Guest Post: Obama administration looking familiar
By JR Hoeft | Monday, February 9th, 2009 | PolicyBy Jim Hoyt
One of my favorite TV bits is occasionally on Saturday Night Live during the “Weekend Update” segment, called “Really?” I thought of it when reviewing President Barack Obama’s first week in office:
• “This administration will be above reproach.”
Really? Appoint a treasury secretary who knowingly did not pay his taxes until appointed? Of course, the Obama administration claims he is uniquely qualified for the job
Really? Only one person in the world is equipped to be secretary of the Treasury?
• “No lobbyist will work in or create the agenda for my White House.”
Really? What about ex-Raytheon lobbyist William J. Lynn III? Oh, he must be “uniquely qualified.”
• “We need to change the way Washington works.”
Really? Almost all appointments have been to Washington insiders. Leon Panetta, Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice, George Mitchell and, of course, Bill Richardson, to name but a few.
• “The old pork spending has got to stop.”
Really? Look at the current “rescue” package: $200 million for grass, $25 million here and $50 million there. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says this is a minute portion of the spending bill and should be overlooked. Seems to me stop means zero, none, nada and not any portion.
• “I will conduct a bipartisan administration. I have no pride of authorship and will take ideas wherever they come from.”
Really? Not one Republican idea is included in the spending package, and not one Republican in committee voted for it. Not one Republican in the House voted for the final bill (10 Democrats joined with them). Or, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reminds us, “We won the election, so we get to write the bills.”
Change? Really?
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About the author
Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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2 Responses to "Guest Post: Obama administration looking familiar"
I’m with you on a few of the above – the Raytheon lobbyist, please tell me how he was the only guy for the job? Seems like business as usual…
Also, the Washington insiders – and the silly pork in the House bill, it was almost like the Dems were saying to themselves, gee I’m in a giving mood, I want to give the GOP talking points.
We’ll have the agree to disagree on the bipartisan issue, I concur the final bill was not bipartisan (disregarding W’s ridiculous standard of: so long as Lieberman votes for it, it’s bipartisan). But, I think Obama did try hard to work with the GOP, the problem is that the the GOP needs to do some grandstanding, and they suddenly have discovered they hate government spending (what happened to the last 8 years/ $6.5 trillion in debt?). Anyhow, the GOP’s gripes seemed petty and partisan. If it had been up to me, and probably Obama – and most economists, the entire $800 billion package would have been nothing but spending – as it stands the GOP got its way with 40% of the bill going to tax cuts, which do little for the economy (if they worked so well, we should have been booming under W and crashing under Clinton – as it was we did the reverse).
Brilliant writing. Must come from a brilliant family!
At least you know I get it honest.
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