A Letter To President Obama

Dear President Obama, Well now that you have had a few days, how does it feel? People waiting on you everyday, keeping the place clean, taking care of your dry cleaning and stuff like that. I'll caution you on one thing as it relates to this kind of stuff though. Don't you forget about Michelle. You see, if you get all big headed and think she needs to wait on you hand and foot too, I am sure you'll be in for a rude awakening. But enough of the pleasantries... let's move on to some of the heavier stuff. Enough is enough and I'm concerned. I'm concerned because I am starting see a pattern and I find it troubling. Now lest you think this a missive from some right wing nut job, all you have to do is check my little bog over on Google. While you are at it, check your campaign office records in Henderson, Nevada where my family and I volunteered for and donated to your campaign. It looks as though you are missing a few beats on the political side of things. Let me explain. You promised us a culture of openness and ethics. You told us it would not be business as usual in Washington Have you forgotten those pledges? You told us that you were different. That you were about change. Well what has happened to that? Your Treasury Secretary did not pay his taxes. Something like $45,000.00. Beyond the absurdity of this, if a guy can't figure out how much he owes in taxes, do we really want him running our treasury? Your HHS nominee did not pay his taxes. I've heard that amount is over $125,000.00 and that he has known about it since June. Did he tell you then, or just recently drop this bombshell? Either way, this is bad. If he hid it from you, can you really expect honesty and respect from him moving forward? And if he told you about his problems early on, what were you thinking nominating him? I remember when the I.R.S. said I owed an additional $2000.00 in back taxes. You know what their response was after sending me my five hundred harassing, threatening letters and phone calls? Pay us now and work it out later. Or we start taking your assets. And in this era of background checks to flip burgers, an I.R.S. issue on your record can immediately disqualify you for a job. Now I know these guys have said that they made mistakes. Yeah, so what? Besides, I don't buy it. And in the culture of ethics you promised us, are there not consequences for mistakes? We, the American people, gave you a mulligan on Geithner. You get one pass. But you need to drop Daschle. Or risk losing your credibility What is suggested by your strong initial, and in some case ongoing support of these men is an inability to grasp the potential political downsides of all of this. And that for me draws into question your judgment. I am not saying these men would not be great servants of the American people. What I am saying is that the political downsides of these guys might outweigh the positives. It looks like politics as usual. This is not the change we need. President Bush was blinded by loyality at times. The American people demanded, and voted for something different in you. I know you can get guys like this approved, the question I have is do you really want to? President Obama, we voted for a more ethical and open administration. If you are serious about bringing chamge to Washington, this is not how you go about it. Sincerely, Dave Quick Update... Former Senator Tom Daschle has withdrawn his name for consideration as HHS Secretary over his tax issues. Nancy Killefer, named by President Obama as his chief performance expert at the Office of Management and Budget, has withdrawn her nomination on account of -- among other things -- tax problems!