What Happened To Obama's Promises?

When Barack Obama was campaigning for President, he promised he would avoid self interest groups, restrict lobbying and run his cabinet on ethical standards. But with just one month is office, it appears that his promises are anything but!

Consider that two of Obama's cabinet post nominees, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Daschle were investigated by the Senate Finance committee for not paying taxes. As it turned out, Geithner got in and Daschle didn't.

Sure, Obama is not personal at fault here, but he has to take responsibility - he is the commander-the-chief, and he own up to the fact that his experts who do the background checks either didn't do their job or ignored the evidence of both candidates. You may argue is not paying taxes an ethical issue - you're darn straight it is!

As for self interest groups, the Obama Stimulus plan called for giving the movie industry a $256 million tax break. Even though the Republicans were able to cut this item out of the stimulus plan, it makes Obama look bad. After talking about creating jobs and helping out the average American, the whole thing stinks. Spin it anyway you want but I smell a fish!

As for lobbyists, it seems that Barack Obama has appointed at least twelve lobbyists to high government positions in the first two weeks of his administration. Here is a list of a few he has appointed:

• Eric Holder, attorney general nominee, was registered to lobby until 2004 on behalf of clients including Global Crossing, a bankrupt telecommunications firm


• Tom Vilsack, secretary of agriculture nominee, was registered to lobby as recently as last year on behalf of the National Education Association.


• William Lynn, deputy defense secretary nominee, was registered to lobby as recently as last year for defense contractor Raytheon, where he was a top executive.


• William Corr, deputy health and human services secretary nominee, was registered to lobby until last year for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a non-profit that pushes to limit tobacco use.


• David Hayes, deputy interior secretary nominee, was registered to lobby until 2006 for clients, including the regional utility San Diego Gas & Electric.


• Mark Patterson, chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, was registered to lobby as recently as last year for financial giant Goldman Sachs.


• Ron Klain, chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, was registered to lobby until 2005 for clients, including the Coalition for Asbestos Resolution, U.S. Airways, Airborne Express and drug-maker ImClone.


• Mona Sutphen, deputy White House chief of staff, was registered to lobby for clients, including Angliss International in 2003.


• Melody Barnes, domestic policy council director, lobbied in 2003 and 2004 for liberal advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the American Constitution Society and the Center for Reproductive Rights.


• Cecilia Munoz, White House director of intergovernmental affairs, was a lobbyist as recently as last year for the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group.


• Patrick Gaspard, White House political affairs director, was a lobbyist for the Service Employees International Union.


• Michael Strautmanis, chief of staff to the president’s assistant for intergovernmental relations, lobbied for the American Association of Justice from 2001 until 2005.

So, I guess is politics as usual in Washington!

Obama Stimulus Package Approaching $900 Billion

There was a little good news in the Senate yesterday, by a 71-26 margin, the Senate approved a measure to add a tax break to new car buyers. The tax break would save a new car buyer $1500 on the purchase of a $25000 automobile.

But the rest of the news on Obama's stimulus package is not that good. The price of the stimulus package is soaring to the $900 billion mark as new items are added to the plan.

Two examples that the Republicans identified that should be removed, are a $246 million tax breaks to the movie industry and $25 billion for highways, mass transit and water projects.

The Republicans have been successful in cutting the tax break for the movie industry and it looks like the highway funding is also out.

"We can't add to the size of this bill," said Senator Jim Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican. "The amount is just inconceivable to most people."

The $819 billion plan approved without a single Republican vote in the House last week faces assaults from both Democrats and Republicans during debate this week, as lawmakers aim to kill ideas that won't jolt the economy right away.

"The goal is to shape a package that is more targeted, that would be smaller in size and that would be truly focused on saving or creating jobs and turning the economy around," said Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican. She said ideas like $870 million to combat bird flu should be dumped.

Senator John McCain, Obama's presidential rival, urged supporters yesterday through his Country First political action committee to sign an online petition against the package, calling it "big on the giveaways for the special interests and corporate high rollers, yet short on help for ordinary working Americans."

Democratic leaders conceded they may soon be obliged to cut billions of dollars from the measure. "It goes without saying if it's going to pass in the Senate, it has to be bipartisan," said Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate.

Obama took his sales pitch to the airwaves, doing interviews in the Oval Office with major broadcast and cable networks. "I think we are closer to getting it right than all of these critics," he said on Fox News Channel.

As part of its hard sell, the White House released job-creation estimates from the economic package. It said that of the 3 million to 4 million jobs the plan would save or create, 800,000 of them would be in 10 Eastern states. The estimates include 83,000 jobs in Massachusetts, 44,000 in Connecticut, 17,000 in New Hampshire, 16,000 in Maine, 13,000 in Rhode Island, and 8,000 in Vermont.

Nineteen Democratic and Republican governors cited frozen credit markets and rising unemployment in urging lawmakers to resolve their differences and asking Obama to sign the bill as soon as it reaches his desk. The governors said the money it provides for public education, healthcare, and rebuilding the nation's infrastructure will create and preserve jobs while making a sound investment in the country's long-term economic interests.

It's obvious the President's stimulus plan is a lot less popular than he is. And it is very possible that his popularity could take a dive if this stimulus package is not signed soon.