Obama promised ethics reform in Washington. Whenever referring to Hillary Clinton, or John McCain, he would point out they were part of the 'old Washington establishment'.
Even today, Obama had this to say about Tom Daschle: "Tom made a mistake, which he has openly acknowledged. He has not excused it, nor do I. But that mistake, and this decision, cannot diminish the many contributions Tom has made to this country, from his years in the military to his decades of public service. Now we must move forward, with our plan to lift this economy and put people back to work," Obama said in a statement.'
Of course we have work to do on our economy, but that is not an excuse to nominate people who have violated the tax laws or who have been unethical in any way. Considering Geithner's confirmation, we had every reason to believe Daschle would be confirmed. Fortunately, he withdrew. This fiasco would only have brought more attention to Obama's failure to be ethical himself in the people he chooses for his cabinet and posts.
Right before Daschle withdrew today, Obama's choice for his new post,Chief Performance Officer,Nancy Killefer had to withdraw, and word had it that she had undisclosed tax problems. Her job would have been to oversee the "scrubbing" of the Federal Budget".
The disturbing thing is that the vetting process forced these nominees to speak up, or try to make restitution before their hearings went before the Senate.
If Obama is truly interested in ethics and transparency, he will show it in his decision-making and judgement as Commander-In-Chief. Obama has truly put his reputation for "ethical reform" to the American people at risk...TRedwine
Source: CNN Daschle withdraws as HHS nominee
Source: CNN Borger: Time for Obama to be The Decider
