This time last week, Barack Obama was calling Wall Street bankers “shameful” for taking huge bonuses a) in the midst of an economic crisis that b) they caused and c) using taxpayer money that was meant to stabilize their banks.
How could these guys be so clueless and out of touch? Sure, they shuttle between Wall Street and their luxury homes on the Upper East Side or their weekend places in the Hamptons, or wherever, but they must turn on the tee vee or look at the internet or something besides their Bloomberg terminals. Hell, even their Bloomberg terminals could tell them they’ve trashed the economy.
By Tuesday, President Obama was regretting that he had to accept the withdrawal of Tom Daschle’s candidacy for Secretary of Health and Human Services. This was going be the guy to bring American health care into the 21st century and serve as White House health care czar.
Whatever that virus is going around Wall Street, it seems Mr. Daschle caught it as he left the Senate in 2004 and, left untreated, it developed into a politically-fatal disease. He made hundreds of thousands of dollars giving speeches to the health care industry and millions sitting on corporate boards. He accepted three years’ free use of a Cadillac and driver from Leo Hindery, a big-time Democratic donor and media mogul. In the process, he somehow forgot to pay over $100,000 in taxes. (Mr. Hindery is reported to have hoped Mr. Daschle could get him appointed Commerce Secretary or US Trade Representative. Good luck with that.)
Have you heard the joke Republicans have been telling this week? “No wonder Democrats don’t mind raising taxes: they don’t pay them.” Good line, even if it stings or especially because it stings. Sleazy behavior is sleazy behavior and should be condemned, whatever party the sleazy guy belongs to.
Once, Mr. Daschle ran a campaign ad back in South Dakota that showed him driving his rusty old car “among Washington’s BMWs and limos.” When he lost to John Thune in 2004, Mr. Daschle didn’t go back to SoDak. He stayed in DC and made millions off his old connections. Meanwhile, his virus got worse.
Here’s how America looks if you’re not on Wall Street or inside the Beltway. Hard-working people who have tried to play by the rules are losing their jobs. Their IRAs and 401ks have disappeared in the last eight months. Many are falling behind on their mortgage payments or have been foreclosed and God help them if they get sick, because no one else is going to. Meanwhile, the high-flying insiders apparently think they’re above the rules, even when they get caught.
So now Tom Daschle won’t get to be HHS secretary. With all the cash he took from the people he was going to “reform,” how much confidence could we have had in him anyway? He stills gets to keep his millions and can probably make millions more by lobbying or “not lobbying” or whatever it is that he calls what he does.
This is not just about the Democrats, either. The Republican Party, in this time of grave national crisis, is literally shooting the American middle class in the head with their obstruction of the Stimulus Package. And they don’t care. What’s left of the Republican Party comes from such deep-red districts that they figure they’ll be sucking from the public tit – with really good health care – for the rest of their lives.
I still have hope for President Obama. Unlike so many of his peers, he seems not to have forgotten how to learn after he arrived in Washington. Yes, he’s made some mistakes, all new presidents do. If he learns from them, he’ll come away from all this stronger. For all of our sake, he’ll need that strength.
The Arrogance Virus
This time last week, Barack Obama was calling Wall Street bankers “shameful” for taking huge bonuses a) in the midst of an economic crisis that b) they caused and c) using taxpayer money that was meant to stabilize their banks.
How could these guys be so clueless and out of touch? Sure, they shuttle between Wall Street and their luxury homes on the Upper East Side or their weekend places in the Hamptons, or wherever, but they must turn on the tee vee or look at the internet or something besides their Bloomberg terminals. Hell, even their Bloomberg terminals could tell them they’ve trashed the economy.
By Tuesday, President Obama was regretting that he had to accept the withdrawal of Tom Daschle’s candidacy for Secretary of Health and Human Services. This was going be the guy to bring American health care into the 21st century and serve as White House health care czar.
Whatever that virus is going around Wall Street, it seems Mr. Daschle caught it as he left the Senate in 2004 and, left untreated, it developed into a politically-fatal disease. He made hundreds of thousands of dollars giving speeches to the health care industry and millions sitting on corporate boards. He accepted three years’ free use of a Cadillac and driver from Leo Hindery, a big-time Democratic donor and media mogul. In the process, he somehow forgot to pay over $100,000 in taxes. (Mr. Hindery is reported to have hoped Mr. Daschle could get him appointed Commerce Secretary or US Trade Representative. Good luck with that.)
Have you heard the joke Republicans have been telling this week? “No wonder Democrats don’t mind raising taxes: they don’t pay them.” Good line, even if it stings or especially because it stings. Sleazy behavior is sleazy behavior and should be condemned, whatever party the sleazy guy belongs to.
Once, Mr. Daschle ran a campaign ad back in South Dakota that showed him driving his rusty old car “among Washington’s BMWs and limos.” When he lost to John Thune in 2004, Mr. Daschle didn’t go back to SoDak. He stayed in DC and made millions off his old connections. Meanwhile, his virus got worse.
Here’s how America looks if you’re not on Wall Street or inside the Beltway. Hard-working people who have tried to play by the rules are losing their jobs. Their IRAs and 401ks have disappeared in the last eight months. Many are falling behind on their mortgage payments or have been foreclosed and God help them if they get sick, because no one else is going to. Meanwhile, the high-flying insiders apparently think they’re above the rules, even when they get caught.
So now Tom Daschle won’t get to be HHS secretary. With all the cash he took from the people he was going to “reform,” how much confidence could we have had in him anyway? He stills gets to keep his millions and can probably make millions more by lobbying or “not lobbying” or whatever it is that he calls what he does.
This is not just about the Democrats, either. The Republican Party, in this time of grave national crisis, is literally shooting the American middle class in the head with their obstruction of the Stimulus Package. And they don’t care. What’s left of the Republican Party comes from such deep-red districts that they figure they’ll be sucking from the public tit – with really good health care – for the rest of their lives.
I still have hope for President Obama. Unlike so many of his peers, he seems not to have forgotten how to learn after he arrived in Washington. Yes, he’s made some mistakes, all new presidents do. If he learns from them, he’ll come away from all this stronger. For all of our sake, he’ll need that strength.
© 2009, Mark Floegel