To steal some lines from Bill O-Lie-ly: Caution, you are about to enter the no bullshit zone.
Today was not a good day for his O ness. Here he was trying to get his stimulus package passed and trying to change the tone in Washington, and instead the news cycle was dominated by his administration messing up yet some more of their appointments. Who is doing the vetting for his O ness? He needs to fire them like yesterday. This is starting to be a problem.
So Tom Daschale had to withdraw his name from consideration because of a little tax problem. I take that back. Because of a big tax problem. I know that to a guy who made over five million dollars selling himself to the highest bidder; $128,203 is not much, but to most A-merry-cans that is serious dollars. And that's what bothers me about Daschale, not that he cheated on his taxes (hell we wll would like to do that), what bothers me about the guy is that he has basically been a high powered lobbyist for the past few years. His O ness better get real. That is not change we can believe in, this looks like more of the same old inside the beltway bullshit to me. And please don't tell me that he didn't know what Daschle did for a living. He knew, and so did everyone and their momma in Washington.
I know his O ness is like Superman to a lot of people, but he better be careful, there is a lot of kryptonite in Washington. The rethugs couldn't stop Tim Geither from getting confirmed, but they were going to be dammed if they went down without a fight with Daschle. There is too much at stake with this department, we are talking about health care here. This one was going to get really ugly, and that is the last thing his O ness wants. He is still busy trying to play nice and "change the tone in Washington". Funny, I don't think the rethugs and the press got the memo.
Of course I am being hard on his O ness because Daschle wasn't the only screw up today. Let's not forget about Nancy Killefer, who was to be our new government performance officer. Looks like Nancy wasn't performing too well when she got a $946 tax lien slapped on her property in the district. This is not the kind of incompetence we expect from his O ness and his crew, and I honestly don't think it will last. It could be just the out the gate jitters. But "no drama Obama" wasn't supposed to get jittery.
Still, to be fair to his O ness, Bubba had some problems as well when he came into office. Remember Zoe Baird and "nannygate"? But we expect so much more from his O ness. He has set such a high bar for himself, and A-merry-ca has set a high one for him. (Us black folks know that bar all too well)
"I screwed up...I take responsibility for this mistake."
Don't worry O man, it wasn't only you, it was a team effort. Now dust yourself off and get back to work. Just watch out for the kryptonite.
02 03 09
ReplyDeleteIt is good that President Obama can admit when he is wrong. However, don't you think we have a problem when people who are supposed to be models of fiscal responsibility don't pay their taxes? Why is it that Irwin Schiff is in jail for tax evasion and Wesley Snipes got his balls handed to him over this tax stuff, but these guys don't go to the slammer too? Utter hypocrisy and failure of our legal system. Clearly laws are not equally enforced. Perhaps I should try to become a Washington insider, then my IRS bill might magically go away.
These things happen... One would think everyone would be vetted to the nth power, but there are alot of skeletons in the closet.
ReplyDeleteJon Edwards and Bill Richardson thought they could make it to President with their skeletons.
The O man is not omnipotent. He needs to get up, dust himself off, and move on. The Clintons turned this shit into drama and people remember it 16 years later. No one will remember this in six months.
It seems all sorts of folks in the Beltway have some sort of "dirt" on them. This stuff takes time and really shouldn't divert the course of things...
ReplyDeleteI saw an Obama interview with Chris Wallace on Fox and really liked the way Obama handled the questions about his staff problems.
ReplyDeleteCharlie Rangle and Chris Dodd are still sore point with me considering their committee assignments and their cheating, lying ways, but his O-ness gets a pass from me. Just fire the vetter three times, like you said.
szpork
It's frustrating how many people believe that working for the government kinda, sorta excludes their tax dollars from supporting the government.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if everyone working in all branches of government can withstand IRS scrutiny, too.
What's wrong with a little economic patriotism?
Yes someone needs to do a better vetting job but I'm glad the President laid out that this was his mistake.
I totally agree with your sentiments on this one field. It is a fuck up and I am starting to get a bit frustrated with all of them... the economy is taking a major nosedive, and this is the bullshit the DC community is focusing on!
ReplyDeleteObama needs to fire the idiots, back off his "exception" bullshit, and maybe listen to John Stewart, who has proposed the best bail out of them all....
Give every American the money to pay off their credit cards and school loans. Let the people "bail out" the banks by paying off their debts... Americans would feel immediate relief, the banks would be paid off, and people would be able to survive these tough times.
"Give every American the money to pay off their credit cards and school loans. Let the people "bail out" the banks by paying off their debts... Americans would feel immediate relief, the banks would be paid off, and people would be able to survive these tough times."
ReplyDeleteJody, I actually like that idea.
And I bet it would cost less than the war in Iraq.
ReplyDeleteDayum, if I had known they weren't going to vet for back taxes I would have filled out that long-ass questionnaire and listed all of my alleged superfreak encounters.
ReplyDeleteJody, have you seen the ending of the movie "Fight Club"? This is relevant, I promise.
ReplyDeleteszpork
Obama cannot control these tax cheats. It not like they are coming out and saying they cheated the gov't.
ReplyDeleteR.J. - lol and seconded!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Jody said, even more so since I am a student. And I also agree with you Mr. Field
ReplyDeleteObama has got to stop hiring the retreads from the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteHe's overlooking talented men and women who are ready to join his administration and serve the American people and begin the arduous process of cleaning up the mess from 8 years of Bush/Cheney.
I'm glad Daschle is gone but he isn't the worst Obama choice. For the no. 2 job at the Pentagon, Obama has asked William J. Lynn, a former lobbyist for the defense contractor Raytheon.
This choice isn't change we can believe in but a commitment to the Beltway status quo.
Obama's problem is that there are very few people in Washington who haven't cheated on their taxes.
ReplyDeleteAdmitting he screwed up was a classy thing to do, but he should have done it earlier.
John B. is right, the problem isn't whether or not Obama's people have cheated on their taxes, the problem is whether or not they're getting caught. One would be hard-pressed to find a politician who can satisfy the guise of bipartisanship and be a saint with their political dealings.
ReplyDeleteObama is under a microscope right now. When will people realize he's not a god--he's just a man and a rather skillful politician. I spent my formative years under the Bush administration, I think I'll let Obama flub a few times before I start gettin' mad at him.
I'm with Christopher. Obama needs to stop looking at retreads. I'm glad Daschle is gone -- he's been in bed with the healthcare industry for years so the only "change" he would have been going after was putting more money into the pockets of insurance, hospital, and drug company executives.
ReplyDeleteWhat floors me is the outright rejection of Dr. Dean for Health and Human Services. Howard Dean is the reason Obama won -- Dean's 50-state approach was the foundation for the Democrats winning in 2006 and 2008 -- and he's a physician. Obama's willing to kiss the ass of every Repugnican in Washington but he won't reach out to a fellow Democrat because that Democrat is on Rahm Emmanuel's shit list? Guess the O-man wants to be a one-term president after all.
I don't see how Obama can be blamed for Daschle's tax problem.
ReplyDeleteAfter the virtually flawless campaign he ran, I can't believe that the Obama team suddenly became little league and didn't ask these nominees point black "Are there any issues that could prevent you from being nominated or being an embarassment to this administration that we need to know about?"
Daschle and Geithner obviously said no and were ultimately found to be liars.
What this will do is ratchet up the vetting process for Obama's administration.
They've only been in office two weeks folks.
Let's not hold them to some unprecedented standard.
C'on Barry, get in the game...don't you have peeps to look into this shit BEFORE you name these dudes ?
ReplyDeleteYou're playin' into their hands by not being more careful...
Dashle was a choice from the Party to satisfy the politicos.
ReplyDeleteThe Obama team appears to be focused on the short term on appointing people who can hit the ground running.
I would think many of these folks will only be in their positions for 1 - 2 years. Might be a good idea to keep an eye on the "second stringers" - the undersecretary level, for the real leaders.
No question Hoard Dean is more qualified and there's a movement underway to pressure his "O"-Ness to make it so.
ReplyDeleteObama is learning on the job and what I like about him after 2 weeks is, he's man enough to admit a mistake, and move on.
Obama is the opposite of the Motherfucker from Midland, who truly thought his shit didn't stink.
Bush displayed classic sociopath behavior, as did Cheney.
I have mixed feelings. I'm glad that Pres. Obama is humble enough to apologize and admit his mistakes.
ReplyDeleteI'm also not convinced that these things are his fault. It baffles me that people want him to take responsibility, which he has done, for any of the dirt that surfaces. If he had not nominated some of these people they would be continuing busines as usual and not comeing out with these things on their own.
I'm at a loss as to how you can be elected by the people, swear to serve the people and then only be honest to the people if you're caught!...
Like at a 'real' job there should be consequences for their behaviors. The IRS never has a problem finding anyone that I know there should be some sweeping of that agency as well.
I don't know why but the Daschle thing to me was abit strange. Strange in a sense that after the news broke it didn't seem surprising. On the gutt level Daschle looks dogy. He has that Scooter libby and Jeffery Archer look that says, never trust this man. Its like one of those stories that break about a public figure being a pedophile and you realize you always had a bad feeling about that person.
ReplyDeleteHis support for Obama was well known but on a deep level I felt it was for his convinience.
This guy with his experience knew this opportunity would come knocking but still chose to ignore his tax obligations hoping to get away with it. If he, with his experience can be that bold, I bet you there are many more like him. And it will be hard for Obama to find someone with half the experience with a clean record.
So much for experience.
ok...my O ness is still doing the damn do...i've been more proud of my country in the past 2 weeks than i have in the past 8 years, and before that i was really so young that i didn't understand what this all meant.
ReplyDeleteheck, some days i still don't know what's going on--politics was never my strong suit.
but i can say this--obama is just trying to choose wisely. he can't choose perfectly, he'll never be able to--because everyone in washington has had their hands in the cookie jar in one way or the other.
as far as i can see, he's choosing pretty good. 1,000.00 tax lien? only 128k in back taxes? to me, those are small problems compared to the ish we're reading about. like another poster said--these people lied to the administration...it's not o's fault this happened. he's being a pretty decent guy by taking the blame that's not even his.
better we find these things out before these people take oath than after they do.
this whole new government situation is like
basically turning on the lights in a pitch black roach infested house. for the past 8 years, the bugs have been allowed to do them. but now the exterminator is in town and yeah--that's what's up.
and it's only going to get worse before it gets better.
i think he's doing a great job all things considering. i mean--there's probably not a single person in washington who the man can choose that doesn't have some dirt against them. really.
btw...how have you been, field? :D
ReplyDeleteGrata said...
ReplyDeleteI don't know why but the Daschle thing to me was abit strange. Strange in a sense that after the news broke it didn't seem surprising. On the gutt level Daschle looks dogy. He has that Scooter libby and Jeffery Archer look that says, never trust this man. Its like one of those stories that break about a public figure being a pedophile and you realize you always had a bad feeling about that person.
His support for Obama was well known but on a deep level I felt it was for his convinience.
-------
grata i agree. there looks to be something funky about him, and the woman too. anyone with that many bags under their eyes can't be on top of their game. not only that, but there are so many people that claim to "support" other folk, and in the end it's just for their own benefit. you're right.
the worst part about this is it's not like these people couldn't afford to fix these problems yanno. i could understand if one of the common folk had 128k in back taxes...but people who can dish out 128k and not blink owing that much? it's really nuts.
and it's a shame that they do this to themselves and their country. they make everyone look bad. and now the admin has to find new people to appoint when these people probably could have pushed this country forward if they would have done their past and present jobs properly.
I suggest he go on Letterman and apologize. Young Jeezy and Nas must be so embarrassed now, ha ha.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why but the Daschle thing to me was a bit strange.
ReplyDeleteI think the whole Michael Steele clearing two mortgage foreclosure liens on his house while the head of GOPAC is much stranger and if someone wanted to dig, I'm sure there's impropriety.
The GOP sure knows how to pick em.'
Christopher, What's up with your blog? I've been trying to get in for 2 days?
ReplyDeleteChristopher, What's up with your blog? I've been trying to get in for 2 days?
ReplyDeleteMore than 800 people have visited today. Sounds like the problem is at your end.
Field,
ReplyDeleteIf you like the idea of people receiving money on an individual level to pay some of their debts, than, like it or not, you and Sean Hannity have some things in common. He has been pushing for that for that for months. LOL!
Give every American the money to pay off their credit cards and school loans. Let the people "bail out" the banks by paying off their debts... Americans would feel immediate relief, the banks would be paid off, and people would be able to survive these tough times.
ReplyDeleteWhy stop at credit cards and school loans? Since the bailout will be likely be in the trillions when it's all said and done, why not give taxpayers money to pay their mortgages, car payments, health care debts? That would free up money for people to SPEND.
FIELD NEGRO, do you really think the PRESIDENT, didn't know TOM DASCHLE, had TAX PROBLEM'S? their is no way, OBAMA would let anything like that slip by him, he know's how the REPUBLICAN'S are, he knew that their was no way in the world, that TOM DASCHLE could get by with that much TAX EVASION!
ReplyDeleteFIELD NEGRO will you please, stop allowing the MEDIA to feed you! and please take note of the BIGGER PICTURE!! when are you going to take heed to the fact that, their is a thing called STRATEGY, how long is it going to take you to realize that, BARACK has to be five step's ahead of the game, he is a BRILLIANT MAN, each time I read your BLOG, I wait to see rather or not your writing will be in DEPTH, your post is called the FIELD NEGRO, well, what did it take for the FIELD NEGRO to SURVIVE in SLAVERY? the FIELD NEGRO would smile in the MASTER'S FACE, but, they alway's had a PLAN, if you would take note, the PRESIDENT is still running his PRESIDENCY the way he ran his CAMPAIGN, and another thing, the PRESIDENT did not screw up!!! he know's what, he is doing!!
"btw...how have you been, field? :D"
ReplyDeletehoneyindigo, I have been good.Thanks for asking.
Adam, I have something in common with Sean Insanity? I am going to take a shower right now.
Anonymous 8:24:
ReplyDelete"do you really think the PRESIDENT, didn't know TOM DASCHLE, had TAX PROBLEM'S? their is no way, OBAMA would let anything like that slip by him, he know's how the REPUBLICAN'S are"
"their is a thing called STRATEGY...BARACK has to be five step's ahead of the game"
We on the same page about Obama. I believe that Obama has something planned for the GOP that is going to shine a spotlight on stuff that they don't want a light shined on. In addition, sometimes you have to search the camp.
Adam:
ReplyDelete"Field...you and Sean Hannity have some things in common."
You wrong for that one. LOL! I bet Field probably used a whole bar of soap and a scrub brush with some lysol for good measure to wash that one off. He probably tried to scrub his skin off. LOL! Just the mention of Hannity's name in the fields is the equivalent of 4 cuss words.(smile)
"You wrong for that one. LOL! I bet Field probably used a whole bar of soap and a scrub brush with some lysol for good measure to wash that one off. He probably tried to scrub his skin off."
ReplyDeleteGranny you are right about all of that except maybe the skin part. :)
Field:
ReplyDeleteI would have did the same thing. (wink and a smile)
BTW, Field, these articles are off topic but they're interesting, and I know how you love to read.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/oakland-bart-shooting/ci_11630509
Man drives stolen car to his jury trial for car theft
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_11627101?source=most_viewed
4 charged with hate crime in Richmond attack
http://www.contracostatimes.com/crime/ci_11620175
Married 84 years, and still loving
http://www.newbernsj.com/news/herbert_42128___article.html/zelmyra_children.html%3E
Ok Christopher. I figured it out. You moved from blogger to wordpress. I usually click in through your profile....you may want to update your link.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
No updating needed, anonymous.
ReplyDeleteClick my name and it goes to blogger sign-in. Click the web page link on the left and it goes straight to my Wordpress blog.
You just need to learn how to follow link prompts.
And his glasses match his tie. Ugh.
ReplyDelete"anyone with that many bags under their eyes can't be on top of their game. not only that, but there are so many people that claim to "support" other folk, and in the end it's just for their own benefit."
ReplyDeleteLOL @ the bags. He maybe on top of another game. If O is as brilliant as they claim. His slight "oversight" may have been a convinient way to get rid of Daschle. And that would be extremely brilliant. He is now discredited from any higher public office. He now has to be permanently under someone.
I was really impressed when Obama admitted his mistakes. Truly refreshing. I've been waiting a long time for a president to do that.
ReplyDeleteWhat was especially impressive about it is that Obama admitted his mistakes at a time when doing so did not benefit him, but actually increased his political discomfort. That, to me, is a real mark of a man with integrity.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder Democrats like higher taxes.They don't have to pay them.
ReplyDelete[quote]The rethugs couldn't stop Tim Geither from getting confirmed, but they were going to be dammed if they went down without a fight with Daschle. [/quote]
ReplyDeleteActually, Filled Negro - I was hoping that you'd be more pissed at Geither for recalling his youthful days spent in "Rhodesia".
We both know that if a White male Republican stated during his swearing in speech that his father gave him a broader world view by allowing him to live in Rhodesia for a short while YOU and other hacks would be investigating the question of if he lived with the "Black Africans" and asked the government to treat him as they treat the Blacks OR if he got the superior treatment that the White folks in the country got.
It seems to me that upon entering the country as a short timer he Geither was afforded more RIGHTS than a life long Black citizen was granted by the government.
Way to keep an eye out on these things Filled Negro.
"You just need to learn how to follow link prompts."
ReplyDeleteWow, you're just full of 'tude aren't you? I asked a question and you just take it to a whole new level. You need to lighten up and stop trying to be a smartass.