President Obama on Reddit


I was very surprised when I saw this post on Reddit. I am not sure when the Indian Prime Minister will ever do something like this. This is what I call the power of social media.

Please find the collection of questions and answers answered by the President Obama.

Question:

I am recent law school graduate. Despite graduating from a top school, I find myself unemployed with a large student loan debt burden. While I’m sure my immediate prospects will improve in time, it’s difficult to be optimistic about the future knowing that my ability to live a productive life — to have a fulfilling career, to buy a house, to someday raise a family — is hampered by my debt and the bleak economic outlook for young people. I know that I’m not alone in feeling this way. Many of us are demoralized. Your 2008 campaign was successful in large part due to the efforts of younger demographics. We worked for you, we campaigned for you, and we turned out in record numbers to vote for you. What can I say to encourage those in similar situations as I am to show up again in November? What hope can you offer us for your second term?

Answer:

I understand how tough it is out there for recent grads. You’re right – your long term prospects are great, but that doesn’t help in the short term. Obviously some of the steps we have taken already help young people at the start of their careers. Because of the health care bill, you can stay on your parent’s plan until you’re twenty six. Because of our student loan bill, we are lowering the debt burdens that young people have to carry. But the key for your future, and all our futures, is an economy that is growing and creating solid middle class jobs – and that’s why the choice in this election is so important. The other party has two ideas for growth – more taxs cuts for the wealthy (paid for by raising tax burdens on the middle class and gutting investments like education) and getting rid of regulations we’ve put in place to control the excesses on wall street and help consumers. These ideas have been tried, they didnt work, and will make the economy worse. I want to keep promoting advanced manufacturing that will bring jobs back to America, promote all-American energy sources (including wind and solar), keep investing in education and make college more affordable, rebuild our infrastructure, invest in science, and reduce our deficit in a balanced way with prudent spending cuts and higher taxes on folks making more than $250,000/year. I don’t promise that this will solve all our immediate economic challenges, but my plans will lay the foundation for long term growth for your generation, and for generations to follow. So don’t be discouraged – we didn’t get into this fix overnight, and we won’t get out overnight, but we are making progress and with your help will make more.

Question:

What’s the recipe for the White House’s beer?

Answer:

It will be out soon! I can tell from first hand experience, it is tasty.

Question:

What are you going to do to end the corrupting influence of money in politics during your second term?

Answer:

Money has always been a factor in politics, but we are seeing something new in the no-holds barred flow of seven and eight figure checks, most undisclosed, into super-PACs; they fundamentally threaten to overwhelm the political process over the long run and drown out the voices of ordinary citizens. We need to start with passing the Disclose Act that is already written and been sponsored in Congress – to at least force disclosure of who is giving to who. We should also pass legislation prohibiting the bundling of campaign contributions from lobbyists. Over the longer term, I think we need to seriously consider mobilizing a constitutional amendment process to overturn Citizens United (assuming the Supreme Court doesn’t revisit it). Even if the amendment process falls short, it can shine a spotlight of the super-PAC phenomenon and help apply pressure for change.

Question:

What was the most difficult decision that you had to make during this term?

Answer:

The decision to surge our forces in afghanistan. Any time you send our brave men and women into battle, you know that not everyone will come home safely, and that necessarily weighs heavily on you. The decision did help us blunt the taliban’s momentum, and is allowing us to transition to afghan lead – so we will have recovered that surge at the end of this month, and will end the war at the end of 2014. But knowing of the heroes that have fallen is something you never forget.

Question:

What is the first thing you’ll do on November 7th, win or lose?

Answer:

Win or lose, I’ll be thanking everybody who is working so hard – especially all the volunteers in field offices all across the country, and the amazing young people in our campaign offices.

Question:

How are you going help small businesses in 2013 and 2014? and what if any bills are you going to implement for small businesses, in 2013, and 2014?

Answer:

We’ve really focused on this since I came into office – 18 tax cuts for small business, easier funding from the SBA. Going forward, I want to keep taxes low for the 98 percent of small businesses that have $250,000 or less in income, make it easier for small business to access financing, and expand their opportunities to export. And we will be implementing the Jobs Act bill that I signed that will make it easier for startups to access crowd-funding and reduce their tax burden at the start-up stage.

Question:

Who’s your favourite Basketball player?

Answer:

Jordan – I’m a Bulls guy.

Question:

We know how Republicans feel about protecting Internet Freedom. Is Internet Freedom an issue you’d push to add to the Democratic Party’s 2012 platform?

Answer:

Internet freedom is something I know you all care passionately about; I do too. We will fight hard to make sure that the internet remains the open forum for everybody – from those who are expressing an idea to those to want to start a business. And although there will be occasional disagreements on the details of various legislative proposals, I won’t stray from that principle – and it will be reflected in the platform.

Question:

Are you considering increasing funds to the space program?

Answer:

Making sure we stay at the forefront of space exploration is a big priority for my administration. The passing of Neil Armstrong this week is a reminder of the inspiration and wonder that our space program has provided in the past; the curiosity probe on mars is a reminder of what remains to be discovered. The key is to make sure that we invest in cutting edge research that can take us to the next level – so even as we continue work with the international space station, we are focused on a potential mission to a asteroid as a prelude to a manned Mars flight.

Question:

How do you balance family life and hobbies with, well, being the POTUS?

Answer:

It’s hard – truthfully the main thing other than work is just making sure that I’m spending enough time with michelle and the girls. The big advantage I have is that I live above the store – so I have no commute! So we make sure that when I’m in DC I never miss dinner with them at 6:30 pm – even if I have to go back down to the Oval for work later in the evening. I do work out every morning as well, and try to get a basketball or golf game in on the weekends just to get out of the bubble. Speaking of balance, though, I need to get going so I’m back in DC in time for dinner. But I want to thank everybody at reddit for participating – this is an example of how technology and the internet can empower the sorts of conversations that strengthen our democracy over the long run. AND REMEMBER TO VOTE IN NOVEMBER – if you need to know how to register, go to Gottaregister.com. By the way, if you want to know what I think about this whole reddit experience – NOT BAD!

Leadership Qualities


I wanted to write this post a very long time back. However, due some or the other reason I never got around to writing this post until today. In one of our inaugural MBA classes, we had this lecturer come in and speak on the topic of leadership. After speaking on various traits on Leadership, he divided the entire class into 4 teams and gave each team 4 objects – hat, orange, empty box and a bird’s feather and asked us to come up with 7 leadership qualities from each of the object within the next 15 mins. The object assigned to us was orange.

This is the first time that I have been involved in having such a discussion. After thinking for the next 5-7 mins, I realized that we were not able to come up with any points. Somehow we were not able to visualize any leadership qualities coming out from an Orange. So I decided to ask the lecturer. The very first thing he asked me was what books did I read? Did I read any news papers, any business magazines like Harvard Business Review etc? He then mentioned that the reason I am not able to visualize any leadership qualities from an Orange is because I am not reading enough and I am not reading right. I was very taken aback by this. I mean I have a fair bit of knowledge of what’s happening in the world, read a lot of fiction and biographies. So then he told the team on how to go about thinking on such topics and gave us a few points which I am sharing below. (Point #1 was shared by the lecturer – the rest of the points were created by my team)

1.      Deliver at all cost: A good leader will deliver whatever he has been assigned in spite of challenges. An orange undergoes a very tough journey from the time it is plucked until the time it reaches the supermarket. In spite of it changing hands multiple times, undergoing pick up and drops and remaining in box for say 2-3 days, it still fresh and delivers the best source of Vitamin C

 2.     Transition:  A good leader will mature as time goes by, similar to an Orange, from the time it is a seed to the time it becomes a fruit

 3.     Strong communication: A good leader should have very good communication skills so that uniform message is communicated across all the employees and there is no ambiguity, just like an orange – it communicates that it is the best source of Vitamin C

 4.     People Management: Not all employees are the same, therefore a leader should be able to manage each of his team members in an efficient manner and get the best out of them. Similarly no two slices of orange are the same, however, the orange peel manages to cover all the pieces and ensures there is no damage to the slices.

 5.     Creating new leaders: A good leader should be able to mentor his team members and be able to create new leaders. Just like how a seed of orange creates more orange trees.

 The above were some of the points which we were able to come up with. The best example, according to me, was provided by the team whose object was a hat. As per them, when the situation is all but lost, a good leader will put a bunny out of the hat and resolve the issue – just like magic.

The best thing about the class was it gave an example of thinking outside box. I am hoping that I will get some more such experiences, which I will hopefully be able to share.

Am I with the right person?


I was searching my email for something when I came across this article. This was sent to me in 2009. Just thought it would be an interesting. Unfortunately, I am do not have the details of the author who has written this.

During a seminar, a woman asked,” How do I know if I am with the right person?” The author then noticed that there was a large man sitting next to her so he said, “It depends. Is that your partner?” In all seriousness, she answered “How do you know?” Let me answer this question because the chances are good that it’s weighing on your mind replied the author.
Here’s the answer.

Every relationship has a cycle…In the beginning; you fall in love with your partner. You anticipate their calls, want their touch, and like their idiosyncrasies. Falling in love wasn’t hard. In fact, it was a completely natural and spontaneous experience. You didn’t have to DO anything. That’s why it’s called “falling” in love.

People in love sometimes say, “I was swept of my feet.” Picture the expression. It implies that you were just standing there; doing nothing, and then something happened TO YOU. Falling in love is a passive and spontaneous experience. But after a few months or years of being together, the euphoria of love fades. It’s a natural cycle of EVERY relationship. Slowly but surely, phone calls become a bother (if they come at all), touch is not always welcome (when it happens), and your spouse’s idiosyncrasies, instead of being cute, drive you nuts. The symptoms of this stage vary with every relationship; you will notice a dramatic difference between the initial stage when you were in love and a much duller or even angry subsequent stage. At this point, you and/or your partner might start asking, “Am I with the right person?” And as you reflect on the euphoria of the love you once had, you may begin to desire that experience with someone else. This is when relationships breakdown.

The key to succeeding in a relationship is not finding the right person; it’s learning to love the person you found.

People blame their partners for their unhappiness and look outside for fulfillment. Extramarital fulfillment comes in all shapes and sizes. Infidelity is the most common. But sometimes people turn to work, a hobby, a friendship, excessive TV, or abusive substances. But the answer to this dilemma does NOT lie outside your relationship. It lies within it. I’m
not saying that you couldn’t fall in love with someone else. You could. And TEMPORARILY you’d feel better. But you’d be in the same situation a few years later. Because (listen carefully to this): The key to succeeding in a relationship is not finding the right person; it’s learning to love the person you found.

SUSTAINING love is not a passive or spontaneous experience. You have to work on it day in and day out. It takes time, effort, and energy. And most importantly, it demands WISDOM. You have to know WHAT TO DO to make it work. Make no mistake about it. Love is NOT a mystery. There are specific things you can do (with or without your partner). Just as there are physical laws of the universe (such as gravity), there are also laws for
relationships. If you know and apply these laws, the results are predictable. Love is therefore a “decision”. Not just a feeling.

Remember this always: God determines who walks into your life. It is up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let GO!!