America: Leading the way again

by lestro

Seems like for so long now, the rest of the world has looked down its nose and disregarded the US.

It’s probably been only about five or six years, but it feels longer.

Anyway, today we get another sign that the rest of the world may again start taking its cues from the US.

Just one day after President Obama attacked Wall Street for giving out huge bonuses to the people who drove their companies into the ground after taking bailout money from the government and then he set caps on the salaries (still more than 10 times the national average salary) for people in firms getting our money, other world leaders are jumping on the bandwagon as well:

President Nicolas Sarkozy blistered financial traders and ruled out bonuses for managers of banks bailed out by state funds as he sought Thursday to reassure a nation still jittery following nationwide strikes sparked by the global economic crisis….

Sarkozy sternly announced that there would be no bonuses in 2009 at banks that had received state aid. He also said he would consider a cap on salaries for top managers of companies that received public funds but was skeptical about making it a hard-fast rule.

Why did he do it?

He called on a joint European response to the crisis, which he said he had discussed in a recent telephone conversation with President Barack Obama.

”I told him that I feel an ally of the United States, but one country cannot lead the world.”

I’ll admit it: it’s nice to be the Top Dog again.