About three weeks into his new administration, President Barack Obama made a candid admission that he wasn’t the presidential superman he’d initially appeared to be by saying he’d “screwed up” on several of his nominees to top government posts. Responding to the tax troubles which landed on at least four prominent nominees to his administration, Obama told members of the media that “I’ve got to own up to my mistake. Ultimately, it’s important for this administration to send a message that there aren’t two sets of rules - you know, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes.”
Given the sometimes infuriating nature of the group who last ran things over at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (where admitting to error was looked upon as practically admitting you’d been caught fondling small, furry animals or something), I must say I was initially pleased.
Then, I began to ponder on what it was Obama had admitted to, and what it said about not only him but also his tolerance for the old-guard Washington hands (otherwise known as “Clinton Administration retreads”) who were responsible for forwarding the names of Tim Geithner, Tom Daschle, Hilda Solis and one Nancy Killefer, who’d been chosen to be the President’s new “performance chief officer,” whatever that is.
Okay, Geithner’s confirmed as Secretary of the Treasury. Apparently he made it through the Senate confirmation process because Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, and a host of Democrat talking-heads, “strategists” and assorted deep thinkers convinced enough senators that his skills were so unique and vital, we’d be damn fools if we let him slip away to a cushy job as a night clerk at some Manhattan 7-11 or something equally as impressive.
Here’s the thing, though: He deliberately failed to pay tax on a portion of his earnings while he served on the staff of the International Monetary Fund. Now, how does that qualify him for consideration as Treasury Secretary? If skipping out on paying a legitimate tax debt isn’t enough to get you disqualified for a government job, ANY government job, what is?
And it appears Obama only admitted fault after the Daschle nomination had completely paralyzed Washington with its utter banality and foolishness. A smart, former Senator of the United States claimed he failed to pay a tax on an earning (he was supplied a car and a driver on a 24/7 basis by one of his several new employers) because he was, in effect, too stupid to realize it was taxable.
Could it work for you or me, when it comes time for one of us to explain an iffy deduction to the IRS? Do we get to say we didn’t know we owed a tax and all’s forgiven? Well, that appears to be what President Obama and a host of Democrat message doctors wants us to accept, insincere-sounding Presidential mea culpas to the contrary.
Unfortunately, a disquieting trend of “do as I say, not as I do” seems to be emerging from this President, or the clique surrounding him (which can be even worse). If he can’t see what an utterly bad example he set in standing by a few tax cheats for far too long, then his hopes for “change” will end up nothing but cheap rhetoric and false promise.
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This isn’t the first time Obama has adopted a “do as I say, not as I do” approach. It wasn’t funny when he supported his church, implemented bush religious policy, lied about his clean coal policy, etc. How much more can we take before we realize it’s all a guise?