No Way! Another Obama Treasury Nominee Has Tax Problems

Deep Breath.....

Remember: A tax cheat was confirmed, the tax cheat hired a lobbyist and violated the ethics rule, another lobbyist was hired that violated the ethics rule, a tax cheat withdrew her nomination, another tax cheat withdrew his nomination. Then a nominee violated House ethics rules and is married to a tax cheat. Then another tax cheat was nominated! Then another nominee withdrew over skeletons in the closet. And then another nominee had tax issues.

Now This!

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's choice for a top job with the Treasury Department is having tax problems.


A congressional report says Obama's nominee for undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs, Lael Brainard, was late in paying real estate taxes in 2005, 2006 and 2007.


The report by the Senate Finance Committee staff also challenges the accuracy of a deduction Brainard claimed for running an office from her home. The challenge led Brainard to reduce the deduction on her 2008 return.


The committee's top Republican is unhappy that the committee staff had to submit 10 sets of questions to Brainard before getting complete information about the discrepancies.


Brainard is the fifth Obama nominee to have tax problems.

Obama Will Sign CRAPulus "Stimulus" Spending Bill Tuesday In Denver, More and More Hypocrisy From The President

President Obama will sign the CRAPulus Generational Theft Act of 2009 into law during a planned campaign, er, Presidential trip to Denver.

Note, he will sign the bill less than four days after it was approved by Congress.

Sunlight Before Signing:
Too often bills are rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them. As president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days.

From Fox News:

President Obama will sign the newly passed $787 billion economic stimulus bill Tuesday in Denver, a Democratic official told FOX News.

Obama, savoring his first major victory in Congress, said Saturday that newly passed $787 billion economic stimulus legislation marks a "major milestone on our road to recovery."

Change you can crap on.

CRAPulus (krap-yuh-luhs)

noun, verb CRAPulized, CRAPuloused

1. Generational Theft Act of 2009

2. Congressional Radical Anti-American Pork

3. Congress Ruins America With Pork

4. Congress Raped America People

5. Slang: Sometimes Vulgar.

a. nonsense; drivel.

b. falsehood, exaggeration, propaganda, or the like.

6. refuse; rubbish; junk; litter: Will you clean up that crapulus!

Verbs

1.crapulus around, Slang: Sometimes Vulgar.

a. to behave in a foolish or silly manner.

b.to avoid work.

2. crapulus on, Slang: Sometimes Vulgar.

a. to treat badly, esp. by humiliating, insulting, or slighting.

b. to cause misery, misfortune, or discomfort.

3. crapulus up, Slang: Sometimes Vulgar. to botch, ruin, or cheapen; make a mess of.

Another Democrat, Another Lobbyist, Another Campaign Finance Scandal; Is Joe "Cut and Run" Murtha Involved?

The Washington Post reports:
Marvin Hoffman is listed in campaign finance records as one of the many lobbyists with the powerful PMA Group donating money to lawmakers. But Hoffman is a soon-to-retire information technology manager in Marina del Rey, Calif., who has never heard of the Arlington lobbying firm or the Indiana congressman to whom he supposedly gave $2,000.

"It's alarming that someone is stealing my identity somewhere," Hoffman, 75, said in an interview. "I've never heard of this company."

Another contributor listed as a PMA lobbyist is, in fact, a sales manager for an inflatable boat manufacturer in New Jersey. John Hendricksen said he did make campaign donations but never worked at PMA and does not know how he ended up listed in records that way.

These errors, along with other unusual donations linked to the firm, come as the Justice Department examines allegations that PMA may have violated campaign finance laws. The offices of PMA, which ranked last year as the 10th-largest Washington lobbying firm by earnings, were raided in November by FBI agents and Defense Department investigators.

Federal investigators are focused on allegations that PMA founder Paul Magliocchetti, a former appropriations staffer close to Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), may have reimbursed some of his staff to cover contributions made in their names to Murtha and other lawmakers, according to two sources familiar with the investigation. PMA has long had a reputation for securing earmarks from congressional appropriators, particularly for defense contractors, and it has donated generously to influential members of Congress. Magliocchetti personally gave $98,000 in campaign donations last year, according to campaign records.

Federal election laws limit the amount of money individuals may contribute to candidates, but lobbying firms often show their clout by collecting and bundling contributions. It is illegal for employers to reimburse donors for their contributions.

Does Rahm "Dead Fish" Emanuel Have A Tax Problem Of His Own?

Ok, fine. Maybe it doesn't violate House "Ethics" rules, but if this were you or I, we would be in some hot water with Tim Geithner and the IRS.

From NY Daily News:

The White House chief of staff said this week that he did not pay rent during the five years he bunked at the Capitol Hill home of Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn). But that raises questions whether Emanuel reported the rent-free lodging to Congress, since DeLauro is married to pollster Stan Greenberg. And will either of the parties report what could be “imputed income” to the IRS? Reps for Emanuel and DeLauro argue that House Ethics rules allow “hospitality between colleagues.”

From The Washington Times:

"Amazing. Yet another Obama appointee apparently has tax problems. Pardon me, usher, but I think Ive seen this movie before," J.G. Thayer writes at www.commentarymagazine.com.

"This time it's White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. It appears that the former congressman found a handy way to save money. Most members of Congress find themselves having to support two households - one in their home district, and one in or around DC. Some members, in the past, have ended up sharing apartments or town houses. Emanuel took that one step further: he moved into the home of his colleague, Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), staying there for five years. Rent-free," the writer said.

"To most people, this is 'imputed income' - non-financial gifts or compensation that should be reported to the IRS. Emanuel and DeLauro defend their conduct by saying that House ethics rules permit 'hospitality between colleagues.'

"Apparently they are not familiar with the old aphorism that 'guests, like fish, start to smell after three days.'

From the aforementioned commentarymagazine.com:

And no, there was no impropriety or hanky-panky going on. Representative DeLauro is happily married to one Stan Greenberg. Mr. Greenberg, by the way, is not a lobbyist. No, he’s the next best thing in DC — he’s a pollster. And, by wild coincidence, Greenberg’s polling company (Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research) lists both Emanuel and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (which Emanuel headed) as clients.

Let’s see… a Democratic representative gets free housing from a pollster who enjoys some very lucrative contracts from both that representative and a very influential group said representative heads up? Why, I’d never even
suggest some kind of a quid pro quo arrangement.

All through his campaign, Obama and his surrogates touted his great judgment and his commitment to change and transparency. Yet more and more of his nominees keep getting exposed for their ethical lapses, especially in the area of doing their “patriotic duty” (as Vice President Biden puts it) and paying “their fair share” of taxes.

There are numerous explanations for this pattern of behavior, but here’s a theory that’s becoming less laughable: There simply aren’t enough Democrats who are both competent and honest to fill all the vacancies in Obama’s administration.

More From News Busters.

President Obama Thanks Senators Snowe, Collins and Specter For Their "Patriotism"

So, let me get this straight. By not supporting the Congressional Radical Anti-American Pork (CRAAP) Spending Bill which will do little to stimulate the economy and barely create any jobs, and mortgage our future and Steal A Generation; that makes me unpatriotic.

And I thought I was just a traitor for voting against "hopenchange".

Maybe the NY Times sees this as patriotic, but we don't.

Mr. Obama called Ms. Collins and Mr. Specter, as well as Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, another Republican expected to support the deal, to acknowledge they were acting against pressure from their party and, one official said, to thank them for their patriotism in helping advance the bill at a critical time.

This is not surprising, considering Vice President Biden thinks tax cuts are also unpatriotic.

Unless of course you work for Obama.

Remember: A tax cheat was confirmed, the tax cheat hired a lobbyist and violated the ethics rule, another lobbyist was hired that violated the ethics rule, a tax cheat withdrew her nomination, another tax cheat withdrew his nomination. Then a nominee violated House ethics rules and is married to a tax cheat.

Rangel Sets Modern Day Ethics Record For Ethics Violations! Still No Ethics Probe From Speaker Pelosi

We have been calling out Speaker Pelosi for months on her blatant hypocrisy and double standards.

From Doug Ross:

Who says Congress is inefficient? The Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee -- Charlie Rangel (D-NY) -- just set a new record.

He is now the subject of at least 32 simultaneous ethics issues or investigations. The Sunlight Foundation announced that it discovered 28 mysterious asset transfers by Rangel that come on top of a number
of other ongoing investigations.

• The Sunlight Foundation found 28 instances since 1978 in which Rangel hid (or "failed to report") asset transfers of values between $239,026 and $831,000 as House rules required.


• Rangel failed to disclose $75,000 in income from a vacation rental property he owned in the Dominican Republic. After the tax "mistake" was discovered, he first blamed his wife, then his accountant and finally the fact that he didn't speak Spanish.


• In violation of New York City statutes, he secured four rent controlled apartments, three to serve as luxury living quarters at bargain-basement prices.

• He abandoned his Mercedes in the House parking garage.

• He had his campaign committee "funnel $80,000 to his son for performing little or no work on a Web site."

• He killed a tax increase that would have hurt one of his major donors.

As of yesterday Rangel believed that his ethics troubles were drawing to a close.He gloated, "I think that next Tuesday you will see a break in this and as soon as the Ethics Committee organizes they ought to be able to dismiss this."

***

Republicans had asked Mr. Rangel to step down last September.

Speaker Pelosi's initial response was in defense of Rangel, whom she called "a very distinguished member of the House of Representatives".

Less than a week later, Speaker Pelosi quietly asked Rangel to step aside.

In November, Pelosi said a House Ethics Committee report would be finished and released by January 3rd.

But then in early December, Pelosi said that she "I don't foresee" him losing his post.

On January 3rd, Rangel again denied any wrongdoing... ...and the report was nowhere to be found.

Rangel continues his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee in the new, 111th Congress.

Krauthammer: "Obama Age Begins With Perhaps Greatest Frenzy Of Old Politics"; "Thought the Awakening Would Take 6 Months. It Took 2 1/2 Weeks"

This is priceless. The Obama Presidency in a nut shell.

From The Washington Post (bold is mine)

The Fierce Urgency of Pork
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, February 6, 2009; A17

"A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe."
-- President Obama, Feb. 4.

Catastrophe, mind you. So much for the president who in his inaugural address two weeks earlier declared "we have chosen hope over fear." Until, that is, you need fear to pass a bill.

And so much for the promise to banish the money changers and influence peddlers from the temple. An ostentatious executive order banning lobbyists was immediately followed by the nomination of at least a dozen current or former lobbyists to high position. Followed by a Treasury secretary who allegedly couldn't understand the payroll tax provisions in his 1040. Followed by Tom Daschle, who had to fall on his sword according to the new Washington rule that no Cabinet can have more than one tax delinquent.

The Daschle affair was more serious because his offense involved more than taxes. As Michael Kinsley once observed, in Washington the real scandal isn't what's illegal, but what's legal. Not paying taxes is one thing. But what made this case intolerable was the perfectly legal dealings that amassed Daschle $5.2 million in just two years.

He'd been getting $1 million per year from a law firm. But he's not a lawyer, nor a registered lobbyist. You don't get paid this kind of money to instruct partners on the Senate markup process. You get it for picking up the phone and peddling influence.

At least Tim Geithner, the tax-challenged Treasury secretary, had been working for years as a humble international civil servant earning non-stratospheric wages. Daschle, who had made another cool million a year (plus chauffeur and Caddy) for unspecified services to a pal's private equity firm, represented everything Obama said he'd come to Washington to upend.

And yet more damaging to Obama's image than all the hypocrisies in the appointment process is his signature bill: the stimulus package. He inexplicably delegated the writing to Nancy Pelosi and the barons of the House. The product, which inevitably carries Obama's name, was not just bad, not just flawed, but a legislative abomination.

It's not just pages and pages of special-interest tax breaks, giveaways and protections, one of which would set off a ruinous Smoot-Hawley trade war. It's not just the waste, such as the $88.6 million for new construction for Milwaukee Public Schools, which, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, have shrinking enrollment, 15 vacant schools and, quite logically, no plans for new construction.

It's the essential fraud of rushing through a bill in which the normal rules (committee hearings, finding revenue to pay for the programs) are suspended on the grounds that a national emergency requires an immediate job-creating stimulus -- and then throwing into it hundreds of billions that have nothing to do with stimulus, that Congress's own budget office says won't be spent until 2011 and beyond, and that are little more than the back-scratching, special-interest, lobby-driven parochialism that Obama came to Washington to abolish.

He said.

Not just to abolish but to create something new -- a new politics where the moneyed pork-barreling and corrupt logrolling of the past would give way to a bottom-up, grass-roots participatory democracy. That is what made Obama so dazzling and new. Turns out the "fierce urgency of now" includes $150 million for livestock (and honeybee and farm-raised fish) insurance.

The Age of Obama begins with perhaps the greatest frenzy of old-politics influence peddling ever seen in Washington. By the time the stimulus bill reached the Senate, reports the Wall Street Journal, pharmaceutical and high-tech companies were lobbying furiously for a new plan to repatriate overseas profits that would yield major tax savings. California wine growers and Florida citrus producers were fighting to change a single phrase in one provision. Substituting "planted" for "ready to market" would mean a windfall garnered from a new "bonus depreciation" incentive.

After Obama's miraculous 2008 presidential campaign, it was clear that at some point the magical mystery tour would have to end. The nation would rub its eyes and begin to emerge from its reverie. The hallucinatory Obama would give way to the mere mortal. The great ethical transformations promised would be seen as a fairy tale that all presidents tell -- and that this president told better than anyone.

I thought the awakening would take six months. It took two and a half weeks.

letters@charleskrauthammer.com

Labor Secretary May Have More Problems Than Just Taxes, Did She Break Congressional Ethics Rules?

Remember, President Obama promised the most transparent and ethical administration in history .

Via Heritage's The Foundry:

• In an article written for the Weekly Standard, Hans A. von Spakovsky, uncovers some very disturbing details of Solis’ role in the pro-union organization, American Rights at Work (ARW), in which she may have violated multiple House ethics rules. It appears that while Hilda Solis served as a Board Member and Treasurer to the organization, they were lobbying Congress on bills Ms. Solis actually co-sponsored. One of those bills, the “Employee Free Choice Act”, is the card-check legislation that will eliminate the secret ballot in union elections, eliminating anonymous decisions by employees to decide whether to unionize.

• On January 29, Congresswoman Solis filed a letter with the House clerk detailing her involvement. Much like Tom Daschle, Timothy Geithner and Nancy Killefer, her “honest mistake” was uncovered only when she was seeking a Cabinet appointment. This time, Solis says she “incorrectly answered” a question that directly asked if she was a member of any organizations like ARW. Apparently, she forgot that she was handling all of the finances and leadership of an organization that was pressing her colleagues to vote in favor of her own pro-union legislation.

If that was not bad enough, there's more...

• The DC Examiner reports that while Hilda Solis was an active leader of ARW as their Treasurer, they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on political campaign ads, or as ARW describes them, “electioneering communications”. As a Congresswoman, this may have been a direct violation of law under the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002. The targets of those ads included: Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN), Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR), Senator John Sununu (R-NH).
  

• As Treasurer, Congresswoman Solis would have had to have known that her organization was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars running political attack ads against her colleagues. As a side note, Senator Lisa Murkowski sits on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee whom is responsible for considering her nomination. ‘Honest Mistake’

Honestly, who did the vetting for these people? This is beyond a circus! It doesn't make any sense! In all fairness, policy aside, Obama did run a pretty good campaign; it was a tight ship. We want to know why it has all fallen apart since.

Anyone have any ideas?

Leon Panetta Took Money From Bailout Banks And From National Security Agencies; Will Head Intelligence And (Again) Violate Obama Ethics Reform

More change you can throw out the window. CRAAP you can believe in.

CIA Chief Nominee Leon Panetta has taken money from Bailed-out Banks (violates Obama's bogus salary cap mandate) AND taken cash from national security interests (violates Obama's BS ethics executive order)

This is transparency? This is change? Why do these Obama nominee's skeletons conveniently only come to light on the eve of their hearings? (Because the PrObama media allowed it to be so.)

Why was the Congressional Radical Anti-American Pork (CRAAP) "Stimulus" Act casually tucked under the rug and casually attempted to sneak past responsible Americans? (Pelosi and Obama thought that Americans were dumb enough to simply "accept" their CRAAP without preconditions.)



Why is Obama, who promised the most transparent and ethical administration in history continuously breaking his own policies and promises? (Because he is a liar and a power-hungry sack of CRAAP like every other politician you thought you were voting against; hope and change, hopenchangeyoucanbelievein.)



Maybe it's because he is a Radical Marxist Socialist bent on destroying America through power-hungry totalitarianism and buying of votes? (And he is.)



All this on top of the fact that Leon Panetta, like his boss, is naively unqualified to protect national security.



Another nail in the coffin from the NY Times Obama warning machine.

WASHINGTON — Leon E. Panetta, the White House nominee to take over the Central Intelligence Agency, earned more than $1 million last year serving on corporate boards, consulting and delivering speeches, including some given to imploding banks at the height of the financial crisis.

Merrill Lynch gave Mr. Panetta $56,000 for two speeches in 2008, and Wachovia paid his standard fee of $28,000 for an appearance last October, according to financial disclosure forms Mr. Panetta submitted to the Office of Government Ethics.

Both financial institutions are now owned by other banks. Mr. Panetta, who will appear Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee for his confirmation hearing, also received a $28,000 speaking fee last September from the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm that owns a number of companies doing business with the Pentagon and other national security agencies.

The finances of President Obama’s aides are under particular scrutiny after two White House nominees had to withdraw this week amid revelations that they had failed to pay income tax.

Tommy Vietor, a White House spokesman, said Mr. Panetta had no similar tax problems and had not had to pay any back taxes since being tapped by the White House to lead the C.I.A.

“We anticipate that tomorrow’s hearing will focus on the substance of Mr. Panetta’s views about how to strengthen our intelligence gathering and keep our nation safe, as all of Mr. Panetta’s income and investments have been thoroughly reviewed by the Office of Government Ethics,” Mr. Vietor said.

Washington Post has more on the BS CRAAP CHANGE.

This truly has become a circus.

We, at the ConservativeXpress, are no longer holding back. This is an outrage.

Deputy Attorney General Nominee David Ogden Is A Hired Gun For Playboy, Penthouse and The Aclu; Believes Childbirth Is Worse For Women Than Abortion!

Wow! And we thought Top Cop and Pro-Terror, Pro-Corruption Eric Holder had issues!

Well, it turns out that Number 2 Lawyer, Deputy Attorney General Nominee David Ogden has an equally despicable past.

And to think, we were all so concerned about the tax cheats!

This was reported on Sean Hannity's radio show earlier today.

Fidelis.org issued this in a press release:

CHICAGO – President Obama has made a major mistake and put America’s families at risk by selecting David Ogden to become Deputy Attorney General, says Fidelis, a pro-family organization.

“David Ogden is a hired gun from Playboy and ACLU. He can’t run from his long record of opposing common sense laws protecting families, women, and children. The United States Senate has a responsibility to the American people to insure that Mr. Ogden’s full record is fully reviewed before any vote on his nomination” said Brian Burch, President of Fidelis.

“Ogden’s record is nothing short of obscene. He has represented Playboy Enterprises in multiple cases, Penthouse Magazine, the ACLU, and the largest distributor of hard-core pornography videos. He has opposed filters on library computers protecting children from Internet smut, and successfully defended the right of pornographers to produce material with underage children.”

“David Ogden has collected checks from Playboy and Penthouse to fight any attempts to establish filters on federally-funded public libraries. Ogden even sued the federal government in an attempt to publish Braille versions of Playboy magazine – at taxpayer expense, of course,” said Burch.

As a lawyer in private practice, Ogden has argued for an unlimited abortion license, gays in the military, and has urged courts to treat traditional definitions of marriage as a social prejudice.“

A vast majority of Americans support parental notification before a minor’s abortion and protecting kids from Internet pornography in our libraries,” continued Burch. “Yet David Ogden has fought tooth and nail against these common sense laws protecting our children from harm. At a time when America’s families are under increasing assault, Mr. Ogden is a dangerous choice for a position whose responsibilities include the enforcement of our nation’s laws.

“For a full report on David Ogden’s disappointing legal record, visit www.fidelis.org

From Life News:

Millions of women deal with a multitude of problems following an abortion, ranging from medical issues to mental health consequences.

But, in legal papers filed during the consideration of a 1992 Supreme Court case, Ogen claimed women don't deal with negative experiences resulting from an abortion.

Ogden wrote and filed an amicus brief on behalf of the American Psychological Association for the Supreme Court's seminal decision in Casey v. Planned Parenthood.

In it, Ogden argued, "Abortion rarely causes or exacerbates psychological or emotional problems. When women do experience regret, depression, or guilt, such feelings are mild and diminish rapidly without adversely affecting general functioning."

"The few women who do experience negative psychological responses after abortion appear to be those with preexisting emotional problems," Ogden claimed.

"In sum, it is grossly misleading to tell a woman that abortion imposes possible detrimental psychological effects when the risks are negligible in most cases," Ogden claimed.

The Obama nominee appears to believe that childbirth is worse for women than an abortion.

"The evidence shows that she is more likely to experience feelings of relief and happiness, and when child-birth and child-rearing or adoption may pose concomitant (if not greater) risks or adverse psychological effects," he surmised.

How is Obama gonna get out of this mess? Blame Daschle again?

Another fun one to watch. Grab the popcorn!

President Obama Replaces "Hail To The Chief" With Sting's "Desert Rose"... No Really, He Did, Seriously, True Story

Change you can belittle and undermine American tradition in.

The Arabic language song "Desert Rose" will be played at public events instead of the traditional "Hail to the Chief."

NewsBusters and Mark Knoller reported:

On Day One of his presidency, everywhere Mr. Obama went they played "Hail to the Chief" for him – but not since. In fact the U.S. Marine Band's duties at the White House over the last 10 days appear to have been dramatically downsized.

Instead of the usual contingent of trumpets, tubas and drums, a single piano player now provides musical interludes before and after the president's appearance.

And the tunes have little connection to the military marching music of John Phillips Souza [sic] that is the usual accompaniment to presidential appearances. These days the pianist's repertoire includes Cole Porter's "Night and Day" and Sting’s "Desert Rose."

"He's not a 'Pomp and Circumstance' kind of guy," says press secretary
Robert Gibbs of the new president.

(Hat Tip: Gateway Pundit)

BREAKING: Tom Daschle Withdraws Cabinet Nomination

Another one bites the dust! You did the right thing, Mr. Daschle. No hard feelings.

12:48 P.M. Fox News has just confirmed Tom Daschle has withdrawn his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

More to follow...

NOTE: Daschle was also nominated as "Health Czar" which would require no senate approval. That is still up in the air.

Daschle In Hot Water; Even New York Times Call For Him To Step Aside; Another Obama Nominee Withdrawls Due to "Tax Issues"

Looks like reality has arrived in The Promised Land. Rough day for Obama when even the New York Times disagrees!

Maybe we should all refuse to pay taxes this year? Oh wait, that might actually stimulate the economy; Liberals would not want that to happen.

From NY Times

Unfortunately, new facts have come to light — involving his failure to pay substantial taxes that were owed and his sizable income from health-related companies while he worked in the private sector — that call into question his suitability for the job. We believe that Mr. Daschle ought to step aside and let the president choose a less-blemished successor.

This comes the same day that Nancy Killefer, Obama's choice for Chief Performance Officer (whatever that is) withdrew her nomination due to "tax issues".

From Times Online:

The controversies that have dogged President Obama's administration continued to mount today, with Nancy Killefer asking for her nomination as his Chief Performance Officer to be withdrawn because of a "tax issue". Her decision followed similar problems with Tim Geithner and Tom Daschle over their failure to pay back taxes that have tarnished the President's promise of a new ethical standard in American government.

Fox News reports that Jim DeMint becomes the first Senator to call for Daschle to step down.

Republican Sen. Jim DeMint on Tuesday called for President Obama to withdraw the nomination of Tom Daschle for health and human services secretary, becoming the first senator to say that the former majority leader's tax problems are disqualifying.

Several other newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Globe, and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also have called for Daschle to withdraw.

Geithner Picks Lobbyist As Top Aide Despite New Rules to Crack Down On Lobbyists, Obama Ethics Order Proves To Be Hoax Yet Again!

Twice in one week? One week and The President has blatantly lied and deceived twice (that we know about for certain.)

Yesterday, Treasury Secretary (and tax cheat) Timothy Geithner announced new anti-lobbyist bailout restraints.

Under orders to move quickly on the faltering economy, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled new rules Tuesday to limit special-interest influence involving the $700 billion financial rescue program. The new rules are designed to crack down on lobbyist influence over the rescue program. The Obama administration says they go farther than the lobbying rules imposed by the Bush administration. The new rules are aimed at making sure political influence is not a factor in awarding rescue money.

Then he picked one as his top aide. Politico reports:

Newly installed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner issued new rules Tuesday restricting contacts with lobbyists – and then hired one to be his top aide. Mark Patterson, a former advocate for Goldman Sachs, will serve as chief of staff to Geithner as the Treasury Department revamps the Wall Street bailout program that sent an infusion of cash to his former employer. Patterson’s appointment marks the second time in President Barack Obama’s first week in office that the administration has had to explain how it’s complying with its own ethics rules as it hires a bevy of Washington insiders for administration jobs.

“He brings significant expertise to the job of chief of staff and has agreed to a far-reaching ethics pledge to remove any hint of a conflict of interest,” a Treasury spokesperson added.

Patterson was a registered lobbyist for Goldman Sachs from 2005 until April of 2008. Lobbying disclosure forms suggest he represented the financial giant on a wide array of issues, including visas, tax credits for cellulosic ethanol and an Indian gaming facility in New York state.

***

Wednesday afternoon, Press Secretary Robert Peter Griffin Gibbs, fumbling through another press conference (that will not be posted on the new and improved transparent White House .gov) said that Patterson could not be a lobbyist because is not a registered lobbyist so there is no issue with the pick.

Yet, Mr. Gibbs, Patterson was a registered lobbyist just 9 months ago.

Let us remind Mr. Gibbs, Mr. Geithner and Mr. Obama what his "ethics order" stated.

"As a condition, and in consideration, of my employment in the United States Government in a position invested with the public trust, I commit myself to the following obligations, which I understand are binding on me and are enforceable under law:

"3. Revolving Door Ban Lobbyists Entering Government. If I was a registered lobbyist within the 2 years before the date of my appointment, in addition to abiding by the limitations of paragraph 2, I will not for a period of 2 years after the date of my appointment:
(a) participate in any particular matter on which I lobbied within the 2 years before the date of my appointment;
(b) participate in the specific issue area in which that particular matter falls; or
(c) seek or accept employment with any executive agency that I lobbied within the 2 years before the date of my appointment.

Talking loud and saying nothing. We've said it before and we're going to keep saying it, echoing this statement from Melanie Sloan, founder of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.



“This is exactly the kind of thing that makes the American public suspicious of politicians. You say one thing and do another.”



Change you lie about!

Another Pelosi Broken Promise: Still No Ethics Probe For Rangel, "Nobody's Home" in Washington

We asked for this two weeks ago. We need answers from the new "transparent" and "ethical" New World Order in the Federal Government. Where is the ethics probe, Speaker Pelosi?

From The NY Post:

• Nobody's home at the House ethics committee that's supposed to be investigating Rep. Charles Rangel.
• 
  The panel created on Sept. 24 to probe the Harlem Democrat's alleged ethical lapses has been virtually disbanded, after meeting only twice in four months on the matter, The Post has learned.
  
• Of the four congressmen named to look into the powerful Ways and Means Committee chairman, only one remains - Alabama Republican Jo Bonner. The three others left the Rangel probe last month when they were "rotated" off the 10-member Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.
  
• The dormant investigation won't be jump-started until three incoming ethics committee members are assigned to the Rangel probe later this month.
  
  

This is a great example of why "limited government" is the preferred choice. They just don't get it. The Post added:

• Critics say the shuffling of committee members will delay an already lackluster probe.
  
• "It will clearly slow things significantly to bring the new members up to snuff," said Norman Ornstein, a congressional analyst at the American Enterprise Institute.
  
• "The lack of any visible activity, such as interviews with many principals or visits to the Dominican Republic or any progress report, are all discouraging."
  
• The probers should have been required to stay on the investigation to avoid further delays, said Ken Boehm, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, an ethics watchdog group.
  
• "Four months after the investigations started, there is no investigative subcommittee, no public hearings, and no sign of any progress whatsoever," he said.

Republicans had asked Mr. Rangel to step down last September.

Speaker Pelosi's initial response was in defense of Rangel, whom she called "a very distinguished member of the House of Representatives".

Less than a week later, Speaker Pelosi quietly asked Rangel to step aside.

In November, Pelosi said a House Ethics Committee report would be finished and released by January 3rd.

But then in early December, Pelosi said that she "I don't foresee" him losing his post.

On January 3rd, Rangel again denied any wrongdoing...
...and the report was nowhere to be found.

Rangel continues his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee in the new, 111th Congress.

Obama Gets Irritated at Press...Again. Refuses to Answer Questions Over Inconsistent Lobbyist Rules

Politico's Jonathan Martin asked a simple question and wanted a simple answer.

President Obama made a surprise visit to the White House press corps Thursday night, but got agitated when he was faced with a substantive question.


Asked how he could reconcile a strict ban on lobbyists in his administration with a Deputy Defense Secretary nominee who lobbied for Raytheon, Obama interrupted with a knowing smile on his face.

"Ahh, see," he said, "I came down here to visit. See this is what happens. I can't end up visiting with you guys and shaking hands if I'm going to get grilled every time I come down here."

Pressed further by the Politico reporter about his Pentagon nominee, William J. Lynn III, Obama turned more serious, putting his hand on the reporter's shoulder and staring him in the eye.

The President continues to believe he owns the media. We wanted to offer some advice, Mr. President. You don't. Will all due respect, sir, not everyone in the country is in love with you. There will be tough questions. Get used to it.



As far as Lynn, we told you so. Politico reports on exactly the same kind of BS Waiver loophole in the "Ethics" Order we reported this week.



The committee will await the administration’s assessment as to whether the new rules will preclude Mr. Lynn, who was a registered lobbyist for a defense contractor, from participating in key Department of Defense decisions, and if so, whether a waiver will be forthcoming and what the scope of the waiver will be,” Levin said.

At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs was quick to rally around Lynn. And at the Pentagon, Gates said that he personally wanted Lynn as his top deputy, despite possible conflicts of interest.

“I asked that an exception be made, because I felt that he could play the role of the deputy in a better manner than anybody else that I saw,” Gates told reporters at news conference.

Is this the change? The Administration is going to say one thing and do another?

The Loophole In Obama's Ethics Reform, President May Grant a Waiver To Allow 'Unethical" Behavior

Excerpt from Executive Order "Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel" signed yesterday by President Obama.

Sec. 3. Waiver.
(a) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, or his or her designee, in consultation with the Counsel to the President or his or her designee, may grant to any current or former appointee a written waiver of any restrictions contained in the pledge signed by such appointee if, and to the extent that, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, or his or her designee, certifies in writing (i) that the literal application of the restriction is inconsistent with the purposes of the restriction, or (ii) that it is in the public interest to grant the waiver. A waiver shall take effect when the certification is signed by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget or his or her designee.

Gotcha! So despite the good intentions of Bringing Real Change To Washington, it is clear that the Obama Administration is leaving the door open to only follow this "ethics reform" when it serves its own needs.

President Obama Signs First Executive Order, Freezes Raises For White House Officials, Strict Bans For Lobbyists

Well done, Mr. President. We agree with cracking down on the influence of lobbyists.

Except for two things: As you were signing this "ethics" reform order, Hillary "conflict of interest" Clinton and Timothy "tax cheat" Geithner were all the rage on Capitol Hill today.

Breaking News From Reuters:

U.S. President Barack Obama, in one of his first actions in office, said he was putting in place a pay freeze for senior White House staff and tightening up rules concerning former lobbyists who work in government.

"Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency," Obama said during a meeting with his top staff.

CNN added:

The aides said the executive orders will focus on restricting gifts to White House aides and executive branch officials, as well as trying to crackdown on the “revolving door” — the practice of government staffers quickly moving into lucrative private sector jobs lobbying the government.

Read the full White House agenda on Ethics at WhiteHouse.gov.