Three days into the Obama administration and we can see that the party in charge is rife with (both potential and open) corruption and political interference. For example, we have:
In the same party, we also now have stories surfacing that Barney Frank has been quietly pushing for multiple millions in TARP funds to a troubled bank from his home state of Massachusetts, OneUnited.
The Treasury had said it would give money only to healthy banks, to jump-start lending. But OneUnited had seen most of its capital evaporate. Moreover, it was under attack from its regulators for allegations of poor lending practices and executive-pay abuses, including owning a Porsche for its executives’ use.
Nonetheless, in December OneUnited got a $12 million injection from the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. One apparent factor: the intercession of Rep. Barney Frank, the powerful head of the House Financial Services Committee.
Mr. Frank, by his own account, wrote into the TARP bill a provision specifically aimed at helping this particular home-state bank. And later, he acknowledges, he spoke to regulators urging that OneUnited be considered for a cash injection.
So, quick question for Obama supporters. Are you happy with Obama’s version of “change” yet?
I’m looking pretty hard and can’t see how his “change” is all that much different from Clinton and Bush’s business as usual.
Republican, Democrat, Republicrat, Demolican … it’s getting harder and harder to tell the difference between the two.
UPDATE: More on Obama’s ability to completely forget/ignore/overlook what he said only a few hours before.
Obama’s pick for the #2 spot at HHS (to go along with his #1 pick “special public policy advisor” to Alston Bird, Tom Daschle and registered lobbyist for Baker Donelson, Linda Daschle) is none other than,
William Corr, who was nominated as number two at the Department of Health and Human Services, had recently lobbied the agency for the Campaign for Tobacco Free-Kids.
When asked about the mounting contradiction and hypocrisy regarding the incoming administration’s cabinet picks,
Obama Spokesman Robert Gibbs admitted the obvious, saying the new rules were made to be occasionally broken. “Even the toughest rules require reasonable exceptions,” Gibbs told the Associated Press. “Our waiver provisions are designed to allow uniquely qualified individuals like Bill Corr and Bill Lynn to serve the public interest in these critical times.” (See waiver provision here, Sec. 3(b))
Translation: Let’s be “reasonable” about this now. We made a rule that was designed to give you MSM types something to fawn over for the next several weeks. We then added a clear and concise method by which we could easily sidestep the rule as would suit our purpose. Now it’s your job to get out there and cover for us, just as you did all through the campaign. Get to it.
Update 2: Forgot one of the most obvious instances of Obama’s willingness to ignore the spirit of his recent executive order. He appointed John Podesta as the Co-chair of his transition team. Podesta is Bill Clinton’s former chief of staff and co-founded Podesta Associates, Inc. Podesta Associates is one of the most influential “progressive” lobbying groups in D.C.
Some other problems with Obama’s supposed ethical reforms of Washington for your consideration,
Once again, we’re only just getting started on the Obama administration and several of his nominations are showing clear signs of ethical lapses throughout their career, if not involvement in outright corruption. I wonder just how much worse can this get?
