Obama: Desi dose

Washington, April 18: When Barack Obama addressed his people on radio today, the speech could have been mistaken for one delivered by an Indian leader, had it not been for his accent and the references to America.

Never before in the history of the US President’s weekly radio address, which began with Franklin D. Roosevelt 76 years ago, has any such speech contained a prescription of Indian names as a solution for America’s ills.

But Obama took the unusual step of using the address this morning to announce that “Aneesh Chopra, who is currently the secretary of technology for governor Kaine of Virginia, has agreed to serve as America’s chief technology officer”.

He added that “in this role, Aneesh will promote technological innovation to help achieve our most urgent priorities — from creating jobs and reducing health care costs to keeping our nation secure”.

White House appointments are usually announced by the President’s spokesperson in daily briefings or revealed in news releases distributed to the White House press corps and then posted on the presidential website.

But Obama, who is away in Trinidad for a historic regional Summit of the Americas to extend an olive branch to Latin American countries with whom his predecessor had crossed swords, decided to break with past practice to checkmate Republicans who are mobilising countrywide opposition to the President’s economic policies.

“Aneesh and Jeffrey (Zients) will work closely with our chief information officer, Vivek Kundra, who is responsible for setting technology policy across the government and using technology to improve security, ensure transparency and lower costs,” Obama said in his address to the nation to the surprise of the Indian American community.

Obama announced that Jeffrey Zients, a well-known management consultant and entrepreneur, will join his administration as chief performance officer, a role similar to Indira Gandhi’s creation of a department of programme implementation to monitor her Emergency “20-point programme”.

“The goal is to give all Americans a voice in their government and ensure that they know exactly how we are spending their money — and can hold us accountable for the results.”

The President warned, however, none of this would be easy, reminding them that the change he promised during last year’s election never is.

Referring to the Indian Americans he appointed to the White House, Obama continued: “But with the leadership of these individuals, I am confident that we can break our bad habits, put an end to the mismanagement that has plagued our government and start living within our means again. That is how we will get our deficits under control and move from recovery to prosperity. And that is how we will give the American people the kind of government they expect and deserve — one that is efficient, accountable and fully worthy of their trust.”

Before departing for Trinidad, the White House weighed the impact of Republican “tea parties” country-wide on Wednesday, tax-filing day here, which was used by the Opposition to protest Obama’s tax policies.

The protests were modelled on the “Boston Tea Party” against taxation by the British, a turning point in America’s fight for independence.

The Indians Obama referred to in his speech have a credible record of result-oriented work in Democratic administrations in Virginia and the US capital’s local government. The President may have decided to give their appointments a high profile to neutralise Republicans with results.

Obama said he would demand of all of his department heads concrete cost-cutting proposals at next week’s cabinet meeting to streamline government spending.

A day earlier, the White House announced the highest-level appointment yet of an Indian American in the Obama administration. Rajiv Shah, 36, director of agricultural development at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is to be under secretary for research, education, and economics at the US department of agriculture.

The appointment represents a landmark change at the department, which has obsessed in the past with American farming, wasteful subsidies and vested farming interests.

Shah’s experience is with global food security, especially in Africa, food safety, nutrition and climate.