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Senior ISIS information minister Wael Adel Salman killed in Syria after U.S. drone strikeIslamic State (ISIS) Sep 16 2016Marine national monument that will permanently protect nearly 5,000 square miles of underwater canyons and mountains off the coast of New England designated by President ObamaEnvironment Sep 15 2016Median household income up 5.2% for the first time in over seven years due to economic policies put in to place that benefit lower and middle income AmericansBusiness & Economy Sep 13 2016Poverty rate at its lowest level since 1999 due to economic policies put in to place that benefit lower and middle income AmericansBusiness & Economy Sep 13 2016Senior ISIS leader Abu Muhammad al-Adnani killed in Syria after U.S. airstrikeIslamic State (ISIS) Aug 30 2016Marine national monument that will permanently protect 582,578 square miles of land and sea in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands designated by President ObamaEnvironment Aug 26 201687,500 acres of wildlife, forests, rivers and mountains in Maine’s North Woods designated as a national monument that will be protected by the National Park ServiceEndangered Species Aug 24 2016Scientists researching the potential benefits of medical marijuana can apply to grow their own marijuana after the DEA lifted the ban limiting the number of institutions allowed grow the plantMedical Marijuana Aug 11 2016214 prisoners serving excessive and unfair prison sentences for nonviolent crimes have sentences commutedPardons Aug 03 2016Transgender Americans able to serve openly in the military after the Department of Defense lifted a ban prohibiting them from servingCivil & Human Rights Jul 01 2016All Freedom of Information request responses to be posted online after a successful pilot program was permanately expanded and signed into lawFreedom of Press Jun 30 2016Students who were defrauded or had their contract breached by a college or university can more easily petition to have their student loans forgiven under new rules by the Department of EducationHigher Education Jun 13 201642 prisoners serving excessive and unfair prison sentences for nonviolent crimes have sentences commutedSentencing Jun 03 2016President Obama becomes the first President to visit Hiroshima laying a wreath at Peace Memorial ParkInternational Relations May 27 2016Senior Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour killed in Pakistan after U.S. drone strikeTaliban May 22 2016Nutritional labels updated and modernized to better inform consumers of what they are purchasing under new labeling rules by the Food and Drug AdministrationHealth & Welfare May 20 2016Suggested maximum daily sugar amount added to nutritional labels for the first time under new labeling rules by the Food and Drug AdministrationHealth & Welfare May 20 2016First openly gay Secretary of the Army confirmed unanimously by the SenateCivil & Human Rights May 18 2016Over four million Americans to qualify for overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours a week under new rule by the Labor Department that raised the salary threshold from $23,660 to $47,476 per yearLabor May 17 2016Environmentally dangerous methane emissions from the oil and gas sector regulated for the first time under new rule by the Environmental Protection AgencyFossil Fuels May 12 2016Transgender students in public schools must be allowed to use the bathrooms of their gender identity under new rule by the Obama AdministrationDiscrimination May 12 2016American bison named as the first national mammal after the National Bison Legacy Act was signed into lawGovernment May 09 2016Senior ISIS leader Abu Sa'ad al-Sudani killed in Syria after U.S. airstrikeIslamic State (ISIS) May 05 2016Stonewall Inn named the first national monument honoring the history of gays and lesbians in the United StatesCivil & Human Rights May 04 201640 ISIS operatives responsible for multiple attacks in Europe and the Middle East killed by Delta Force and Navy SEAL commandos during various raidsIslamic State (ISIS) Apr 27 2016First woman on American currency in more than 100 years will be Harriet Tubman after the Treasury Department announced she will replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 billWomen's Rights Apr 20 2016Individuals investing in retirement accounts protected under new rule requiring financial advisers to provide investment advice that puts their client's best interests above all elseFinancial Regulation Apr 15 2016387,000 Americans unable to to work due to a permanent disability have their student loan debts forgiven by the Department of EducationEducation Apr 12 2016Homeowners taken advantage of by deceptive mortgage practices from Goldman Sachs to receive monetary relief after agreement between the bank and the Justice DepartmentLaws & Crime Apr 11 2016American banks must identify the owners of shell companies they do business with under a new rule by the Treasury DepartmentMonetary Policy Apr 10 2016Gender neutral restrooms available for White House staff and visitors so individuals can use the bathroom that conforms to their gender identityDiscrimination Apr 07 2016Senior Al-Qaeda leader Abu Firas al-Suri killed in Syria after U.S. air strikeAl-Qaeda Apr 04 2016Sentences reduced and adapted for 61 people serving excessive and unfair punishment in federal prison for nonviolent crimesSentencing Mar 30 2016ISIS Finance Minister Haji Iman killed during U.S. operationIslamic State (ISIS) Mar 25 2016Hazardous industrial material crystalline silica which is known to pose serious risks of incurable lung disease and lung cancer regulated to lower the allowable exposure limitHealth & Welfare Mar 23 2016Workers must be informed of their employers and its contractors direct or indirect persuading against forming a union under a new rule by the Labor DepartmentUnion Workers Mar 23 2016Cuban citizens witnessed Cuban President Raul Castro take questions from the media for the first time during press conference with President ObamaInternational Relations Mar 22 2016Public Wi-Fi areas in Cuba greatly expanded since American telecommunication companies were allowed to do business in the countryInternational Relations Mar 20 2016President Obama becomes the first U.S. President to visit Cuba since 1928 after successful diplomatic negotiationsInternational Relations Mar 20 2016General Lori Robinson becomes first woman nominated to lead a combatant command in the United States militaryWomen's Rights Mar 18 2016Senior ISIS leader Omar al-Shishani and 12 additional ISIS fighters killed in Syria after a series of U.S. drone and manned aircraft strikesIslamic State (ISIS) Mar 15 2016Offshore drilling off the Atlantic Coast prohibited after local communities voiced strong oppositionOffshore Drilling Mar 15 2016Cubans may open U.S. bank accounts under new rule by the Treasury and Commerce DepartmentsInternational Relations Mar 15 2016U.S. citizens may travel to Cuba for people-to-people educational reasons under new rule by the Treasury and Commerce DepartmentsInternational Relations Mar 15 2016150 Al-Shabaab fighters killed at Somalia training camp after U.S. air strikeTerrorism Mar 08 2016Senior Al-Shabaab leader Yusuf Ali Ugas killed in Somalia after U.S. air strikeTerrorism Mar 05 2016Senior Al-Shabaab leader Mohamed Mire killed in Somalia after U.S. air strikeTerrorism Mar 05 2016Senior unnamed ISIS operative captured and detained during U.S. led raid in IraqIslamic State (ISIS) Mar 03 2016Moderates winning a majority in Iran's parliament and Assembly of Experts partially attributed to improved diplomacy and landmark nuclear deal with major world powersInternational Relations Feb 29 2016Senior ISIS leader Noureddine Chouchane and over thirty ISIS militants killed in Libya after U.S. airstrikesIslamic State (ISIS) Feb 19 2016American citizens may fly to Cuba for the first time in 50 years after the two countries sign an agreement restoring commercial air travelInternational Relations Feb 16 2016All active duty service members eligible for 12 weeks of fully paid maternity leave through new rule by the Department of DefenseMilitary & Defense Jan 28 2016Juveniles in federal prisons can no longer be placed in solitary confinement after executive order by President ObamaPrisons Jan 25 2016Consumers who reduce their electricity use during peak hours receive a discount through new rule by the Federal Energy Regulatory CommissionEnergy Jan 25 2016Four United States citizens imprisoned in Iran released after a prisoner swap between the United States and IranInternational Relations Jan 16 2016Ten Yemeni detainees held at Guantanamo Bay for fourteen years transferred to OmanGuantanamo Bay Jan 14 2016New coal mining leases on public lands halted under new rule by the Department of InteriorFossil Fuels Jan 14 2016Ten Navy sailors detained by Iran after accidentally sailing into their waters freed within 24 hours through diplomatic negotiationsInternational Relations Jan 13 2016ISIS cash depot holding millions of dollars bombed in Mosul, Iraq by U.S. air strikeIslamic State (ISIS) Jan 11 2016Senior ISIS leader Abu Mohammed al-Adnani injured and detained in Iraq after U.S. air strikeIslamic State (ISIS) Jan 07 2016Sentences reduced and adapted for 97 people serving excessive and unfair punishment in federal prison for nonviolent crimesSentencing Dec 18 2015Environmentally hazardous plastic microbeads found in personal care products banned from being manufactured in the U.S.Microbead-Free Waters Act Dec 18 2015Families with three or more children have their taxes reduced $200-$600 through the permanent expansion of the Child Tax CreditBipartisan Budget Act of 2015 Dec 18 2015College students can claim $2,500 towards tuition, fees, and course material on their taxes after the extension of the American Opportunity Tax CreditBipartisan Budget Act of 2015 Dec 18 2015Medical marijuana patients may purchase prescriptions without fear of arrest after DEA prohibited from raiding legal dispensariesBipartisan Budget Act of 2015 Dec 18 2015Solar and wind energy production to double in size through a five year extension of Federal tax creditsBipartisan Budget Act of 2015 Dec 18 2015World community pledges to prevent global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees celsiusEnvironment Dec 12 2015Teacher performance evaluations no longer based off student test results after passage of the Every Student Succeeds ActEvery Student Succeeds Act Dec 10 2015Senior Al-Qaida leader Abdirahman Sandhere killed in Lybia by U.S. air strikeAl-Qaeda Dec 07 2015Female soldiers roles expanded to serve in any combat positionWomen's Rights Dec 03 2015Military personnel who handled service dogs in combat zones given first rights of adoption after the dog retires from dutyMilitary & Defense Nov 25 2015Senior ISIS leader Wisam al Zubaidi killed in Libya by U.S. air strikeIslamic State (ISIS) Nov 14 2015Senior ISIS leader Abu Nabil killed in Libya by U.S. air strikeIslamic State (ISIS) Nov 14 2015Senior ISIS leader Mohammed Emwazi (Jihadi John) killed in Syria by U.S. drone strikeIslamic State (ISIS) Nov 13 2015Senior ISIS leader Abu Nabil killed in Libya by U.S. air strikeIslamic State (ISIS) Nov 13 2015Veterans and their families offered in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities in all fifty statesVeterans Benefits Nov 11 2015Final phase of Keystone pipeline rejected because it would not serve the national interest of the United StatesOil & Gas Industry Nov 06 2015Federal job applicants can't be denied employment solely for having a prior convictionLaws & Crime Nov 02 2015Seventy hostages held by ISIS in Iraq rescued after joint operation with Iraqi soldiers and US special forcesIslamic State (ISIS) Oct 22 2015Senior Al-Qaida leader Sanafi al-Nasr killed in Syria by U.S. air strikeAl-Qaeda Oct 18 2015Sentences reduced and adapted for 6,000 people serving excessive and unfair punishment in federal prison for nonviolent crimesSentencing Oct 06 2015First openly gay American nominated to become Secretary of the ArmyMilitary & Defense Sep 18 2015Employees of Federal government contractors must be offered seven days of paid sick leave per yearLabor Sep 07 2015Transgender Americans may not be discriminated against by health insurance companies or medical providersDiscrimination Sep 03 2015Tallest mountain in North America renamed Mount DenaliGovernment Aug 31 2015First openly transgender person hired by White House to work as civilian employeeCivil & Human Rights Aug 18 2015Each state must reduce carbon emissions by set amounts by 2030Global Warming Aug 04 2015Senior Al-Qaida leader Muhsin al-Fadhli killed in Syria by U.S. air strikeTerrorism Jul 21 2015Sexual orientation discrimination against Federal employees ruled illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights ActProfiling Jul 16 2015Six major world powers reach agreement with Iran to curb their nuclear programNuclear Energy Jul 14 2015Sentences commuted for 46 people serving excessive & unfair punishment for nonviolent crimesPardons Jul 13 2015National monuments consist of 260 Million Acres throughout AmericaEnvironment Jul 12 2015United States and Cuba re-open embassies after 54 year diplomatic freezeTreaties & Agreements Jul 2015Government mandated threshold for all hourly workers to qualify for overtime pay increased from $23,660 to $50,440.Jobs Jun 30 2015Senior Al-Qaida leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi killed in Yemen by U.S. drone strikeAl-Qaeda Jun 12 2015Senior Al-Qaida leader Nasr al-Ansi killed in Yemen by a CIA-led U.S. drone strikeAl-Qaeda Apr 21 2015Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Actsigned into lawMedicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act Apr 16 2015New Medicare formula changes the way doctors are reimbursed; rewards doctors when their patients have better health outcomesHealth Care Industry Apr 16 201553 political prisoners in Cuba released as a show of good will in the ongoing restoratiation of diplomatic relationship between the two countriesInternational Relations Dec 17 2014United States restores diplomatic relationship with Cuba after 50 year freezeInternational Relations Dec 17 2014Abortion coverage extended to Peace Corps volunteers who became pregnant because of rape, incest, and life endangermentContinuing Appropriations Act of 2015 Dec 16 2014President Obama issues executive order allowing the parents of children who are U.S. citizens or legal residents to continue residing in the United StatesImmigration Nov 20 2014President Obama pledges $3 Billion to global fund assisting poor countries coping with climate changeGlobal Warming Nov 14 2014China and the United States agree to cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to twenty-five percent by 2030Global Warming Nov 12 2014Senior Al-Shabaab leader Ahmed Godane killed in Somalia by U.S. airstrikeTerrorism Sep 05 2014Broad Coalition of Middle-Eastern countries conduct military campaign against ISIS inside of SyriaTerrorism Sep 2014President Obama signs executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminting against LGBT individualsCivil & Human Rights Jul 21 2014United States assumes control of weapons-grade plutonium and highly enriched uranium from Japan after the two countries signed an agreement to secure their stockpile to prevent it from theftNuclear Proliferation Mar 24 2014International Trade Data System created to streamline small business Export/Import processBusiness & Economy Feb 19 2014Minimum wage for Federal Contractors raised to $10.10 per hour.Minimum Wage Feb 12 2014Agriculture Act of 2014signed into lawAgriculture Act of 2014 Feb 07 2014Federal Government reopens after 16 day shutdown defeating Republican partisan attempt to cancel health care benefits for millions under ObamacareGovernment Shutdown Oct 17 2013President Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani have first formal communication between the two nations in 35 yearsInternational Relations Sep 27 2013Syria agrees to dismantle chemical weapons stockpile after deal reached between the Obama Administration and RussiaTreaties & Agreements Sep 14 2013Defense of Marriage Act ruled unconstitutional by Supreme CourtCivil & Human Rights Jun 26 2013American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012signed into lawAmerican Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 Jan 02 2013Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng relocates to the United State after diplomatic agreement between China and the Obama administrationInternational Relations May 19 2012President Obama becomes first sitting president to publicly support marriage equalityCivil & Human Rights May 09 2012Senior Al-Qaida commander Fahd al-Quso killed in Yemen by a CIA-led U.S. drone strikeAl-Qaeda May 06 2012Members of Congress and certain government employees prohibited from using non-public information for personal profitSTOCK Act Apr 04 2012Federal unemployment benefits programs extended an additional 13 to 20 weeksMiddle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act Feb 22 2012Cuts in Medicare physician payment rates averted with extension of existing rates through 2012Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act Feb 22 2012Employee social security payroll tax reduction from 6.2% to 4.2 % extended through 2012Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act Feb 22 2012Self-employed social security payroll tax reduction from 12.4% to 10.4 % extended through 2012Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act Feb 22 2012U.S. drone attack in Yemen killed 12-15 militants, including at least four Al-Qaeda leadersAl-Qaeda Jan 30 2012Senior Al-Qaeda figure Aslam Awan killed in U.S. drone strikeAl-Qaeda Jan 2012War in Iraq ended with last American troops crossing border into Kuwait2003 Iraq War Dec 17 2011US government international campaign initiated to build respect for the human rights of LGBT persons worldwideDiscrimination Dec 06 2011$700 million annual funding for child protection, child abuse prevention, family support and adoption promotion through 2016Child and Family Services Improvement Act Sep 30 2011Senior Al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki killed in Yemen by a CIA-led U.S. drone strikeAl-Qaeda Sep 30 2011Entrepreneurs and businesses benefited by reduced average wait time for patent approvals from 3 years to 1 year.America Invents Act Sep 16 2011Patent litigation costs reduced through tightened patent standards, quality and processes to expedite challenges.America Invents Act Sep 16 2011Al-Qaeda's operations chief for Pakistan Abu Hafs al Shahri reported killed in U.S. Predator strikeAl-Qaeda Sep 11 2011U.S./Pakistani joint arrest of suspected Chief Al-Qaeda Younis al-Mauritani in QuettaAl-Qaeda Sep 06 2011Al-Qaeda No. 2 Atiyah Abd al-Rahman Killed in Pakistan by CIA predator drone strikeAl-Qaeda Aug 22 2011East Africa's Al-Qaeda senior leader Harun Fazul killed at security checkpoint in SomaliaAl-Qaeda Jun 07 2011Al-Qaeda Commander Ilyas Kashmiri Killed in U.S. Predator StrikeAl-Qaeda Jun 03 20116 senior Al-Qaeda figures killed in U.S. Air StrikeAl-Qaeda Jun 2011US Forces Kill Osama Bin Laden in PakistanAl-Qaeda May 02 2011Defense of Marriage Act declared unconstitutional and no longer defended in federal courts by the Obama AdministrationFeb 23 2011Number of US and Russian nuclear warheads deployed reduced by two-thirds by 2017New START Treaty Feb 05 2011Number of US and Russian strategic nuclear missile launchers reduced in half by 2017New START Treaty Feb 05 2011Small family farms selling locally exempted from federal regulations such as traceability and record keepingFood Safety Modernization Act Jan 04 2011Safety of imported food improved with new FSVP & VQIP programs that helps ensure it is safe, unadulterated and not misbrandedFood Safety Modernization Act Jan 04 2011Safety of U.S. grown food improved with requirements for large factory farms to register all food handlers and maintain records relating to food safetyFood Safety Modernization Act Jan 04 2011US sponsored measure to include “sexual orientation” in the definition of human rights adopted by the UN General Assembly, 122- 0.Discrimination Dec 22 2010Gays and lesbians allowed to serve openly in the militaryDon't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act Dec 22 2010$193 million saved over five years by eliminating recruiting and retraining costs of replacing soldiers discharged due to DADTDon't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act Dec 22 2010$186 billion in tax relief for all tax payers by extending the Bush income tax cuts for 2010 & 20112010 Tax & Jobs Compromise Dec 17 2010$136 billion in tax relief for 21 million middle class households through patch to the Alternative Minimum Tax for 2010 & 20112010 Tax & Jobs Compromise Dec 17 2010$111 billion in tax relief for workers by a reducing social security payroll tax from 6.2% to 4.2% for 2011.2010 Tax & Jobs Compromise Dec 17 2010Unemployment benefits extended for 13 months at a cost of $56 billion2010 Tax & Jobs Compromise Dec 17 2010$40 billion in tax credits for college students and lower income families with children2010 Tax & Jobs Compromise Dec 17 2010Number of eligible children enrolled in school meal programs increased by approximately 115,000 studentsHealthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act Dec 13 2010Schools and communities provided resources to utilize local farms and gardens to provide fresh produce for school food programs.Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act Dec 13 2010$1.5 billion awarded to some 75,000 black farmers who were victims of discrimination in applying for farm loans from 1983 to 1997Claims Resolution Act Dec 08 2010$3.4 billion settlement for Native Americans against the US government arising from incorrect accounting for royalties on mineral leasesClaims Resolution Act Dec 08 2010Veteran work-study programs expanded to include congressional offices, state agencies and institutions of higher learningVeterans' Benefit Act Oct 14 2010On-the-job training opportunities expanded for veterans by reimbursing energy sector employers for training costs.Veterans' Benefit Act Oct 14 2010Insurance policy amounts and terms enhanced for severely disabled veteransVeterans' Benefit Act Oct 14 2010Service members receiving relocation orders protected from early termination fees for certain contracts and residential leasesVeterans' Benefit Act Oct 14 2010$10 million in job training, counseling, placement services, and child care services for homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with childrenVeterans' Benefit Act Oct 14 2010Disabled veterans provided improved independent assisted living services, automobile adaptive equipment and allowances for automobile purchaseVeterans' Benefit Act Oct 14 2010$30 billion lending program created for community banks with incentives to increase small business lendingSmall Business Jobs Act Sep 27 2010$12 billion in assistance for small businesses through eight separate tax cutsSmall Business Jobs Act Sep 27 2010Large disparity in jail sentences reduced for crack cocaine related offenses that disproportionately affected African AmericansFair Sentencing Act Aug 03 2010Long-term economic stability improved through new FDIC powers to liquidate failing financial firms such as insurance companies and non-bank financial companiesWall Street Reform Act Jul 22 2010Borrowers protected from bad loans with rules and penalties requiring that lenders verify that they are able to repay the loans that they issueWall Street Reform Act Jul 22 2010Financial Stability Oversight Council established to identify and monitor excessive risks to the U.S. financial systemWall Street Reform Act Jul 22 2010Future economic downturns minimized with new rules and transparency regarding bank trading in credit default swaps and derivatives including the "Volker Rule"Wall Street Reform Act Jul 22 2010Risk in the financial system reduced with new SEC Office of Credit Ratings (OCR) to monitor credit rating agencies for conflict of interests & inaccuraciesWall Street Reform Act Jul 22 2010FDIC bank deposit insurance increased from $100,000 to $250,000Wall Street Reform Act Jul 22 2010Transparency of Federal Reserve improved with additional government oversight and new audits to be performed by the GAOWall Street Reform Act Jul 22 2010Consumer Financial Protection Bureau established to promote fairness and transparency for mortgages, credit cards, and other consumer financial productsWall Street Reform Act Jul 22 2010U.S. drone attack killed 7 known terrorists, most notable Al-Qaeda operative from Egypt Hawza al JawfiAl-Qaeda Jun 29 2010Federal benefits extended to same sex partners of workers through memorandum by Obama administrationCivil & Human Rights Jun 02 2010Transgender Americans able to list their gender identity on their passports under rule issued by the State DepartmentCivil & Human Rights Jun 01 2010Al-Qaeda’s number three commander Sheik Saeed al-Masri killed in U.S. drone attackAl-Qaeda May 21 2010Family caregivers of veterans granted eligibility to VA counseling and mental health servicesCaregivers & Veterans Health Services Act May 05 2010Health care services improved and expanded for women veterans at Veterans care facilitiesCaregivers & Veterans Health Services Act May 05 2010Counseling and care enhanced for military women victims of sexual trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)Caregivers & Veterans Health Services Act May 05 2010Care options expanded for veterans living in rural areas that lack the necessary VA medical facilitiesCaregivers & Veterans Health Services Act May 05 2010Housing and care options expanded for homeless veterans living in care sheltersCaregivers & Veterans Health Services Act May 05 2010Joint American and Iraqi operation killed Al-Qaeda leaders Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-BaghdadiAl-Qaeda Apr 18 2010$68 billion to expand Pell grants & make it easier for students to repay outstanding loans after graduation through savings in the federal student loan programStudent Aid Act Mar 30 2010$2 billion investment to laid off workers for education and career training programs in community colleges over four years starting in 2010Student Aid Act Mar 30 2010People denied coverage for a pre-existing condition given access to a temporary high risk health insurance planObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Children under 19 can no longer be denied coverage or benefits for a pre-existing conditionObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Young adults can stay on parent's insurance plan up until age 26Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010$250 rebate for those in the Medicare Prescription drug "donut hole" during 2010Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 201050% discount on prescription drug costs for seniors in the Medicare "donut hole" starting in 2011Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Health care insurance plans prohibited from putting a lifetime limit on the benefits you receiveObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Annual dollar limits on health benefits restricted and phased out by 2014Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Insurers selling to groups of 50 or more employees must spend 85% of premiums on medical care and quality improvementObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Consumers guaranteed the right to choose the primary care doctor or pediatrician from their health plan’s provider networkObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010HIV Testing Will Now Be Covered Under ObamacareObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Consumers are guaranteed the right to appeal decisions made by their health insurance providerObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Women are no longer charged higher premiums because of their genderObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Preventative services will be covered at no additional costObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Insurance companies must provide consumers a short, easy to understand summary of their benefits and coverageObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Health insurance companies can not charge higher premiums for out of network emergency room careObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010People with a pre-existing condition cannot be denied health coverge by an insurance company starting in 2014Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010$143 billion in deficit reduction estimated between 2010-2019 from health care reform law provisionsObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Mental health and drug addiction coverage is an "essential benefit" that can not be deniedObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Insurance companies must spend 80% of the money raised from consumers premiums on health care and quality improvementObamacare (Affordable Care Act) Mar 23 2010Social Security payroll tax credits in 2010 for employers that hired people who have been unemployed for 60+ daysHire Act Mar 18 2010Tax credits to employers who keep new hires for 52 weeks to encourage retention of new hiresHire Act Mar 18 2010$17.5 billion in tax cuts, business credits and subsidies for state and local construction bonds to stimulate business investment and hiringHire Act Mar 18 2010$20 billion to the highway trust fund for spending on highway and transit programs.Hire Act Mar 18 2010Encourages job creation by expanding investments in schools and clean energy projectsHire Act Mar 18 2010Offsets costs through a 30 percent withholding tax on income from certain U.S. financial assets held by foreign banks who have not agreed to disclosures.Hire Act Mar 18 2010Al-Qaeda operative Hussein al-Yemeni killed by U.S. drone attack in PakistanAl-Qaeda Mar 2010Al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked Fedayeen-i-Islam leader Qari Zafar killed in US airstrikeAl-Qaeda Feb 24 2010Militant commander Muhammad Haqqani killed by U.S. drone attacksTerrorism Feb 2010Discrimination based on gender identity banned in federal workplacesDiscrimination Jan 01 2010Liquidation of General Motors and Chrysler avoided through government mandated restructuring plans and conditional investment and loan programsManufacturing Industry 2009115,000 jobs created at General Motors and Chrysler since government financing and restructuring implementedJobs 20091.45 million American jobs saved overall by government financing and restructuring of GM and Chrysler to avoid liquidationJobs 2009$96 billion in personal income losses avoided by government financing and restructuring of GM and Chrysler to avoid liquidationLabor 2009$28.6 billion net public benefit in income taxes and social security taxes paid because liquidation of GM and Chrysler avoidedTaxes 2009Al-Qaeda Operational Commander Abdallah Sa’id killed in U.S. drone attackAl-Qaeda Dec 17 2009Al-Qaeda Operational Commander Saleh al-Somali killed in U.S. drone attackAl-Qaeda Dec 08 2009People with HIV/AIDS no longer prohibited from entering the United StatesDiscrimination Oct 30 2009Federal hate crime law expanded to include crimes motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.Matthew Shepard Act Oct 28 2009Existing hate crime laws strengthened with funding to investigate and prosecute those crimesMatthew Shepard Act Oct 28 2009Operation Celestial Balance: Navy Seals Kill Somalian Al-Qaeda leader Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan in raidAl-Qaeda Sep 14 2009Somalian Al-Qaeda leader Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan killed by U.S. raidAl-Qaeda Sep 14 2009White House voluntary disclosure of visitor logsSep 04 2009Co-founder of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan Tohir Yo‘ldosh killed by U.S. drone attacksTerrorism Aug 29 2009U.S. drone attack killed Tehrik e-Taliban Pakistan leader Baitullah Mahsud in PakistanPakistani Taliban Aug 05 2009First-ever reception at the White House honoring Lesbian, Gay, Transgendered, Bisexual Pride Month hosted by the President and First ladyDiscrimination Jun 29 2009Sonya Sotomayor nominated and approved as Supreme Court justiceMay 25 2009Dept of Defense systems analysis, engineering and developmental testing processes overhauled to reduce high rates of failure on defense acquisitionsWeapons Systems Acquisition Reform May 22 2009Defense Dept ordered to evaluate the technological maturity and product knowledge of critical weapons' technologies before letting defense contractsWeapons Systems Acquisition Reform May 22 2009Independent cost assesessment director initiated to ensure that cost estimates for major Defense contracts are fair, reliable, and unbiasedWeapons Systems Acquisition Reform May 22 2009Defense oversight council required to seek input from combat commanders in evaluating proposed weapons system capabilities and needsWeapons Systems Acquisition Reform May 22 2009Defense contractors prohibited from participating in both the systems engineering and the development /construction phases of the weapon systemsWeapons Systems Acquisition Reform May 22 2009Oversight and audit required of those major defense programs experiencing cost overruns to determine if the programs are essential and cost-effectiveWeapons Systems Acquisition Reform May 22 2009Funding provided to hire and retain highly skilled specialists to assess the cost, schedule and applicability of proposed Defense Dept weapons systemsWeapons Systems Acquisition Reform May 22 2009Annual awards program established to recognize individuals and teams making significant contributions to improving efficiency of defense aquisition programsWeapons Systems Acquisition Reform May 22 2009Credit cardholders protected against arbitrary interest rate increases, hidden and excessive fees, and due date gimmicksCredit Card Act May 22 2009Homeowners' foreclosures avoided by improved terms for loan modification and restructuring of their debtHelping Families Save Their Homes May 20 2009Lenders incentivized to reduce foreclosures by loss mitigation guarantees, compensation and lender protection from lawsuits by investors holding the loansHelping Families Save Their Homes May 20 2009$2.2 billion appropriated to help communities address the homeless crisis.Helping Families Save Their Homes May 20 2009Financial Crisis Inquiry commission created to examine and report on the domestic and global causes of the 2008 - 2009 financial and economic crisisFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009Mortgage lending businesses added to list of financial institutions subject to Federal criminal law in fraudulent lending practicesFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009Crime of major fraud against the United States amended to include Federal grants made to stimulate economic recovery for fiscal years 2009 and 2010Fraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009Securities fraud definition amended to include fraud related to commodities futures and derivatives fraudFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009$140 million in special funding for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate fraud in financial institutionsFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009$100 million in special funding for the offices of the United States Attorneys to investigate and prosecute fraud in financial institutionsFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009$80 million in special funding to the criminal, civil and tax divisions of the Dept of Justice to investigate and prosecute fraud in financial institutionsFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009$60 million in special funding for the Postal Inspection Service to investigate financial institutions for fraudFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009$60 million in special funding for Inspector General's Office at the U S Dept of Housing and Urban Development to investigate financial institutions for fraudFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009$40 million in special funding for the Secret Service to investigate financial institutions for fraudFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009$42 million in special funding for the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate securites fraud in financial institutionsFraud Enforcement Act May 20 2009250,000 volunteers by 2017 for community service programs in low income neighborhoodsServe America Act Apr 21 2009Community volunteer program expanded to address the education, health care, energy and veterans needs of low income communitiesServe America Act Apr 21 2009Disadvantaged youth job opportunites enhanced by community service to gain skills/experience and earn education grants and stipendsServe America Act Apr 21 2009Restrictions eased on Cuba travel, money transfers, and cellular telephone/satellite service.International Relations Apr 13 2009Maersk Alabama Capt. Richard Phillips rescued during operation in which U.S. Navy Seal snipers kill three Somali Pirates holding him for ransom aboard lifeboatSomali Civil War Apr 11 2009Deeper recession or depression averted in 2009 and beyond with the help of stimulus bill provisions2009 Stimulus Bill Apr 01 2009Approximately 2.7 million jobs added to US payrolls and unemployment rate kept 1½ percentage points lower due to Stimulus spending2009 Stimulus Bill Apr 01 20092010 real GDP increased by about 3.4% due to stimulus spending2009 Stimulus Bill Feb 17 2009Tax credit of $400 per worker ($800 per couple) for middle income workers for 2009 & 2010 totaling $116 billion2009 Stimulus Bill Feb 17 2009$82.2 billion in aid for low income workers, unemployed and retirees (including job training)2009 Stimulus Bill Feb 17 2009$70 billion in tax relief for middle class workers by patching the Alternative Minimum Tax for one year2009 Stimulus Bill Feb 17 2009$155 billion in health care assistance for the poor & unemployed primarily for Medicaid, health information technology and insurance premium subsidies2009 Stimulus Bill Feb 17 2009$100 billion in education aid to prevent lay-offs, modernize schools, award Pell grants and help low income children & special education programs2009 Stimulus Bill Feb 17 2009$48.1 billion in investments for highway, bridge, high-speed rail & other transportation projects2009 Stimulus Bill Feb 17 20094 million more children insured under SCHIP in addition to the 6.6 million already coveredChildren's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Feb 04 2009Statute of limitations on filing equal-pay lawsuits eased by setting period to start from the date of the most recent paycheck.Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Jan 29 2009Pay discrimination based on gender, race, color, national origin, age and disability prohibited.Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Jan 29 2009Employers prompted to review, develop and update their criteria on employee compensation to ensure they are applied consistently and uniformly.Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Jan 29 2009Use of torture by CIA and military to interrogate prisoners prohibited.Torture Jan 21 2009

Africa is not poor, we are stealing its wealthIt's time to change the way we talk and think about Africa.Mapping Africa's natural resources [Al Jazeera]Africa is poor, but we can try to help its people.It's a simple statement, repeated through a thousand images, newspaper stories and charity appeals each year, so that it takes on the weight of truth. When we read it, we reinforce assumptions and stories about Africa that we've heard throughout our lives. We reconfirm our image of Africa.Try something different. Africa is rich, but we steal its wealth.That's the essence of a report (pdf) from several campaign groups released today. Based on a set of new figures, it finds that sub-Saharan Africa is a net creditor to the rest of the world to the tune of more than $41bn. Sure, there's money going in: around $161bn a year in the form of loans, remittances (those working outside Africa and sending money back home), and aid.But there's also $203bn leaving the continent. Some of this is direct, such as $68bn in mainly dodged taxes. Essentially multinational corporations "steal" much of this - legally - by pretending they are really generating their wealth in tax havens. These so-called "illicit financial flows" amount to around 6.1 percent of the continent's entire gross domestic product (GDP) - or three times what Africa receives in aid.Then there's the $30bn that these corporations "repatriate" - profits they make in Africa but send back to their home country, or elsewhere, to enjoy their wealth. The City of London is awash with profits extracted from the land and labour of Africa.…..Stealing Africa⎜WHY POVERTY?⎜(DocumentaryRüschlikon is a village in Switzerland with a very low tax rate and very wealthy residents. But it receives more tax revenue than it can use. This is largely thanks to one resident - Ivan Glasenberg, CEO of Glencore, whose copper mines in Zambia are not generating a large bounty tax revenue for the Zambians. Zambia has the 3rd largest copper reserves in the world, but 60% of the population live on less than $1 a day and 80% are unemployed. Based on original research into public documents, STEALING AFRICA is an investigative story of global trade and political corruption where money and natural resources only flow one way, and in the meantime poverty becomes harder to escape.…..The Looting Machine: Warlords, Tycoons, Smugglers and the Systematic Theft of Africa’s Wealth - Kindle edition by Burgis, Tom. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.Overseas Press Club Award Winner 2016A shocking investigative journey into the way the resource trade wreaks havoc on Africa, ‘The Looting Machine’ explores the dark underbelly of the global economy.Africa: the world’s poorest continent and, arguably, its richest. While accounting for just 2 percent of global GDP, it is home to 15 per cent of the planet’s crude oil, 40 per cent of its gold and 80 per cent of its platinum. A third of the earth’s mineral deposits lie beneath its soil. But far from being a salvation, this buried treasure has been a curse.‘The Looting Machine’ takes you on a gripping and shocking journey through anonymous boardrooms and glittering headquarters to expose a new form of financialized colonialism. Africa’s booming growth is driven by the voracious hunger for natural resources from rapidly emerging economics such as China. But in the shadows a network of traders, bankers and corporate raiders has sprung up to grease the palms of venal local political elites. What is happening in Africa’s resource states is systematic looting. In country after country across the continent, the resource industry is tearing at the very fabric of society. But, like its victims, the beneficiaries of this looting machine have names.For six years Tom Burgis has been on a mission to expose corruption and give voice to the millions of Africans who suffer the consequences of living under this curse. Combining deep reporting with an action-packed narrative, he travels to the heart of Africa’s resource states, meeting a warlord in Nigeria’s oil-soaked Niger Delta and crossing a warzone to reach a remote mineral mine in eastern Congo. The result is a blistering investigation that throws a completely fresh light on the workings of the global economy and will make you think twice about what goes into the mobile phone in your pocket and the tank of your car.…..https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36303327The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has a long history of involvement in African affairs, so Sunday's reports that the 1962 arrest of Nelson Mandela came following a CIA tip-off don't come as a huge surprise.Most incidents came during the Cold War, when the US and the Soviet Union battled for influence across the continent.CIA covert operations are by their very nature hard to prove definitively. But research into the agency's work, as well as revelations by former CIA employees, has thrown up several cases where the agency tried to influence events.Here are four examples:1) 1961 - Patrice Lumumba's assassination in CongoPatrice Lumumba became the first prime minister of the newly-independent Congo in 1960, but he lasted just a few months in the job before he was overthrown and assassinated in January 1961.In 2002, former colonial power Belgium admitted responsibility for its part in the killing, however, the US has never explained its role despite long-held suspicions.US President Dwight D Eisenhower, concerned about communism, was worried about Congo following a similar path to Cuba.According to a source quoted in Death in the Congo, a book about the assassination, President Eisenhower gave "an order for the assassination of Lumumba. There was no discussion; the [National Security Council] meeting simply moved on".However, a CIA plan to lace Lumumba's toothpaste with poison was never carried out, Lawrence Devlin, who was a station chief in Congo at the time, told the BBC in 2000.A survey of declassified US government documents from the era notes that the CIA "initially focussed on removing Lumumba, not only through assassination if necessary but also with an array of non-lethal undertakings".While there is no doubt the CIA wanted him dead, the survey does not indicate direct US involvement in his eventual killing.2) 1965 - Overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah in GhanaGhana's first President Kwame Nkrumah was overthrown in a military coup in 1966 while he was out of the country.He later suspected that the US had a role in his downfall and in a 1978 book, former CIA intelligence officer John Stockwell backed this theory up.In In Search of Enemies he writes that an official sanction for the coup does not appear in CIA documents, but he writes "the Accra station was nevertheless encouraged by headquarters to maintain contact with dissidents."It was given a generous budget, and maintained intimate contact with the plotters as a coup was hatched."He says that the CIA in Ghana got more involved and its operatives were given "unofficial credit for the eventual coup".A declassified US government document does show awareness of a plot to overthrow the president, but does not indicate any official backing.Another declassified document written after the coup describes Nkrumah's fall as a "fortuitous windfall. Nkrumah was doing more to undermine our interests than any other black African".3) 1970s - Opposition to the MPLA in AngolaIn Angola three competing groups fought for control after independence from Portugal in 1975, with the MPLA under Agostinho Neto taking over the capital Luanda.Mr Stockwell, chief of CIA's covert operations in Angola in 1975, writes that Washington decided to oppose the MPLA, as it was seen as closer to the Soviet Union, and support the FNLA and Unita instead, even though all three had help from communist countries.The CIA then helped secretly import weapons, including 30,000 rifles, through Kinshasa in neighbouring Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mr Stockwell says in a video documentary.He adds that CIA officers also trained fighters for armed combat.A declassified US government document detailing a discussion between the head of the CIA, the secretary of state and others indicates the support the CIA gave to the forces fighting the MPLA.The US continued to support Unita through much of the civil war as Cuba was backing the MPLA.4) 1982 - Supporting Hissene Habre in ChadHissene Habre failed in his attempt to take power by force in Chad in 1980.But his efforts led President Goukouni Oueddei to call on help from the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, whose soldiers successfully beat back Habre's challenge and forced him into exile.A proposed alliance between Libya and Chad began to unsettle the US especially as Gaddafi began to be seen as a supporter of anti-US activities.In Foreign Policy magazine Michael Bronner writes that the CIA director, with the secretary of state, "coalesced around the idea of launching a covert war in partnership with Habre".It is alleged that the US then backed Habre's overthrow of the president in 1982 and then supported him throughout his brutal rule.….Why Qaddafi had to go: African gold, oil and the challenge to monetary imperialismWhat was NATO's violent intervention in Libya really all about? Now we know, writes Ellen Brown, thanks to Hillary Clinton's recently published emails. It was to prevent the creation of an independent hard currency in Africa that would free the continent from economic bondage under the dollar, the IMF and the French African franc, shaking off the last heavy chains of colonial exploitation.The brief visit of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Libya in October 2011 was referred to by the media as a "victory lap.""We came, we saw, he died!" she crowed in a CBS video interview on hearing of the capture and brutal murder of Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi.But the victory lap, write Scott Shane and Jo Becker in the New York Times, was premature. Libya was relegated to the back burner by the State Department, "as the country dissolved into chaos, leading to a civil war that would destabilize the region, fueling the refugee crisis in Europe and allowing the Islamic State to establish a Libyan haven that the United States is now desperately trying to contain."US-NATO intervention was allegedly undertaken on humanitarian grounds, after reports of mass atrocities; but human rights organizations questioned the claims after finding a lack of evidence. Today, however, verifiable atrocities are occurring.As Dan Kovalik wrote in the Huffington Post, "the human rights situation in Libya is a disaster, as 'thousands of detainees [including children] languish in prisons without proper judicial review,' and 'kidnappings and targeted killings are rampant'."Before 2011, Libya had achieved economic independence, with its own water, its own food, its own oil, its own money, and its own state-owned bank. It had arisen under Qaddafi from one of the poorest of countries to the richest in Africa.Education and medical treatment were free; having a home was considered a human right; and Libyans participated in an original system of local democracy. The country boasted the world's largest irrigation system, the Great Man-made River project, which brought water from the desert to the cities and coastal areas; and Qaddafi was embarking on a program to spread this model throughout Africa.But that was before US-NATO forces bombed the irrigation system and wreaked havoc on the country. Today the situation is so dire that President Obama has asked his advisors to draw up options including a new military front in Libya, and the Defense Department is reportedly standing ready with "the full spectrum of military operations required."The Secretary of State's victory lap was indeed premature, if what we're talking about is the officially stated goal of humanitarian intervention. But her newly-released emails reveal another agenda behind the Libyan war; and this one, it seems, was achieved.Mission accomplished?Of the 3,000 emails released from Hillary Clinton's private email server in late December 2015, about a third were from her close confidante Sidney Blumenthal, the attorney who defended her husband in the Monica Lewinsky case. One of these emails, dated April 2, 2011, reads in part:"Qaddafi's government holds 143 tons of gold, and a similar amount in silver ... This gold was accumulated prior to the current rebellion and was intended to be used to establish a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden Dinar. This plan was designed to provide the Francophone African Countries with an alternative to the French franc (CFA)."In a 'source comment', the original declassified email adds:"According to knowledgeable individuals this quantity of gold and silver is valued at more than $7 billion. French intelligence officers discovered this plan shortly after the current rebellion began, and this was one of the factors that influenced President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to commit France to the attack on Libya. According to these individuals Sarkozy's plans are driven by the following issues:1. A desire to gain a greater share of Libya oil production,2. Increase French influence in North Africa,3. Improve his internal political situation in France,4. Provide the French military with an opportunity to reassert its position in the world,5. Address the concern of his advisors over Qaddafi's long term plans to supplant France as the dominant power in Francophone Africa."Conspicuously absent is any mention of humanitarian concerns. The objectives are money, power and oil.Other explosive confirmations in the newly-published emails are detailed by investigative journalist Robert Parry. They include admissions of rebel war crimes, of special ops trainers inside Libya from nearly the start of protests, and of Al Qaeda embedded in the US-backed opposition.Key propaganda themes for violent intervention are acknowledged to be mere rumors. Parry suggests they may have originated with Blumenthal himself. They include the bizarre claim that Qaddafi had a "rape policy" involving passing Viagra out to his troops, a charge later raised by UN Ambassador Susan Rice in a UN presentation. Parry asks rhetorically:"So do you think it would it be easier for the Obama administration to rally American support behind this 'regime change' by explaining how the French wanted to steal Libya's wealth and maintain French neocolonial influence over Africa - or would Americans respond better to propaganda themes about Gaddafi passing out Viagra to his troops so they could rape more women while his snipers targeted innocent children? Bingo!"Toppling the global financial schemeQaddafi's threatened attempt to establish an independent African currency was not taken lightly by Western interests. In 2011, Sarkozy reportedly called the Libyan leader a threat to the financial security of the world. How could this tiny country of six million people pose such a threat? First some background.It is banks, not governments, that create most of the money in Western economies, as the Bank of England recently acknowledged. This has been going on for centuries, through the process called 'fractional reserve' lending. Originally, the reserves were in gold. In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt replaced gold domestically with central bank-created reserves, but gold remained the reserve currency internationally.In 1944, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were created in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to unify this bank-created money system globally. An IMF ruling said that no paper money could have gold backing.A money supply created privately as debt at interest requires a continual supply of debtors; and over the next half century, most developing countries wound up in debt to the IMF. The loans came with strings attached, including 'structural adjustment' policies involving austerity measures and privatization of public assets.After 1944, the US dollar traded interchangeably with gold as global reserve currency. When the US was no longer able to maintain the dollar's gold backing, in the 1970s it made a deal with OPEC to 'back' the dollar with oil, creating the 'petro-dollar'. Oil would be sold only in US dollars, which would be deposited in Wall Street and other international banks.In 2001, dissatisfied with the shrinking value of the dollars that OPEC was getting for its oil, Iraq's Saddam Hussein broke the pact and sold oil in euros. Regime change swiftly followed, accompanied by widespread destruction of the country.In Libya, Qaddafi also broke the pact; but he did more than just sell his oil in another currency. As these developments are detailed by blogger Denise Rhyne:"For decades, Libya and other African countries had been attempting to create a pan-African gold standard. Libya's al-Qadhafi and other heads of African States had wanted an independent, pan-African, 'hard currency'."Under al-Qadhafi's leadership, African nations had convened at least twice for monetary unification. The countries discussed the possibility of using the Libyan dinar and the silver dirham as the only possible money to buy African oil."Until the recent US/NATO invasion, the gold dinar was issued by the Central Bank of Libya (CBL). The Libyan bank was 100% state owned and independent. Foreigners had to go through the CBL to do business with Libya. The Central Bank of Libya issued the dinar, using the country's 143.8 tons of gold."Libya's Qadhafi (African Union 2009 Chair) conceived and financed a plan to unify the sovereign States of Africa with one gold currency (United States of Africa). In 2004, a pan-African Parliament (53 nations) laid plans for the African Economic Community - with a single gold currency by 2023."African oil-producing nations were planning to abandon the petro-dollar, and demand gold payment for oil/gas."Showing what is possibleQaddafi had done more than organize an African monetary coup. He had demonstrated that financial independence could be achieved. His greatest infrastructure project, the Great Man-made River, was turning arid regions into a breadbasket for Libya; and the $33 billion project was being funded interest-free without foreign debt, through Libya's own state-owned bank.That could explain why this critical piece of infrastructure was destroyed in 2011. NATO not only bombed the pipeline but finished off the project by bombing the factory producing the pipes necessary to repair it.Crippling a civilian irrigation system serving up to 70% of the population hardly looks like humanitarian intervention. Rather, as Canadian Professor Maximilian Forte put it in his heavily researched book Slouching Towards Sirte: NATO's War on Libya and Africa,"the goal of US military intervention was to disrupt an emerging pattern of independence and a network of collaboration within Africa that would facilitate increased African self-reliance. This is at odds with the geostrategic and political economic ambitions of extra-continental European powers, namely the US."Mystery solvedHilary Clinton's emails shed light on another enigma remarked on by early commentators. Why, within weeks of initiating fighting, did the rebels set up their own central bank? Robert Wenzel wrote in The Economic Policy Journal in 2011:"This suggests we have a bit more than a rag tag bunch of rebels running around and that there are some pretty sophisticated influences. I have never before heard of a central bank being created in just a matter of weeks out of a popular uprising."It was all highly suspicious, but as Alex Newman concluded in a November 2011 article:"Whether salvaging central banking and the corrupt global monetary system were truly among the reasons for Gadhafi's overthrow ... may never be known for certain - at least not publicly."There the matter would have remained - suspicious but unverified like so many stories of fraud and corruption - but for the publication of Hillary Clinton's emails after an FBI probe. They add substantial weight to Newman's suspicions: violent intervention was not chiefly about the security of the people.It was about the security of global banking, money and oil.

To whom it may concern,I’ve found a helpful blogpost to help you with your answer. Check this out:Strategies to Fight Low-Cost Rivals“It’s easier to fight the enemy you know than one you don’t. With gale-force winds of competition lashing every industry, companies must invest a lot of money, people, and time to fight archrivals. They find it tough, challenging, and yet strangely reassuring to take on familiar opponents, whose ambitions, strategies, weaknesses, and even strengths resemble their own. CEOs can easily compare their game plans and prowess with their doppelgängers’ by tracking stock prices by the minute, if they desire. Thus, Coke duels Pepsi, Sony battles Philips and Matsushita, Avis combats Hertz, Procter & Gamble takes on Unilever, Caterpillar clashes with Komatsu, Amazon spars with eBay, Tweedledum fights Tweedledee.However, this obsession with traditional rivals has blinded companies to the threat from disruptive, low-cost competitors. All over the world, especially in Europe and North America, organizations that have business models and technologies different from those of market leaders are mushrooming. Such companies offer products and services at prices dramatically lower than the prices established businesses charge, often by harnessing the forces of deregulation, globalization, and technological innovation. By the early 1990s, the first price warriors, such as Costco Wholesale, Dell, Southwest Airlines, and Wal-Mart, had gobbled up the lunches of several incumbents. Now, on both sides of the Atlantic, a second wave is rolling in: Germany’s Aldi supermarkets, India’s Ara-vind Eye Hospitals, Britain’s Direct Line Insurance, the online stock brokerage E*Trade, China’s Huawei in telecommunications equipment, Sweden’s IKEA furniture, Ireland’s Ryanair, Israel’s Teva Pharmaceuticals, and the United States’ Vanguard Group in asset management. These and other low-cost combatants are changing the nature of competition as executives knew it in the twentieth century.What should leaders do? I’m not the first academic (nor, I daresay, will I be the last) to pose that question. Several strategy experts, led by Harvard Business School’s Michael Porter in his work on competitive strategy and Clayton Christensen in his research on disruptive innovations, and Tuck School’s Richard D’Aveni in his writings on hypercompetition, have described the strategies companies can use to fight low-cost rivals. But that body of work doesn’t make the phenomenon less interesting—or render the threat any less formidable. For, despite the buckets of ink that academics have spilled on the topic, most companies behave as though low-cost competitors are no different from traditional rivals or as though they don’t matter.Over the past five years, I’ve studied around 50 incumbents and 25 low-cost businesses. My research shows that ignoring cut-price rivals is a mistake because it eventually forces companies to vacate entire market segments. When market leaders do respond, they often set off price wars, hurting themselves more than the challengers. Companies that wake up to that fact usually change course in one of two ways. Some become more defensive and try to differentiate their products—a strategy that works only if they can meet a stringent set of conditions, which I describe later. Others take the offensive by launching low-cost businesses of their own. This so-called dual strategy succeeds only if companies can generate synergies between the existing businesses and the new ventures. If they cannot, companies are better off trying to transform themselves into solution providers or, difficult though it is, into low-cost players. Before I analyze the various strategy options, however, I must dispel some myths about low-cost businesses.The Sustainability of Low-Cost BusinessesBe it in the classroom or the boardroom, executives invariably ask me the same question: Are low-cost businesses a permanent, enduring threat? Most managers believe they aren’t; they’re convinced that a business that sells at prices dramatically lower than those incumbents charge must go bankrupt. They cite the experience of U.S. airlines, which, after the industry’s deregulation in the 1980s, succeeded in beating off cut-price providers such as People Express. What they forget is that low-cost airlines soon reemerged. By slashing fares and cutting frills, entrants like Southwest Airlines and JetBlue have grabbed a chunk of America’s domestic air travel market. Unlike their predecessors, they’re making money hand over fist, too.Successful price warriors stay ahead of bigger rivals by using several tactics: They focus on just one or a few consumer segments; they deliver the basic product or provide one benefit better than rivals do; and they back everyday low prices with superefficient operations to keep costs down. That’s how Aldi, the Essen-headquartered retailer that owns Trader Joe’s in the U.S., has thrived in the brutally competitive German market. Aldi’s advantages start with the size of its product range. A typical Aldi outlet is a relatively small, 15,000-square-foot store that carries only about 700 products—95% of which are store brands—compared with the 25,000-plus products that traditional supermarkets carry. The chain sells more of each product than rivals do, which enables it to negotiate lower prices and better quality with suppliers. In fact, many of Aldi’s private-label products have bested branded products in competitions and taste tests. The small number of products also keeps the company’s supply chain agile. Another efficiency stems from the fact that Aldi sets up outlets on side streets in downtown areas and in suburbs, where real estate is relatively inexpensive. Since it uses small spaces, the company’s start-up costs are low, which enables it to blanket markets: Aldi now owns 4,100 stores in Germany and 7,500 worldwide.Aldi doesn’t pamper customers. Its stores display products on pallets rather than shelves in order to cut restocking time and save money. Customers bring their own shopping bags or buy them in the store. Aldi was one of the first retailers to require customers to pay refundable deposits for grocery carts. Shoppers return the carts to designated areas, sparing employees the time and energy needed to round them up. At the same time, Aldi gets the basics right. There are several checkout lines, so wait times are short even during peak shopping hours. Its scanning machines are lightning fast, which allows clerks to deal quickly with each shopper. Most retailers follow local pricing, but every Aldi store in a country charges the same price, which reinforces the chain’s image as a consumer champion. In 2006, Germans voted Aldi the country’s third most-trusted brand, behind only Siemens and BMW. Aldi sells products far cheaper than rivals do. To suppliers’ prices, the company adds about 8% to cover transportation, rent, marketing, and other overhead costs, and about 5% for staff costs. Thus, Aldi’s average markup is 13% while that of most European retailers is 28% to 30%. Not surprisingly, 89% of all German households made at least one trip to an Aldi in 2005, and according to European market research firms, the chain had a 20% share of Germany’s supermarket business.As Aldi’s story suggests, the financial calculations of low-cost players are different from those of established companies. They earn smaller gross margins than traditional players do, but their business models turn those into higher operating margins. Those operating margins are magnified by the businesses’ higher-than-average asset turnover ratios, which result in impressive returns on assets. Because of those returns and high growth rates, the market capitalizations of many upstarts are higher than those of industry leaders, despite the larger equity bases of the latter. For instance, one of Europe’s leading low-cost airlines, Ryanair, is one-seventh the size of British Airways in terms of revenues—$2.1 billion versus $15.5 billion in 2006—but its operating margins, at 22.7%, are three times as large as BA’s 7.35%. Not surprisingly, Ryanair’s market capitalization of $7.6 billion (on May 28, 2006) was higher than BA’s $7.3 billion.Many price warriors don’t figure in listings of the biggest companies, but they have created wealth—and pots of it. Look at Forbes’s list of the world’s richest people in 2006, for instance, and you will discover that 12 of the top 25 billionaires made their fortunes by creating (or inheriting) low-cost businesses. They include Sam Walton’s five heirs, whose combined net worth was estimated at $80 billion, Aldi’s Theo and Karl Albrecht with $32 billion, IKEA’s Ingvar Kamprad with $28 billion, Mittal Steel’s Lakshmi Mittal with $23.5 billion, Dell’s Michael Dell with $17 billion, Zara’s Amancio Ortega with $14.8 billion, and Wipro’s Azim Premji with $13 billion.Interestingly, low-cost companies stay ahead of market leaders because consumer behavior works in their favor. My research suggests that if a business gets a customer to buy its products or services on the basis of price, it will lose the customer only if a rival offers a lower price. Since the discounters win all their customers because of the prices they offer, they don’t have to worry about traditional rivals that always charge premiums. Only new entrants with even lower cost structures can compete with the price warriors. For instance, until 2000, Southwest Airlines’ costs were the lowest in the U.S. airline industry. As its employees grew older, those costs (excluding fuel costs) rose: By 2004, they were 6.2 cents per available seat-mile, which was still nearly 25% lower than the 8 cents per available seat-mile that Delta, Northwest, and United incurred. However, JetBlue, which started flying in 2000, spent only 4.7 cents per available seat-mile in 2004—25% lower than Southwest’s costs. Clearly, JetBlue poses a stiffer challenge to Southwest than the traditional airlines do.The Futility of Price WarsThe moment a company spots a low-cost competitor, it would do well to ask itself this question: Is our new rival targeting a segment we don’t want to serve or will it eat into our sales? (The exhibit “A Framework for Responding to Low-Cost Rivals” shows companies’ options in various situations.) If the new entrant has set its sights on customers no other business serves, incumbents needn’t worry—for the moment. They can observe without engaging the competitor. That wait-and-watch strategy often works for companies that market products for people at the very top of the pyramid, such as wines, perfumes, and cosmetics. For instance, when Europe’s supermarket chains launched private-label water, it had little impact on market leaders such as Evian, Perrier, and San Pellegrino. Bottled water is a superpremium product, and store brands serve consumers who rarely buy it.A Framework for Responding to Low-Cost RivalsSometimes, entrants at low price points can provide a fillip to incumbents’ business. Take the case of easyCruise, set up by the London-based serial entrepreneur Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, which has boosted Europeans’ interest in cruises. The line’s ships serve as floating hotels that dock in the afternoon and leave late at night, which allows passengers to entertain themselves at the ports of call. Since easyCruise doesn’t offer lavish meals and expensive shows, it is able to charge low prices. Its customers are typically people in their twenties and thirties, many of whom cannot afford the all-inclusive packages other cruise lines offer. Although easyCruise is doing well, incumbents such as Royal Caribbean and Cunard have left this new competitor alone rather than diverting resources to attack it. They believe that when easyCruise’s passengers are older and richer, they will turn to the established lines for traditional cruise vacations.That may be an exception to the rule. Most low-cost players alter customer behavior permanently, getting people to accept fewer benefits at lower prices. EasyCruise’s passengers may never switch to the higher-priced cruise lines. Moreover, low-price warriors are aided by the fact that consumers are becoming cynical about brands, better informed because of the Internet, and more open to value-for-money offers.When market leaders finally acknowledge the threat from low-cost rivals, they usually try to match or beat their prices. All the available evidence, however, shows that price wars don’t work in incumbents’ favor. Not only is pricing below cost illegal in many countries, including the United States, but also low-cost business models are designed to make money at low prices—a fact that executives tend to forget. In a race to the bottom, the challengers always come out ahead of the incumbents. For instance, in the late 1980s, Aldi, Dell, E*Trade, and Southwest Airlines more than held their own when Carrefour, Compaq, Fidelity, and United, respectively, triggered price wars that were supposed to drive the challengers out of business.Even when market leaders copy the critical elements of low-cost players’ business models, they are unable to match their prices. That’s because the individual elements of the model don’t matter as much as the interactions among them. Consider Internet bookings for airline tickets, which don’t deliver the kind of cost reductions to traditional airlines that they do to low-cost carriers. First, low-cost players generate 98% of their bookings through their Web sites, while only 20% of incumbents’ customers use the Internet to make reservations. Internet bookings are more attractive to the leisure travelers who use low-cost carriers than to business travelers, who often fly to multiple destinations. Consequently, when traditional airlines set up Internet-based booking systems, the impact on their costs is limited. Second, an Internet-based reservation system is inexpensive to develop and maintain when all the aircraft in a fleet are identical, there is only one cabin class, tickets are not refundable, and passengers can’t reserve seats. However, the traditional airlines’ systems must provide for multiple cabin classes, handle several kinds of tickets, provide several levels of refunds, and reserve seats, making them expensive investments. Third, most incumbents participate in industry-wide reservation systems such as Sabre, which robs them of control over some seats. Finally, the traditional airlines have set up networks of travel agents, which would rebel if the carriers made a complete shift to direct bookings. For all those reasons, traditional carriers are unable to reduce their booking costs to the levels the discount airlines have achieved.Slashing prices usually lowers profits for all incumbents without driving the low-cost entrant out of business. I learned that firsthand while serving as a consultant to a European telecom-equipment provider that was competing against traditional rivals as well as a low-cost Asian competitor for a multimillion-dollar contract in Africa. All the bidders kept cutting prices in order to best the Asian rival’s offer, which proved to be the lowest after every round of bidding. Eventually, the telecom giants discovered that the Asian company had offered a 40% discount on the lowest price the customer could negotiate with its rivals! Not surprisingly, the low-cost company won the contract. In addition, although the telecom giants would not have made profits on their lowest bids, the Asian contender seemed likely to do so.When Differentiation WorksWhen businesses finally realize they can’t win a price war with low-cost players, they try to differentiate their products in a last-ditch attempt at coexistence. This strategy, the consultant’s favorite antidote, takes many forms. Companies, we’re told, should adopt the following approaches:Design cool products, as, say, Apple and Bang & Olufsen do.Continually innovate in the tradition of Gillette and 3M.Offer a unique product mix, like that of Sharper Image and Whole Foods.Brand a community à la Harley-Davidson and Red Bull.Sell experiences, as Four Seasons, Nordstrom, and Starbucks do.Since the tactics I’ve mentioned are well-known, I will not discuss them in detail. My research shows, however, that three conditions determine their efficacy. First, smart businesses don’t use these tactics in isolation. For instance, Bang & Olufsen is able to compete effectively against low-cost electronics manufacturers with its design capabilities. That approach works well because the Danish company also keeps introducing new products, cultivates an upscale brand image, and invests time and money in creating cool-looking retail outlets.Second, companies must be able to persuade consumers to pay for benefits. The ability to do so usually depends on the products they sell. For instance, Gillette, finding that it can push the “closer shave” envelope for men, has launched the Atra, Atra Plus, Sensor, Sensor Excel, Mach 3, Mach 3 Turbo, and Centro shaving systems at ever higher prices over the past 20 years. However, when the company deployed a similar strategy for Duracell batteries by emphasizing longer life, many consumers balked at paying higher prices after a certain point. That’s because they found it almost impossible to notice the better performance and longer life of Duracell Ultra batteries. Energizer and Rayovac fought back by offering more batteries for the same price, which negated Duracell Ultra’s long-life advantage. Eventually, Gillette had to back away from this differentiation gambit.Many companies find it tough to persuade consumers to pay for additional benefits. A small premium for greater services or benefits is a powerful defense, as Target and Walgreens have shown. Target stocks inexpensive kitchenware and clothes developed by well-known designers such as Michael Graves and Isaac Mizrahi. It charges a bit more for products of better quality and design than those Wal-Mart sells. In like vein, Walgreens emphasizes convenience by setting up its stores close to shopping centers and providing drive-through windows for pickups, promising short checkout lines, and offering easy navigation because of smart store layouts. Both Target and Walgreens have therefore managed to hold their own against Wal-Mart. All too often, though, incumbents incur huge costs in order to deliver benefits, forcing them to ask for price premiums so large that they drive away consumers.The third condition necessary for a successful differentiation strategy is simple: Companies must bring costs and benefits in line before implementing it. That takes time. After years of restructuring, Hewlett-Packard may finally be catching up with Dell in the personal computer business. HP has shrunk Dell’s cost advantage from 20% to 10%, and since average PC prices have fallen, the absolute difference in prices is relatively small. Consumers are shopping for HP computers once again because of such benefits as instant delivery and the ability to see, feel, and touch products in stores.Unless sizable numbers of consumers demand additional benefits, however, companies may have to yield some markets to the price warriors. Take the case of British Airways, which initially ignored low-cost rivals such as easyJet and Ryanair; then set up a low-cost carrier called Go, which it sold in 2002 to easyJet; and finally differentiated its services in several ways. BA now concentrates on long-haul flights, for which there are no low-cost carriers. In the short-haul market, the carrier has held on to some market share by emulating the best practices of low-cost rivals, such as persuading customers to use electronic tickets. On every flight, BA offers a small number of economy class seats at prices close to those that low-cost carriers charge. Because of its stranglehold on landing slots at Heathrow, a convenient and popular airport, it still attracts some short-haul customers. Even so, BA has reduced capacity on several flights to destinations in Europe, effectively conceding victory to low-cost carriers.Strategies that help an established player coexist with low-cost rivals can work initially, but as consumers become more familiar with low-cost options, they tend to migrate to them. In the airline, PC, and retail industries, the segment choosing to pay less for fewer benefits has grown rapidly—and I’m not talking about Wal-Mart shoppers. Dell’s and Southwest Airlines’ shares of their industries, for instance, rose from around 3% in the early 1990s to 30% by 2006. That has left the traditional players scrapping with one another for a shrinking market, charging ever higher prices to fewer and fewer customers. These companies have to cope with smaller top lines even though they still have high overhead costs. That wreaks havoc on their bottom lines. They can stop themselves from going under by merging with or acquiring rivals, but, as executives well know, M&A isn’t a panacea.Dealing with Dual StrategiesWhen companies discover that the low-price customer segment is large, they often set up low-cost ventures themselves. Because of their years of industry experience as well as their abundant resources, incumbents are often seduced into believing that they can easily replicate cut-price operations. Moreover, the business models of such rivals appear to be simpler than their own. In the 1990s, for instance, all the major airlines launched no-frills second carriers—Continental Lite, Delta Express, KLM’s Buzz, SAS’s Snowflake, US Airways’ MetroJet, United’s Shuttle—to take on low-cost competition. All these second carriers have since been shut down or sold off, showing how tough it is for companies to use the dual strategy.Although most executives don’t realize it, companies should set up low-cost operations only if the traditional operation will become more competitive as a result and the new business will derive some advantages that it would not have gained as an independent entity. For example, in the financial services industry, HSBC, ING, Merrill Lynch, and Royal Bank of Scotland have set up low-cost operations in the form of First Direct, ING Direct, ML Direct, and Direct Line Insurance, respectively, because the new and old operations generate several synergies. The low-cost operations offer customers a small number of products—term deposits, savings accounts, and insurance—through cost-efficient distribution channels such as the Internet. Since they reach out to consumers the flagship banks cannot afford to serve, the no-frills businesses protect the parents. The flagship operations combine the funds the subsidiaries raise with their own, which allows them to make investments cost-effectively. That approach helps both parent and subsidiary.A successful two-pronged approach requires the low-cost business to use a unique brand name such as HSBC’s First Direct or at least a sub-brand such as ING Direct. A distinct brand helps communicate that fewer services go along with lower prices. It also allows customers’ expectations to form around the low-cost business model rather than the traditional operation. First Direct customers, for example, are more satisfied with their ATM network than HSBC customers are even though both use the same machines. Whereas HSBC customers demand ATMs at every corner, First Direct customers, who don’t expect so many machines, are delighted to see them.Conventional wisdom suggests that because a low-cost operation’s sources of competitive advantage aren’t the same as those of the parent, the subsidiary should be housed separately. By setting up an independent unit, an established company can create a start-up operation with structures, systems, staff, and values that are different from its own. Because it is independent, the low-cost operation will be more accountable and is less likely to be smothered by the parent business’s worry that the subsidiary will cannibalize its sales. However, as the case of the airlines shows, independent units are necessary but not sufficient for the success of a dual strategy. That’s because common ownership often imposes constraints on low-cost operations. For instance, the trade unions didn’t allow U.S. airlines to pay employees of their low-cost subsidiaries wages as low as those at Southwest Airlines and JetBlue. Unsurprisingly, those subsidiaries failed to take off.Another factor that affects incumbents’ low-cost businesses is the allocation of resources. When disruptors are new ventures, they face market tests of their capital needs. Subsidiaries face internal resource-allocation processes that optimize different criteria—both for legitimate reasons, such as higher margins and lower risk, as well as illegitimate ones, such as power and politics. Consequently, the parent may end up starving the new unit. Remember how Bausch & Lomb didn’t provide a budding business with enough resources to launch the disposable contact lenses it had developed? The new lenses were cheaper than the permanent lenses B&L then marketed. They also didn’t need to be stored in solutions, which contributed to the parent’s profits. Therefore, B&L left the field open for Johnson & Johnson to launch a profitable new business.A two-pronged strategy delivers results only when the low-cost operation is launched offensively to make money—not as a purely defensive ploy to hurt low-cost rivals. Companies should let their old and new businesses compete with one another and incorporate cannibalization estimates into business models and financial projections. Dow Corning’s creation of Xiameter is an excellent illustration of how companies should use the two-pronged approach. Despite enjoying a 40% share of the global silicones market in 2000, Dow Corning found low-cost competitors entering the industry. Rather than slashing prices, it decided to set up a low-cost business. Two years later, after segmenting the market and identifying potential customers, Dow Corning created Xiameter. Compared with Dow Corning, which sells 7,000 products, the subsidiary sells only 350, all of which face intense competition from low-cost players as well as from the parent. Xiameter’s limited range prevents it from eating up its parent’s sales.A two-pronged strategy delivers results only when the low-cost operation is launched offensively to make money—not as a purely defensive ploy to hurt low-cost rivals.Xiameter found that it had to offer products at prices 20% lower than Dow Corning’s in order to take on other low-cost players. It uses every tactic in the book to do so. Instead of quick deliveries, Xiameter promises a shipping date seven to 20 days from the order date so that it can schedule the manufacture of its products when Dow Corning’s factories are idle. It doesn’t offer any technical services, so it hasn’t invested in a service facility. To keep its supply chain efficient, Xiameter sells only full truck, tank, or pallet loads of products. Customers either enter orders on a Web site or pay an extra $250 to order by e-mail or phone. Once set, a shipping date cannot be changed unless the customer pays a 5% fee; a rush order incurs a 10% premium; and an order cancellation fee is 5%. Such rules make production planning easier. Xiameter offers only 30-day supplier’s credit, which helps reduce working capital needs, and it prices products in just six currencies to limit currency risk. In 2001, Dow Corning posted sales of $2.4 billion; in 2005, the combined sales of Dow Corning and Xiameter were $3.9 billion. That increase helped the parent company turn a loss of $28 million in 2001 into profits of $500 million in 2005. The strategy has also helped customers better appreciate the additional benefits that Dow Corning provides, enabling it to charge premium prices.Switching to ConquerIf there are no synergies between traditional and low-cost businesses, companies should consider two other options: They can switch from selling products to selling solutions or, radical though it may sound, convert themselves into low-cost players.Switch to solutions.Since low-cost players turn incumbents’ basic products or services into commodities, existing companies may be able to succeed by selling solutions. By offering products and services as an integrated package, companies can expand the segment of the market that is willing to pay more for additional benefits. Solutions offer several advantages: They include a large service component, so it’s hard to evaluate the quality of the solutions various companies provide. Over time, the seller develops a deep understanding of the customer’s business processes, so the customer finds it difficult and costly to change suppliers. Furthermore, since low-cost players have limited product ranges and service capabilities, they cannot offer solutions.Despite the popularity of this strategy, making the changeover is difficult. Many companies, such as Boots, Compaq, Xerox, and Unisys, didn’t succeed because they assumed that selling solutions required modifying their existing business models rather than transforming them. Most companies see selling solutions as a way to hawk more products at higher prices. They develop combinations of products and services that work more or less seamlessly, and call them solutions. Then they look for customers with problems to fit the solutions. That never works. A good solution provider starts by working with customers to understand their problems before designing solutions.Selling solutions requires a company to manage customers’ processes and increase their revenues or lower their costs and risks. Take the case of Australian giant Orica’s mining services division (the erstwhile ICI Australia’s explosives business), which sells explosives to stone quarries. To set up a blast, experts drill holes in rock faces over the course of several days. The holes are filled with packaged explosives on the day of the blast, a task that can take up to five hours. Loading the explosives is often a race against the clock since blasting times are restricted. Drilling and blasting costs are a significant component of a quarry’s operating costs. Because of strict controls on the storage and handling of explosives, companies used to order just enough explosives for one blast, which Orica would deliver on the appointed day.When new competitors entered the market, starting a price war that showed no sign of abating, Orica transformed itself into a solution provider. It started out by supplying emulsion explosives in bulk. After the customer placed an order, a mobile manufacturing unit containing intermediate chemicals arrived at the quarry, mixed chemicals on-site, and delivered the explosive down predrilled blasting holes. Orica drew profiles of rock faces with lasers to identify the best places for drilling, converting blasting from an uncertain art to a precise science. The greater consistency of emulsion explosives and better-placed holes required quarries to drill fewer blast holes, which reduced costs. Because of better blasts, rock yields also improved, reducing downstream processing costs. Over time, Orica offered to provide broken rock to customers instead of explosives. It now bills customers according to the quantities of broken rock it delivers.Becoming a solution provider has yielded significant benefits for the company. Since Orica sells explosives as part of a service, the product’s price is less transparent. Furthermore, blasting solutions require the company to integrate several products and services, so its average sales are bigger than when it sold only explosives. Since Orica manages blasts at several customer sites, it has enhanced its competence and knowledge. Customers in the meantime have become more dependent on the company’s blasting solutions because they have stopped investing in the process.Switch to low-cost models.In theory, a company can consider switching from a high-cost to a low-cost business model. In practice, such a transformation is unlikely because the incumbent will have a profitable albeit shrinking business to maintain. Moreover, switching to a low-cost business model means acquiring capabilities that are different from the company’s existing competencies. It’s hard to imagine many market leaders having the stomach for that.Never doubt the power of example, though. One company has successfully achieved such a transformation, and your organization could be the second. In 1991, Michael O’Leary was tapped to turn around Ryanair, an unprofitable, high-cost, traditional airline. The airline had been pursuing a strategy of advertising prices somewhat lower than those of Ireland’s flagship carrier, Aer Lingus. O’Leary realized that success depended not on being 10% cheaper but on being 80% to 90% cheaper, and he believed that was possible only if Ryanair transformed itself. O’Leary made several tough decisions to convert Ryanair into one of Europe’s leading low-cost airlines. He replaced the entire fleet, which comprised 14 types of planes, with a fleet of Boeing 737s. Rather than operating out of secondary airports, Ryanair started operating from secondary cities, such as Torp, 65 miles from Oslo; Char-leroi, 37 miles from Brussels; and Beauvais, 35 miles from Paris. In addition to charging lower fees, some of these airports also paid Ryanair to fly into them. At O’Leary’s prompting, Ryanair stopped accepting bookings through travel agents and moved to direct bookings, at first through call centers and later over the Internet.The airline took several other steps to remake itself. It eliminated business class to concentrate on economy class and leisure customers. It stopped serving free meals and beverages on flights, instead making them available for purchase—a move that allowed the airline to reduce the number of attendants on each flight from five to two. Ryanair eliminated seat assignments to speed up boarding and stopped carrying cargo, which reduced aircraft turnaround times from 45 minutes to 25 minutes. It also simplified ground services, developed extensive guidelines for maintenance services, and outsourced both. At present, Ryanair operates 103 aircraft and flies more than 300 routes from 15 European bases. In 2005, the airline had, at 90%, the highest on-time rate of all European airlines, lost the fewest bags, and had the fewest cancellations. In the 12 months that ended March 31, 2006, Ryanair flew 35 million passengers—up 26% over the previous year. Its revenues, at $2.1 billion, were 28% higher than the previous year’s and generated an after-tax profit of $387 million. Importantly, Ryanair cut costs (excluding fuel costs) by 6% in 2005–2006, showing that O’Leary is still working his low-cost magic.• • •Low-cost players will continue to mushroom, and some will succeed. However, there will always be two kinds of consumers: those who buy on the basis of price and those who are partial to value. Therefore, there will always be room for both low-cost players and value-added businesses. How much room each will have depends not only on the industry and customers’ preferences, but also on the strategies traditional businesses deploy. If incumbents don’t take on low-cost rivals quickly and effectively, they can blame no one for their failure but themselves.”