Of Childish Things

"I am concerned, as I'm sure many of you are, that these jobs not simply go to high skilled people who are already professionals or to white male construction workers," - Obama Adviser Robert Reich

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Mere days into the Obama presidency and already the actions taken by the newly minted Chief Executive further divide the country, emboldening some and alienating others. Actions always speak louder than words, especially campaign rhetoric. And Obama's actions show that although possessing enough self-confidence in his ability to save the entire planet, he has already demonstrated that he sorely lacks the courage of those iron-clad convictions he so loudly professed to the hypnotized masses for over two years. The convictions he's now in the process of "tweaking". Among Obama's first proclamations were a new era of bipartisanship, new ethics, an end to the influence of lobbyists, a rapid economic recovery and a decisive victory in the war against terrorism. But what we're witnessing instead, is an indecisive president trying to have it both ways, leaving himself wiggle room on a whole host of issues that were --up to now-- non-negotiable certainties. Obama publicly declared that he was genuinely interested in and open to Republican suggestions, He said that he was putting aside ideology to forge bipartisan consensus on tough issues. But when Republicans put forth numerous suggestions, such as lowering tax rates instead of mailing checks, Obama rejected them outright, with a smarmy "I won". Pure sanctimony from a guy who lectured America about "putting aside childish things." It certainly is his prerogative to enact his own agenda, but he should drop the phony pretext of bipartisanship. No one's buying it. Another of Obama's first priorities was to sign new ethics regulations limiting staff pay and imposing restrictions on the hiring of lobbyists, recusing them from policy discussions in areas they lobbied and preventing them from lobbying the administration for two years after their departure. But the lobbying restrictions had no teeth and were only to be in place after his cabinet. Within hours of signing the new regulations, waiver requests were made public for William Lynn of Raytheon Corp., slated to be Deputy Defense Secretary. There is also another waiver under consideration.

Obama's so-called stimulus screams socialist wealth redistribution

We are living in an unprecedented era of political corruption. It is at all levels and it lies at the root of all of our problems. We have now thrown out even minimum standards of conduct for public officials because, in someone's amoral opinion, America needs them. If your name is Timothy Geithner, you can disregard tax advice, take a tax deduction on your kid's camp, accept reimbursement for taxes you never paid, refuse to pay them until the President offers you a job, and people call you brilliant, indispensable; But if your name is Joe Wurzelbacher, and you simply voice your opinion, then expect every state agency in Ohio to dig up whatever they can to crucify you. If this country can only be saved by the dozen people Obama surrounds himself with, then we truly are on the verge of collapse. Barack Obama has shown through his vetting process that his ethics are quite arbitrary and capricious. Candidate Obama promised he would spread the wealth. Every step he's taken thus far shows that he intends to continue towards that end. Analysis by a multitude of economists that it would take years for money under his stimulus plan to actually have an impact makes a mockery of Obama's claims of imminent economic catastrophe. His tax policy shifts more of the tax burden onto the shoulders of the middle class so he can redistribute more to those who aren't entitled to tax cuts. The expansion of SCHIP, was not written simply to grant health coverage for poor children as they claim. Rather loopholes were added to include the children of illegal immigrants and those who make over $60,000 annually which is half way between zero and rich; in other words, solidly middle class. It would even cover nearly 2 million children who already have health insurance. And all of that construction work that Obama intends to do with your money; the transmission lines and infrastructure improvements; according to Obama adviser Robert Reich, whites need not apply. Only an ex-Clinton official could argue with a straight face that you shouldn't award jobs to the highly skilled, but rather on the basis of some other criteria. Then again, everything about Obama's so-called stimulus screams socialist wealth redistribution.