In A Speech Rooted Firmly in American Tradition and Values, President Barack Obama Calls For A 'New American Responsibility'

At noon today outside the U.S. Capital building in Washington, D.C., President Barack Obama placed one hand on the bible used by Abraham Lincoln when he took the oath of office as President and raised his other hand in the air as he was sworn-in as the 44th President of the United States of America.

Following the brief swearing-in by Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court John Roberts, President Obama gave his inaugural address to a crowd that included outgoing President George W. Bush and the other three living former President's -- his father George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

In his speech, President Obama struck a high tone, but also mentioned specifics. At times he echoed Abraham Lincoln who talked about creating a more perfect union in his inaugural address. In telling the American people, and those millions and perhaps billions watching the speech throughout the world, that America will overcome it's current economic and financial recession the new American President sounded a bit like President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who told the American people to "fear nothing but fear itself" when the United States was in the Great Depression in the 1930's.

Issuing a call for change, for an end to business as usual in Washington, D.C. and throughout the land, and calling for what he termed A 'New Era Of Responsibility," President Obama reminded one of both Ronald Reagan (personal responsibility) and John F. Kennedy (the New Frontier).

President Obama also issued a call to the nations of the world, telling them the United States was ready to once again lead, announcing to the nation's friends, and those that want to become friends, that America is ready to join them in a host of global endeavors. He also let foes and potential foes know that, similar to what John F. Kennedy said in his inaugural speech in 1961, that the United States will essentially bear any burden -- and that it will defeat any enemies that attempt to destroy the country's way of life and its national interests.

But despite sounding themes similar to those of these past Presidents, President Obama's speech today was pure Obama -- the ideas, themes and words the 44th President of the United States has been sounding since he first emerged into the public's eye when he gave the keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic Party Convention. And those who've known him and worked with him will all tell you the themes he focused on in his campaign, and that he addressed today in his speech, have been his in various forms for many years prior to 2004.

The President's speech was firmly rooted in American history and the American tradition. American values such as religion and faith. Service and patriotism. Hard work. Volunteerism. Individual and shared sacrifice. But it also was forward looking. It was a clarion call to the American people that, in the words of the late 1960's community organizer and radical lefty Sol Alinsky, "If you aren't part of the solution, you're part of the problem."

Conservative newspaper columnist, author, former speechwriter and aid to Presidents Nixon and Reagan, former candidate for President, and NBC News' political analyst Patrick Buchanan said on MSNBC today that President Obama's inaugural speech was one of the best he has every heard, comparing it favorably to those of Roosevelt, Kennedy and Reagan. He said in his analysis the President's speech struck the right tone between being high-minded and idealistic but also and pragmatic.

The conservative writer and analyst, who despite being a major figure in America's conservative movement for decades, was mostly at odds with President Bush, including opposing the invasion of Iraq, also said on MSNBC today that President Obama's speech managed to put the Bush years in the past and allow America and the new Administration to begin anew.

But President Obama's speech speaks best on its own. Therefore, below is the full text from the inauguration day speech given today by the 44th President of the United States of America:

Jan 20, 2009
Text of President Barack H. Obama's Inaugural Address

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebearers, and true to our founding documents.So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.

The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America. For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward.

Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.

The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good. As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake.

And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more. Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you. For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it. As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Recession Economics: Fresh & Easy Buzz Flashback - President-Elect Obama Talking Near $1 Trillion Stimulus Today

Recession Street USA - Strong Medicine For A Big Problem

Yesterday in this post about the economic recession [also see here], we wrote that U.S. President-elect Barack Obama and others will soon stop talking about implementing a "mere" $500-$600 million economic stimulus package when he takes office on January 20, 2009, and start talking about an economic stimulus package of about $1 trillion.

But we didn't think soon would actually mean just 24 hours after we wrote and published the post. But then that's "recession time" for you -- in such severe economic downturns everything seems to move faster, with the exception of the upward trend of the economy.

Today President-elect Obama, anxious to jolt the economy back to life, said he is considering a federal stimulus package that could reach a whopping $1 trillion, dwarfing last spring's tax rebates and rivaling drastic government actions in the 1930's to fight the great depression.

The latest figure "Team Obama" is considering appears to be about $850 million. However, since it was about $600 million just a day or two ago (remember we are on "recession time"), it could easily go from $850 million to $1 trillion between now and January 20, when President-elect Obama is sworn-in as the 44th President of the United States, particularly if the December unemployment figures, which come out in early January, 2009, are as bad as most think they will be.

We suggest you read the just breaking story from the Associated Press at the link below:

Obama looking at $850 billion jolt to the economy

Recession Economics: U.S. Economy Worsens; Will Get Even Worse Before Gets Better

Recession Street USA.

The U.S. economy is going to get worse before it gets better, as we've been saying in Fresh & Easy Buzz for months. President-elect Barack Obama made this very same comment two weeks ago during a news conference in Chicago, Illinois.

Now, the U.S. government is reporting this morning that consumer prices fell the most on record in November and builders broke ground on the fewest new homes in half a century, signaling a deepening of the current U.S. recession.

You can read further at the following links:

Bloomberg: US Economy: Consumer Prices, Housing Starts Post Record Slide....Market Watch: Drop in consumer prices is most since 1932....Washington Post - New York Times - Reuters.

Meanwhile, it's suspected the U.S. Federal Reserve will today cut the key target interest rate for overnight lending, which is the benchmark rate, to near zero, 0.5%. [More here: Dollar Declines to Two-Month Low Before Fed’s Rate Decision]

In a news conference this morning, President-elect Barack Obama, asked about the Fed's likely decision to cut the key rate to near zero said: "It's not prudent for an incoming President to question the Fed's decision. What I will say though is the Federal Reserve is running out of ammunition to fight the recession (once at 0.5% all the Fed can do is lower the rate next to zero), which is why our economic stimulus plan when we take office becomes even more important," to implement. [Read more about the Obama plan here: Obama calls for broad strategy to fight recession.]

The U.S. dollar weakened beyond $1.38 per Euro for the first time in two months today amid the speculation the Fed will cut the target rate for overnight lending to near zero today.

That could offer a ray of hope for U.S. exporters. However, with the recession and financial crisis being global, demand for U.S. goods has dropped significantly, as has the demand for goods exported into the U.S. A bright spot though has been for agriculture exportation, particularly U.S. tree crops and some commodities.

If the Fed cuts the key rate today as expected, it will do little for both Wall-Street and Main Street, according to most economists, who say the current recession appears to be much more severe that can be managed by the Fed with its interest rate-cutting tool kit, which is almost empty.

Instead, everyone from Wall Street and Main Street, from corporate America to small business and consumers, is waiting for 'Obamanomics,' the huge economic stimulus package the President-elect wants to implement just days after taking office on January 20, 2009.

The stimulus amount seems to be growing by the day. Initial talk was something on the order of about $300 billion. That stimulus estimate was quickly pushed aside for suggestions it needs to be in at least the $500 billion range in order to have any impact on the going to hell in a handbasket U.S. economy.

In the last couple weeks, many in Washington, D.C., along with a number of economists, have started mentioning numbers like a one trillion dollar stimulus package. We suspect with today's worsening economic news, along with what's suspected to be even higher unemployment numbers for December, talk of a near-trillion dollar stimulus package will increase. in the days and weeks ahead.

Fresh & Easy Buzz Friday Essay: As Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Goes, So Goes America; But Like the Eternal Optimist Buffett is, 'Yes We Can'

It appears even America's smartest and wisest investor, Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. founder and Chairman, and major Tesco plc shareholder Warren Buffett, isn't immune from the United State's (and now the world's) worst financial crisis since the 1930's great depression and the stuck dead in the mud U.S. economy.

Berkshire Hathaway's third quarter operating earnings fell 19.3 percent to $1,335 a share from $1,655 a share in the same period the year before, the company reported today.

That's below the average forecast of $1429 from the two top analysts following the stock, as tracked by Thomson One Analytics.

Berkshire Hathaway owns a number of companies in the insurance industry, which is fairing about as badly as the financial services industry is in the current domestic and global financial crisis and recessionary economy.

Reflecting this industry reality, operating earnings for Berkshire Hathaway's insurance-underwriting activities took a big hit, falling to $81 million from $486 million in the year-ago quarter.

Overall, Berkshire Hathaway's net earnings plunged a whopping 77% to $1.06 billion ($682 per share) from $4.55 billion ($2942 per share.) A major factor behind these numbers are investment and derivative losses of $1.01 billion, compared to gains of $1.99 billion in last year's quarter.

Buffet said today though that last year's substantial derivative gains were do in large measure to Berkshire's year-ago period profitable sale of PetroChina stock.

The derivative portion of the gains and losses are on paper only. Buffett said the derivative contracts held by Berkshire will eventually be profitable, but right now they're losers, as they are for everybody who is holding them.

Berkshire Hathaway said today in a statement its net worth declined slightly to $120.15 billion over the first three quarters of the year. But it adds that net worth fell by roughly $9 billion in October amid all the carnage in the financial markets. That's not the kind of October surprise Warren Buffett, the "Oracle of Omaha" likes to receive.

[You can read additional, detailed information in Berkshire Hathaway's 10-Q filing for the quarter. You can read a press release issued today by Berkshire Hathaway at the link here: News Releases.]

Click on the links below for additional coverage of Berkshire Hathaway's 77% drop in third quarter earnings:

Associated Press: Berkshire reports 77 percent drop in 3Q earnings....Financial Times: Berkshire profit plunges 77%....MarketWatch.com: Berkshire quarterly net income falls 77%....Bloomberg: Berkshire Hathaway Profit Falls 77% to $1.06 Billion (Update2)....Reuters: Berkshire Hathaway profit tumbles 77 percent.

Warren Buffett holds about $1.4 billion in Tesco plc stock, which amounts to an approximate 3-4% ownership stake in the company, which is the third-largest food, grocery and general merchandise retailer in the world. United Kingdom-based Tesco owns and operates Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market in the Western U.S.

Buffett is among the largest, if not the largest, single investors in Tesco.

Berkshire Hathaway's 77% third quarter earnings plunge demonstrates that not even one of the world's smartest, best and most prudent investors, Warren Buffett, is immune from the potentially negative investment results which are becoming a part of the most serious financial crisis in the U.S. since the great depression and recessionary economy gripping America and the world.

Unlike the investment banks that have now either been acquired for pennies on the dollar or have merely gone away, Buffett is a prudent investor. His Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. holding company owns "main street" companies, about 60 of them, including food and grocery industry sector companies like convenience store wholesaler McLane Company, candy maker and retailer See's Candies, and the International Dairy Queen, Inc. fast food chain.

Despite his practice of owning "main street" companies -- he also owns GEICO Auto Insurance, which is famous for its television commercials, the underwear and hosiery company Fruit of the Loom® and many others -- it is many of those "main street" companies that are hurting because of the bad economy.

For example, Berkshire Hathaway also owns a number of home building and related construction industry companies, a couple business services firms, additional insurance companies, furniture and jewelery retailers, and other main street-type companies that are seriously hurt when consumers have little money to spend and credit is super-tight. [Click here for a complete list of companies owned by Berkshire Hathaway.]

Warren Buffett was characteristically himself today though, despite Berkshire's Q-3 77% earnings drop. Still bullish on the stock market and optimistic about the future of the U.S. economy. Still looking to acquire new companies and get in on what he says are numerous great investments out there right now in companies that are seriously undervalued for the long term. And doing what he can to help the economy and country along.

In fact, Warren Buffett spent most of the day today in Chicago with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Paul Volker, former U.S. Treasury Secretary (and current Chairman of Citicorp's executive committee) Robert Rubin, former head of Treasury and ex-president of Harvard University Larry Summers, and a group of other top Obama economic advisers, discussing and mapping out strategies to get the U.S. out of the current financial crisis and economic recession.

What Berkshire Hathaway's 77% drop in third quarter earnings should demonstrate to these policy makers giving advice to the new President-elect, and offer to those who don't think the U.S. is really in a historically severe financial and economic crisis situation, is to hammer home the urgency of the situation and the urgency of solving it.

After all, if a holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, owned and operated by a prudent, wise and historically successful investor, Warren Buffett, with arguably the best track record in the world, can experience such a dramatic drop in quarterly earnings, it means the financial crisis and economic meltdown has fully hit main street.

Things are unfortunately going to get a whole lot worse -- more firings and thus increased unemployment, continued tight credit, more business failings and more debt for taxpayers -- before they get better. This is especially true of unemployment, which is always a lagging indicator in a recession.

That's why it was good to watch President-elect Obama focus like a laser beam at his economic press conference in Chicago today, along with seeing Warren Buffett standing behind him with many other smart and good men and woman, Democrat, Republican and Independent.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) assembled what historians later came to call his "Brain Trust" to advise and help him pull the United States out of the great depression in the 1930's. FDR's "Brain Trust" included Democrats like himself and Republicans like the challenger he beat to win the Presidency of the United States.

We were pleased to see President-Elect Obama's version of his "Brain Trust" standing behind him at the press conference this afternoon. He's reached out and brought in some of the best and the brightest -- and is preparing well to hit the ground running in 74 days, when he becomes the 44th President of the United States.

Regardless if we share President-Elect Obama's politics completely or not, it would be wise to get behind him to solve the current financial crisis and recession. It's our (taxpayer's) money that will be used to do so after all, as already is the case with President Bush's $700 billion taxpayer-financed financial institutions bailout package.

Obama is approaching the economy in a much more serious and measured way though. And he is bringing in a bi-partisan group of experts, his version of FDR's "Brain Trust," to work on the economy.

It looks positive so far to us. He looks serious, calm and resolute. He isn't afraid to get advice from people who know more than he does. He is talking realistically about the nature of the problem but also is always optimistic, like Ronald Reagan was.

In the deepest hours of war and depression, FDR urged Americans not to fear. "Fear Nothing But Fear Itself," he said over and over in his characteristically optimistic way.

Barack Obama has been saying the same thing in his own way for two years during the long Presidential campaign -- just using different words: "Yes We Can." He offers optimism and hope for a better tomorrow, which is why he was elected in the main.

Like Ronald Reagan said often: "Hope and optimism are enduring American traits." Neither are a substitute for a good, well executed plan. But without hope and optimism it's hard to come up with such a plan or policy and get the American people to make it work. But of course..."Yes We Can."

Resources:

>Click here to read a selection of past stories about Warren Buffett from Fresh & Easy Buzz.

Tesco 2008 AGM: Barack Obama Sends Second Letter to Tesco CEO Requesting the Company Meet With U.S. UFCW Union Leaders About Fresh & Easy

U.S. Democratic Party nominee-apparent for President and United States Senator Barack Obama has written a second letter to Tesco PLC CEO Sir Terry Leahy on the eve of Tesco's 2008 Annual General Meeting (AGM), asking the global retail company chief to advise his executives at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA to engage and meet with leaders of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union in order to discuss the union's desire to organize store-level workers at the current 61 Fresh & Easy grocery stores in California, Nevada and Arizona.

The UFCW represents 1.3 million retail clerks at union supermarkets in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. The supermarket chains include the top three in the U.S.: Kroger Co., SuperValu, Inc. and Safeway Stores, Inc., along with numerous others.

In the letter to Tesco CEO Leahy, Senator Obama writes: "I again urge you to reconsider your policy of non-engagement in the United States and advise your executives at Fresh & Easy to meet with the UFCW. I am aware of Tesco's reputation in Britain as a partner to unions. I would hope that you would bring those values to your work in America."

The "again" Senator Obama is referring to in his letter to Mr. Leahy is in regard to the fact this is the second letter to Tesco corporate and its Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA division the Democratic nominee for President has written about the union issue and Fresh & Easy.

As we reported in this February 8 piece, "Leading Democratic Candidate for President Barack Obama Joins Group in Asking Tesco's Fresh & Easy to Put More Stores in Underserved Neighborhoods," Senator Obama wrote both CEO Leahy and Tim Mason, CEO of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA, urging them to locate more Fresh & Easy grocery stores in underserved or "food desert" neighborhoods as the retailer has said it will, along with urging the executives to meet with UFCW leaders.

At the time, Senator Obama was still struggling against multiple Democratic Party candidates, with Senator Hillary Clinton thought to be the favorite, for the Democratic party Presidential nomination.

The UFCW originally supported former U.S. Senator John Edwards to be the Democrat's 2008 nominee. Mr. Edwards was Senator John Kerry's Vice Presidential running mate in 2004. They were defeated by the George W. Bush-Dick Cheney Republican ticket.

However, when Mr. Edwards dropped out of the race earlier this year, the UFCW put its support behind Senator Obama, helping him with significant fund raising and grass roots support to defeat Senator Clinton for the Democratic Party nomination, which he will officially be given at the Democratic party convention later this summer.

As we've reported on Fresh & Easy Buzz, to date Tesco has refused to meet with UFCW executives to discuss the potential unionization of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market workers in the U.S. U.S. labor laws don't require a company to do so.

The second letter from Senator Obama to Tesco, asking CEO Leahy to have his senior executives meet with UFCW representatives, comes on the eve of Tesco's Annual General Meeting (AGM), which is tomorrow in the UK.

As we reported in this June 22 piece, "Vocal Cast of Critics and Advocacy Groups to Attend Tesco's Annual General Meeting On Friday, June 27," Joseph Hanson, the Washington, D.C-based president of the UFCW union, plans on attending Tesco's AGM tomorrow at the Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham, UK.

Commenting on Senator Obama's letter to Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy, Mr. Hanson says: "Senator Obama's support for our campaign is welcome and timely. Tesco's UK investors should now be asking Sir Terry Leahy at the company's AGM whether it is really in Tesco's long-term business interests to continue its policy of non-engagement with union and community groups in America.

"Tesco's business conduct in America is on the radar of the man who could be the next president. It really is time for investors to start asking Tesco's chief executive hard questions about the company's business judgments."

As we reported in this June 4 piece, "News and Analysis: UFCW Union Takes its Tesco Union Organizing Campaign Across the Pond to the United Kingdom Beginning Today," The UFCW launched a public relations campaign in the UK on June 4 designed to bring Tesco and its Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA division to the table to discuss the union issue just ahead of tomorrow's AGM, which union president Hanson will attend, along with numerous aids and supporters.

The UFCW's UK campaign, Senator Obama's second letter to CEO Leahy, the planned press conference and demonstration at tomorrow's annual meeting, and the union's campaign back home in the U.S. since November of last year, all are designed and coordinated it would appear to bring maximum pressure on Tesco agree to sit down at the table and talk with UFCW leaders.

Thus far though Tesco has kept to the same position and statement it's had all along regarding the union issue, which is that the UFCW is free to organize Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market store-level employees within the bounds of U.S. labor laws, and that it is up to the store employees as to whether they want to organize a petition drive and ultimately join the union.

In a recent statement a Tesco spokesperson added: "We are a good employer, we are paying good wages, offering good benefits. It is down to individuals (at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market) if they want to join (the union) but the signs are there is very little interest among our staff."

The UFCW, led by union president Hanson, will be outside Tesco's annual meeting tomorrow in full force. A press conference is planned, which may feature union supermarket clerks from unionized U.S. supermarkets, along with one or more British politicians who are supporting the UFCW, as well as others.

We have it on good source that Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Tim Mason and other company senior executives have been taken by surprise at how aggressive the UFCW has been in terms of Tesco's Fresh & Easy USA.

However, good research (like just asking two or three industry people over lunch), which the chain claims it conducted for nearly two years before opening the first Fresh & Easy grocery market, would have shown them that in the Western USA, nearly every major supermarket chain and most medium -to- larger independent food and grocery retailers are union except for Wal-Mart (which has very little food retailing presence in California for example), Trader Joe's (which isn't a major market share player), Whole Foods Market, Inc. (which despite it huge success still remains a minor market share food retailer), and a handful of other niche players.

All the top market share chains in California, Nevada and Arizona--Safeway (Safeway and Vons banners), Kroger (Ralphs and Foods Co), SuperValu (Albertsons, Bristol Farms), Stater Bros., Bashas, Save Mart, Raleys and many others are unionized supermarkets.

Speaking of research and Whole Foods Market, remember Senator Obama's now somewhat famous "Arugula moment" (the fancy salad green) comment during the Democratic primary campaign just a couple months ago, in which he said something to the effect of "have you seen how much the price of Arugula has gone up at Whole Foods," during a speech and talk in front of an audience about soaring food prices in the U.S.?

His opponents, all now defeated by him, jumped all over the now Democratic Party Nominee for President for that statement, implying he was elitist for even mentioning Arugula in a crown of middle-income (and higher income) voters and consumers who perhaps they suggested were more likely struggling to pay for a head of iceberg lettuce rather than Arugula. Although we're sure there were many in the crowd who could afford Arugula without taking much of a financial hit at all.

Well, were told Senator Obama knew well the soaring cost of Arugula at Whole Foods because back home in Chicago (where Mrs. Obama does most of the grocery shopping), and when alone in Washington D.C., he likes shopping at non-union Whole Foods from time-to-time (although that's not likely been the case since he started running for President), as we do, although we also shop at and support union stores and employees as we're sure he does as well.

After years of trying to organize Whole Foods Market store workers unsuccessfully, the UFCW has to all appearances given up on the cause, as it seems to have done with Wal-Mart and Trader Joe's.

Perhaps in part that's why Tesco and its Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA chain is square in the union's sights; it sees an opportunity to focus primarily on one non-union food retailer early in its development in the U.S. In contrast, the union waited for years and years after the respective chains were established before attempting any serious organizing of Wal-Mart, Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's workers.

For example, Whole Foods Market, Inc. CEO John Mackey, who describes himself as a combination Libertarian and social liberal with a free-enterprise entrepreneurial bent, has stated for years he has no intention of sitting down with UFCW union executives to discuss unionizing Whole Foods stores. In fact, whether correct or exagerated, Mackey claims unionizing the Whole Foods stores would ruin the company's culture and the "team" approach to running the stores he says is the major key to the retailer's success.

In the case of Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, the store level employees have made it pretty clear they don't want to belong to the union. With Wal-Mart it's a much more complex issue which we don't have time to go into here.

On the other hand, all of the unionized supermarket chains mentioned above, negotiated the latest round of contracts for their respective Western U.S. division operations with the UFCW in record time, and never even intimated they would like to be non-union, generally saying the professionalism and status of their unionized store clerks, unlike John Mackey's view, is a major contributor to their respective succeess as food and grocery retailers.

Finding itself with the UFCW, as well as the possible 2009 President of the United States, focusing on it like a laser beam, the question is what will Tesco do?

Will it hold firm like Whole Foods Market, Inc. and Trader Joe's have done? Will it fight unionization of its Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA stores using nearly any and every means possible like Wal-Mart has done? Or will it decide to sit down with the UFCW union's leaders and begin a conversation as the possible next President of the United States is asking the company to do?

Perhaps tomorrow's AGM will shed some light on which or any of those decisions Tesco ultimately decides to make, depending on if a significant number of substantial Tesco PLC shareholders discuss and offer strong points of view one way or the other on the issue.

Fresh & Easy Buzz Redux: Barack Obama to Tesco's Fresh & Easy in Our February 13 Piece: 'Build More Stores in Underserved Neighborhoods'

Leading Democratic Candidate for President Barack Obama Joins Group in Asking Tesco's Fresh & Easy to Put More Stores in Underserved Neighborhoods
Fresh & Easy Buzz
Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, is getting a lot of letters regarding Tesco's U.S. Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market grocery store operations during his current trip to the U.S. as Britain's official foreign trade representative.

Yesterday, we wrote about a letter written by Joseph T. Hanson, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, to Fresh & Easy CEO Tim Mason. Hanson's letter was given to the visiting Price Andrew--who among other things was in Southern California for the grand opening of a new Fresh & Easy store in Compton, California--and the Prince was asked to personally hand-deliver it to Mason and other company senior executives. [Read our piece from yesterday here.]

But the UFCW's letter isn't the only important letter Prince Andrew recieved late last week. A Southern California-based group called The Alliance for Healthy and Responsible Grocery Stores, which is a coalition involving over 25 Southern California communties and numerous local groups and non-profit organizations, also hand-delivered a letter to the Prince, and asked him to personally give it to Tesco plc.'s CEO Sir Terry Leahy and Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Mason.

The thrust of the letter involves the group's efforts for the last few months to get Fresh & Easy to locate more of its small-format grocery markets in poor and underserved (by grocery stores) communities like the retailer promised it would when it entered the Western U.S. Market last November with the first of its stores, which currently number 43.

Further, this particular letter had a rather important author: Democratic candidate for President of the United States Barack Obama. In the letter, Obama urged Tesco, the parent company of Fresh & Easy, to "make good on its promises to build stores in neglected neighborhoods. I hope these promises will be fulfilled," the letter stated. They are actually two letters--one from Obama to CEO Tim Mason and another from the alliance to Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy and Mason. You can read both letters here.

In January before he left the race, former Democratic candidate John Edwards signed a similar letter on behalf of the alliance. That letter was sent to Tesco and Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market senior management, including Sir Terry and Mason.

The Alliance for Healthy and Responsibility Grocery Stores has been lobbying Tesco with letters and through the media primarily to sign a pledge in which the British grocer would agree to open a certain number of Fresh & Easy stores in low-income Southern California neighborhoods which are underserved by grocery stores that offer fresh foods at reasonable prices. Further, they want the retailer to agree to meet certain health and environmental pledges it made before it opened its first stores last year. Tesco says they're meeting those goals, but the coalition wants a signed agreement.

Fresh & Easy has opened at least two stores in such underserved Southern California neighborhoods thus far--one in Los Angeles and the new store in Compton--but the vast majority of the retailer's stores have so far been located in middle income neighborhhoods which have plenty of choices in terms of supermarkets.

The grocer has, however, said it will open a number of new stores in just such areas in Southern California. Tesco calls these neighborhoods "food deserts," communities which lack affordable grocery stores offering fresh foods and variety at reasonable prices. In fact, the retailer claims doing so is a key part of its Fresh & Easy store strategy in the Western U.S.

Groups like the Southern California coalition aren't so sure of that promise however since only two or three of Tesco's 43 grocery stores opened to date are in these "food deserts." The grocer did sign leases a few weeks ago though in Northern California for two stores in underserved neighborhoods in San Francisco and for three stores in underserved neighborhoods in Oakland.

Since the letter from Barack Obama was given to Prince Andrew on Friday--the same day he participated in the opening of the Fresh & Easy grocery market in Compton--which not only is one of the poorist and most underserved city's in California, but in the entire U.S. as well--we wonder how the Prince responded after reading the letter?

Compton, a city of about 100,000 residents had only one supermarket until the Fresh & Easy grocery store opened last Friday. City officials and community groups have been trying for years to get local chain's Safeway Stores, Inc., Kroger-owned Ralph's Grocery Co., and numerous others to open a store in the city. However, all of the chains and independents have declined to do so. According to the city's mayor, Tesco's Fresh & Easy was the first to take them seriously.

The residents of Compton are happy with Fresh & Easy for locating a brand new store in their city when all others refused. Of course, that doesn't mean the alliance doesn't have the right to hold Tesco's feet to the fire in terms of opening more stores in similar underserved neighborhoods, especially since Fresh & Easy executives have used this promise much to their own benefit in terms of garnering much positive publicity.

We just wonder what the Prince--who was given the name "Fresh Prince of Compton" at the store grand opening Friday--thinks about not only getting the two back-to-back letters, but also about having to be the deliveryman to Tesco. Both groups--the union and the alliance--have said they've been unable to get Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Mason to meet with them in person, which is why they decided to use the "Fresh Prince" as there emisssary last week. We suppose they figured since he is already an emissary--for Britain's foreign trade in the U.S.--they might as well take advantage of his experience in the field.

>You can read the letter signed by Barack Obama to Tesco executives here, along with reading additional information about the group's efforts.
>Tesco (here) and Fresh & Easy (here) have nothing on their respective web sites regarding the letter.

Associated Press: Barack Obama Cinches the Nomination For Democratic Party Nominee For President of The United States

..."I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."-- Martin Luther King, Jr., from his famous "I Have A Dream" speech, August 23, 1963. Dr. King gave the speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. You can read the full-text of the speech here.

The Associated Press (AP) is reporting Democratic candidate for President Barack Obama has cinched his party's nomination for President of the United States.

According to the AP, Senator Obama now has obtained enough delegates to put him over the top in the delegate count to beat out fellow Senator and former U.S. First Lady Hillary Clinton for the nomination. This is even before the results from today's primaries in South Dakota and Montana have come in, which will happen later tonight. Even if Obama were to lose both states by a substantial margin tonight, he would still cinch the nomination, according to the AP report.

You can read the Associated Press' breaking news report here.

First-term Illinois Senator Barack Obama becomes the first African American in the history of the United States to be nominated for President by his political party.

It was another man from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, who abolished black slavery in the United States while he was President. The poignancy of Senator Obama being the Senator from Illinois is striking in that regard.

Obama, 46, the son of a white mother from Kansas in America's heartland and a father from Kenya in Africa, took a long journey to become not only a politician but now his party's nominee for the highest office in the United States.

Raised by his mother and grandparents in Hawaii, Kansas and for even a time in Indonesia, Obama says he didn't want to be President as a child or even a teenager. Rather, what he says he wanted most was to know his father, who left the family shortly after Barack was born. Senator Obama did eventually get to know his father better, but not personally. Rather, he did so by researching and writing his best selling book, "The Dreams of My Father."

You can learn more about Barack Obama's life story and biography here.

Forty years ago in 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down by a sniper as he relaxed on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee.

Campaigning for the Democratic Party nomination for President that very day in 1968 in Indianapolis, Indiana when he heard the news of King's death, Robert F. Kennedy, who many say Barack Obama reminds them of in some ways, waded out into a crowd of mostly African American voters who thought they were at a rally to hear a political campaign speech from the Senator, brother of the late President John F. Kennedy, civil rights leader, and Democratic candidate for President that year.

Instead, Robert F. Kennedy broke the news to the largely African American group that Martin Luther King Jr. has been assassinated in Memphis and had died just a short time earlier.

There was widespread fear in Indianapolis that evening riots would break out. However, Robert F. Kennedy gave a speech to the group without notes, talking about what he felt like that night, telling the crowd what it was like to have a brother (JFK) shot down just a few short years earlier in the same way a sniper ended King's life that very day.

In his speech to the grieving Indiana residents, Robert F. Kennedy evoked the words of his favorite poet, Aeschylus:

"Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."

Later that year (1968) Robert F. Kennedy--like his brother John before him and his friend Martin Luther King Jr. (as well as Abraham Lincoln)--would have his life come to an abrupt end when he was shot by a sniper at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles during the celebration of his winning the California primary in his quest to be the 1968 Democratic nominee for President.

You can read the entire Indiana speech by Robert F. Kennedy, and even listen to it if you like, here.

The poignancy of Barack Obama's becoming the first African American to be nominated by his party for President coming on the 40th anniversary of the death of America's leading civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, along with the same year anniversary of Robert F. Kennedy's death is equally striking

Regardless of ones political affiliation--Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent or decline to state--Obama's cinching the nomination is a cause to celebrate as America.

Through decades of pain and suffering, America has gone from a nation which enslaved people because of the color of their skin, then denied them the vote, decent jobs, housing and other basic rights, to tonight when an African American man with what he calls the unusual name of Barack Obama, will stand on a stage in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the Republican Party will hold its convention later this summer, and perhaps announce he is proud and humbled to be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States of America.