Demoskratos

Once again, it is revealed that President Obama’s administration has proved less than stellar compared to his campaign promises of changing Washington DC.  Since swearing into office and to uphold the duties for which he was elected for, President Obama has made dubious decisions in choosing the appropriate people to fill the top posts in his administration.  Many were marred with tax scandals as they appeared before Congress and some had to withdraw their nominations due to allegations of unpaid taxes or great conflict of interests.  Even within 24 hours of declaring a new policy to stem conflict of interest, he had to make an executive exception to the nominated Deputy Director of Defense William Lynn, a former Raytheon executive.

The latest scandal to hit the Obama administration is Larry Summers, who has now reported receiving millions of dollars from the very same industry and corporate entities which he is assisting with his policy and regulatory advice to President Obama and Congressional leaders.  It was already with great controversy that Treasury Secretary was nominated given criticism that he failed as the President of the NY branch of the Federal Reserve system to watch over the financial system and avoiding collapse.  In addition, Geithner faced also back tax scandals.

Many critics believe that between Summers and Geithner, the two are a power couple that are too close to the industry to be impartial and to do what is right for the country and all Americans.  Meanwhile, the US Government is spending trillions in an unprecendeted effort to save the financial system.  But really, have other simpler, less costly to the American taxpayers and more effective been really explored or even contemplated?

Write to President Obama and demand for change and transparency.

Summers Earned Millions in D.E. Shaw Salary, Bank Speech Fees

April 4 (Bloomberg) — Lawrence Summers, director of President Barack Obama’s National Economic Council, earned millions working at a hedge fund and speaking to banks such as Citigroup Inc. that later received taxpayer bailout money.

Hedge fund D.E. Shaw & Co. paid Summers more than $5 million in salary and other compensation in the past 16 months, according to a financial disclosure form released by the White House yesterday. Summers served as a managing director at the New York-based firm. Summers, a former Treasury secretary, also earned more than $2.7 million in speaking fees.  [Read Full Article]

Boy, our President sure knows how to pick them.  Another top Obama Administration is to be filled by someone who tried to cheat repeatedly on his tax obligations.  I guess this is what it takes to get important government posts these days.

You can stop this by writing to the White House and Congress.

Because, if it was ordinary American citizens trying to pull off what Tim Geithner and Tom Daschle have, we would have been locked up in jail, career or business would have been ruined and our personal assets seized by the sheriff’s office.

In addition, all the alleged unreported income were from work he did in the healthcare industry.  So how is this not a conflict of interests?

Source:  Yahoo

Daschle’s Resume:

1. Failing to pay more than $120,000 in taxes.
2. In his letter, released Monday, Daschle sought to explain how he overlooked taxes on income for consulting work and the use of a car service.
3. He also deducted more in charitable contributions than he should have.
4. Daschle filed the amended tax returns after Obama announced he intended to nominate him as secretary of health and human services.
5. On another matter, a financial disclosure form Daschle filed about a week ago showed that he made more than $200,000 in the past two years speaking to members of the health care industry that Obama wants him to reform.
6. The speaking fees were just a portion of the more than $5.2 million the former senator earned over the past two years as he advised health insurers and hospitals and worked in other industries such as energy and telecommunications, according to a financial statement filed with the Office of Government Ethics.
7. Among the health care interest groups paying Daschle for speeches were America’s Health Insurance Plans, $40,000 for two speeches; CSL Behring, $30,000; the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, $16,000, and the Principal Life Insurance Co., $15,000

Can anyone say liar, tax cheat and conflict of interest?

Do what I say but not as I do!  I believe the term is hypocrite and that is on the respectable side of the description of what transpired.

President Obama on January 21st gave an executive decree to subject lobbyists to stricter guidelines such that small but powerful groups of people will not have any undue influence over the government before the interests of the citizens of the United States.  This was applauded by many including Senator John McCain.  Let’s see the video of President Obama.

January 21, 2008

However, less than 48 hours later, Obama’s administration gave an executive waiver to former defense lobbyist William Lynn who had previously represented Ratheon Corporation based in Massachusetts to become the next Deputy Secretary of Defense.  According to Raytheon SEC filing, Raytheon received $18.3 billion in government related businesses in 2007 and $17.0 billion in 2006.

Now, President Obama did retake the Oath of Office correctly the second time right?  Or, do we need further clarification from President Obama on what he means by “greater transparency”.  Cynic, nah, I’m just a confused taxpayer waiting to lose my job and have my government owned bank foreclose on me so the bank’s CEO can refurnish his office with a solid gold desk.