With the election of a new administration, the majority of voters believed that Washington DC was broken and accepted the change promoted by President Obama. Immediately after his inauguration, people said they felt refreshed because Obama’s presence overtook President Bush’s stale stench.
It’s evident two weeks into his presidency that the transformational figure can’t change the environment of federal politics. It’s not all his fault; congressional lifers have a stranglehold on this country and we are witnessing its ill effects.
Prior to his coronation, Obama urged Congress to complete a stimulus bill that would help the struggling economy. He wanted a good amount of tax cuts involved with infrastructure spending, which isn’t that bad an idea. He made a mistake by allowing the Democratic led House to author the bill, which transformed it into a debt package rather than a stimulus. An example of the pork is $335 million for STD prevention programs. There’s much more that pork won’t stimulate anything, except for the growth of government. Go to the sites, readthestimulus.org and stimuluswatch.org to read about the massive debt our kids will owe for politicians’ greed.
When Obama addressed ethics within his administration, he commented that lobbyists “won’t find a job in my White House” and that his appointees would be properly vetted. Obama is already contradicting his lobbyist policy by skirting it seventeen times to allow lobbyists to serve in his administration, including terrorist-pardoning Attorney General Eric Holder.
He did not do a good job of vetting his selections for Treasury Secretary and Secretary of Health, Human Services, and Commerce Secretary. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner “forgot” to pay Medicare and Social Security back taxes when he was working for the IMF and they reimbursed him for the amount he was supposed to pay, until Obama selected him for the position. Tom Daschle owed $140,000 on back taxes, which he didn’t bother to address until Obama wanted him to head the HHS. Bill Richardson was picked to head Commerce, but he’s under investigation for his own Blagojevich pay-to-play scandal.
Recently, the Midwest and South were slammed by an ice storm, which crippled the area. At least 55 people died and left hundreds of thousands without power. In Kentucky, the storm caused substantial damage for much of the state and many state officials are angry with the federal response. Although many National Guardsmen have been responding to the area, many aren’t equipped with the tools they need to help people. In Kentucky’s Grayson County, Emergency Management Director Randell Smith said the “25 National Guardsmen who have responded have no chain saws to clear fallen trees… I’m not saying we can’t handle it; we’re handling it. But it sure would have made life a lot easier.”
As CBS News reported: “Brocton Oglesby, director of emergency management in Hopkins County, said he has seen virtually no contribution from FEMA in the county, where more than half of the 27,000 homes remained without electricity.” It was surprising reading a mainstream media outlet reporting something that criticized Obama because this situation hasn’t been reported by other major media sources. With the lack of response reported by locals, where’s the outrage? Should I have Eminem get on national television and state that Barack Obama doesn’t care about white people? Of course not, but that’s what occurred in 2005 because of media constantly showing the victims of Katrina and liberals decrying the lack of federal response based on racism. So what’s the excuse now?
People were longing for change when they cast their vote for Obama. However, when reality sets in, it shows all politicians are the same, even if they are considered to be the second coming of Christ.