President Obama has made a big point of identifying with Abraham Lincoln and has frequently cited him as his model. However, after just two weeks in office President Obama and those around him resemble the administration of another Republican President--Warren G.Harding. Elected in 1920, Harding was a little known Senator from the mid-west who had a thin resume but who looked and sounded good. Instead of running on "Change" he ran on a platform of "a return to normalcy" which was very appealing after World War II. During Harding's time in office his administration had a number of scandals caused in great part by some of his corrupt cabinet officials and close friends. While Lincoln is regarded as one of our greatest, if not the greatest President, Harding is considered one of our worst.
Obama has claimed that his administration would have the highest ethical standards and not allow lobbyists to have access, but his appointments have undercut these promises. His first choice for Secretary of Commerce had to be dropped because of an investigation into possible corrupt actions on his part, the new Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geitner failed to pay taxes for four years, the choice for the Secretary of HHS, Tom Daschle, had to withdraw for failing to pay over $100,000 in taxes and the person who was going to be in charge of streamlining the government also withdrew because of not paying all her taxes. In addition, a number of other senior officials have backgrounds as lobbyists.
Apparently more issues will soon be surfacing about the type of people Obama is appointing. His choice for Secretary of Labor has conflict of interest problems and his choice to be the second highest official at the Department of Justice has been a strong defender of the pornography industry. Somehow I think Honest Abe would not approve.
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