or penalties. Frankly speaking, Obama tends to attribute a lot of cautious behavior to the American masses. But its a liberal stand, allowing people to be responsible for themselves and meet immediate urgent cash needs.

McCain Stand: Reduce taxes!! That's it!! I must say that the Republicans really think the American is stupid and needs to be continuously patronized. Though reduced taxes really sounds good, it will hit the US exchequer. Tax optimization is good, straight cuts based on popularity only reminds me of the story back home!!

India context: India can only wait and watch. The bailout plan and the different stances about solutions are all good newsbytes, but execution of the plan is going to be a real challenge. A focus on cash flow monitoring and checks and balances in the economic situation is really necessary now.

Score: Obama 2: McCain 2 [The points are for India Context]


5. Taxes on Business:

Obama Stand: This is something McCain makes a lot of noise about!! Obama wants to raise tax on any business that makes more than $250k a year. I think that is reasonable. Tiered taxation makes a lot of sense and establishes fairness in the economy. However this will hit the savings that businesses make from outsourcing.

McCain stand: Straight tax cut in Corporate tax from 35% to 25%!! Though small businesses will benefit outright, I'm worried about the windfall that large corporations will make out of this. More cash on hand, more fraud and reckless investing, more damage to the economy.

India context: Both plans hurt India, especially the Outsourcing industry. With Obama's plan, outsourcing for the sake of outsourcing will grind to a halt. Deals will be harder to come by and the margins will be wafer thin. However, in the long run, India would have an opportunity to develop value in its outsourcing offerings. We can move up the outsourcing value chain, making the deals richer and having more depth in specialization. So there is long term good coming out of this. McCain on the other hand is the larger evil. His tax cut will bring more business to India in the short term, however we will stagnate at the same old outsourcing offerings with little innovation and value addition.

Score: Obama 3: McCain 2 [Sustainable long term gain over short term gain gets more brownie points]

Well, the contest is tied close, but as I suspected, Obama did come ahead. I reiterate that Obama's plan was much more concrete than McCain's plan, while both were equally detailed. Obama-Biden dare to call a spade a spade effortlessly. And I believe that is where the strength of the Democrats lie.... fearless leadership in these troubled times.

Here's where Obama scores more brownie points:

- Green fuel tech focus as against McCain's "clean" coal technologies
- Reduced dependence on oil imports
- Focus on new small business development
- strong focus on eliminating corruption, especially with bankruptcy reform
- Opposed to Free Trade Agreements. This is big for India for levelling the playing field, though China will benefit more.

On an analysis, though the first two years of the Obama presidential reign will bring pain to India, it is going to make the best come out of us. Sooner or later, we will have to build value into our business relationship with the US. This seems to be the right opportunity.

Obama's plan vs. McCain's plan vs India - Part 1

Sitting back here in India, I watch with careful trepidation, the presidential race between Barack Obama-Joe Biden and John McCain-Sarah Palin. For all the criticism of both sides ranging from race, intelligence quotients, partnerships, political and economic stands, even religious leanings [??], it is funny to note that, wherever you may roam, politics will be politics!!

Now I would be out of my league to comment on which side would be best for America. I do hope that my American friends have the good sense to analyse and make that choice for themselves. However, what I can comment on is a very selfish issue, that of which side is best for India. After all, with a large portion of my work coming from the United States of America, quite frankly, the US presidential election is indeed, my business as well.

One of the best things that I find about the US Presidential race is the massive use of the internet that the candidates make. Everything from economic plans, advertisements, even merchandise is on the net!! And it makes a good starting point for a non-American citizen of the World like myself, to take an unbiased view at both sides.

I am going through both plans at this point in time, Barack Obama's Blueprint for Change and John McCain's Economic Plan. There is a lot of rhetoric and marketing spiel in both documents, but it does make interesting reading.

The major difference that I see is that Obama's plan is a 64-page, downloadable PDF document, while McCain's plan is on the website and all I can download is a 1-page summary of the "plan", with a lot of feel good statements. The actual McCain plan is here. If there are points for being open and upfront, I find Obama-Biden scoring big here!!! A website like McCain's that I have to dig through to get answers, well, I find that secretive and non-transparent, very similar to a speaker with folded arms!!!

On the face of it, both documents cover almost identical issues, and there is a lot of gloss, similar to the stuff in Corporate Annual Reports. The coverage also is rather comprehensive, and carefully laid out to cover almost every issue important to the American citizen.

I personally find Obama's plan a little easy to follow, because its all in one place. So the breakup of issues I'm going to use is as per the Obama plan.

1. ETHICS:

Obama Stand: Obama wants to make Washington [a synecdoche for the American Government] more transparent, specifically calling for increased communication with the masses, an end to no-bid contracts and removal of political lobbying [the Revolving Door]. It is a tough stand for a presidential candidate to take.

McCain Stand: McCain specifically talks about the "pork barrel", a government initiative to earmark taxpayers' money for pet projects. Also, he makes a prolonged statement against political lobbying, calling for removal of the "revolving door" as well.

India context: Though both sides address the lobbying issue, Obama is more specific about the "how" of increasing ethics. Also, with the issue of ending "no-bid" contracts, it might mean the levelling of the playing field for government contracts. Whether this translates into allowing Indian firms to bid for the same, needs to be seen.

Score: Obama 1 : McCain 0


2. HEALTHCARE:

Obama Stand: A very very detailed plan. It is solely focussed on inclusion, making grounds for more Americans to be brought under insurance cover. Specifically, the creation of the National Health Insurance Exchange to act as a watchdog over the private insurance market to ensure fairness and to make individual coverage more affordable and accessible. Also calls for transparency in the insurance schemes, with greater accesibility to advanced treatment and drugs for all. A detailed healthcare reform plan is available here.

McCain Stand: McCain has an equally, if not more detailed plan for healthcare. McCain specifically calls for Affordability, Access and choice, Portability and Security and Quality of healthcare insurance. For a change, McCain makes a specific reference to the "how" of healthcare reform. Apparently, this is a very touchy issue with the American population, as McCain also includes an "independent third party" comparison of his plan vs Obama's healthcare plan as well as a smear campaign against Obama's plan.

India Context: Both sides make a specific reference to the use of IT in healthcare delivery. I see an opportunity for India here. Also, Obama speaks about increased use of generics to increase affordability of drugs. The Indian generics pharma industry can benefit from this stand.

Score: Obama 2 : McCain 1


3. ECONOMY [a.k.a. the Big Kahuna]

Obama Stand: For this I had to search Obama's site, as the blueprint was a bit dated and did not fully account for the recent economic crisis that hit Wall St. However, Obama's prime focus remains the middle class, calling for reduced income tax for waged workers, enhanced worker rights, tax credit for homeowners, a five-star rating for credit cards and greater work-family balance. On the macro front, Obama promises Foreign Trade reform, re-looking into agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA as well as big specific on Innovation and Technology, including clean energy and high-skill manufacturing. There is a specific reference to bankruptcy reform, ensuring that bankruptcy of companies has minimum effect on the workforce.

McCain Stand: McCain's website has Senior Policy Advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin endorsing the McCain Economic reform plan. And the plan is very very comprehensive, with its focus on jobs, another touchy issue with the US voters. He guns for reduced dependence on foreign oil, with gas tax holiday and increased dependency on coal. There is a" HOME plan", calling for part writeoff of the principal amount by lenders and a federal bailout for the eligible homeowner. There is also a middle-class tax cut proposal and a simplification of the taxation scheme. One important point is a one-year Government spending pause to review effectiveness of all federal programs, though it exempts "essential military programs".
McCain makes very bold statements for Clean Energy, with sops being promised galore. Also in the fray is corporate tax rate cuts, which will positively impact new businesses. McCain also proposes to overhaul the unemployment insurance scheme, thus making it an engine for "retraining, relocating and
assisting workers" who have lost a job, a welcome reform for this important government initiative.

India Context: I find McCain's plan very comprehensive, compared to Obama's plan, which seems very generic. However both sides promise a lot of tax cuts and ambitious reform plans. This will take time and will impact the "cash flow" within the economy. I see a continued slump in the US economy which will take some time to break the plateau. US specific business will have a stagnancy and it would be better off for India to explore other markets and diversify their business mix.

Score: Obama 2 : McCain 3

[I gave McCain 2 points here, as the comprehensiveness and detail of his plan impressed me. Whether it is good for America is something the economists have to concur, but it is a very detailed action oriented plan, if executed properly]

The rest of the issues in Part 2.

Mistakes when quitting your current company: Pt 1

Its amazing how people get unnerved about quitting their organization. After all, you keep waiting for the moment of release from the boss' tyranny, the impoverished existence or the sea of sycophants..... so you strive and toil over your resume, write the best cover letters, squeeze in telephonic and personal interviews galore and finally land the big one!!

And now, its showtime.... time to leave!! You've just handed in your resignation and watched with perverse pleasure the look on your boss' face [And he thought I would never quit, huh??] You sit through all the sentimental tales of how you mean so much to the organization, of how things will grind to a halt when you go, of how much opportunity you're leaving behind... etc. etc. etc. Its good fun......

But jokes apart, your exit from your company is a very important part of your career. For one, it is the linking point between two consecutive employment phases. Hence it is an important part of your career transition.

To establish yourself as a true professional, even the exit process needs to be handled with care, tact, finesse and well, professionalism.

Mistake #1: Improper Handover

This is the biggest mistake made by the most thorough of professionals. Usually your boss would confirm to whom and how the handover is to be given to. However, realise that in most cases, your boss is also unprepared to actually plan a succession that fast. So it is usually a scapegoat colleague who gets nominated to take over. And that, is usually, very ineffective.

I suggest you put your entire work functions in writing and mail a copy to your boss and his boss well in advance. That way you have ensured that any changes can be addressed before you are gone. My suggested timeline is as follows:

First Draft: Within one week of resignation

Corrected draft and discussion: Three days from first draft

Final handover Document: Within two weeks of resignation


Another major advantage of a written handover is that it eliminates people blaming you later for all their shortfalls ["Oh, you know, if Navin would have given a better handover, this wouldn't have happened!!"]. Sad, but it happens!!! God forbid, if you're in a customer facing role, and your company starts giving this excuse to the customer.

Also, giving it to multiple people quickly addresses the nasty habit that people have of "losing" vital information when necessary. With that much visibility, the boss is forced to reconsider who to give your job functions to, objectively.

Now you would say, what if no one comes back with corrections or changes? Its easy. You remind them, at most twice!! If they still don't come back, well, you promote your first draft to final document and relax!! Keep a copy with you for your own reference.

Mistake #2 coming soon....