The Most Ethical Administration Ever?

Uh, no. In the weekly Friday document dump, Obama revealed he has some real low lives in his support staff:

Lawrence Summers, a top economic adviser to President Barack Obama, pulled in more than $2.7 million in speaking fees paid by firms at the heart of the financial crisis, including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America Corp. and the now-defunct Lehman Brothers. Summers pulled in another $5.2 million from D.E. Shaw, a hedge fund for which he served as managing director from October 2006 until joining the administration.

But didn't Obama promise us that he wouldn't have these types of people in his inner circle? Didn't he pledge hope and change (TM)? yes I believe he did.

But wait, it gets better:

Thomas E. Donilon, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, was paid $3.9 million by the power law firm O’Melveny & Myers to represent clients including two firms that receieved federal bailout funds: Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. He also disclosed that he’s a member of the Trilateral Commission and sits on the steering committee of the supersecret Bilderberg group. Both groups are favorite targets of conspiracy theorists.

Hold on, we're not nearly done with the shady characters yet. Why not leave the shadiest of all for last:

And White House Counsel Greg Craig earned $1.7 million in private practice representing an exiled Bolivian president, a Panamanian lawmaker wanted by the U.S. government for allegedly murdering a U.S. soldier and a tech billionaire accused of securities fraud and various sensational drug and sex crimes.

And who is the Panamanian who murdered a US serviceman? One Pedro Miguel González Pinzón who now head Panama's National Assembly. This guy is a scumbag and Obama has elevated him to a prestigious position in which he will be counselling the new administration. He was instrumental in defending John Hinckley and the Bolivian he assisted killed 67 fellow Bolivars.

What, no carjackers or rapists were available to assist The One?

Even "conspiracy theorist's" are right sometimes and this group is by far the nastiest group of political cronies ever assembled by one administration. They hated Cheney but have not a word to say about this group of elitists and filth.

It's Good To Be Charlie Rangel

Or to be any Democrat for that matter in the new, open and ethical Obama administration:

The House voted on Tuesday to let Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) keep his gavel while a special investigative panel resumes an inquiry into the Ways and Means chairman's tax practices among other possible ethical violations.

By a vote of 242-157, the chamber tabled a motion to remove Rangel from his chairmanship of the tax-writing panel until an ethics investigation into the congressman has been resolved; 16 members voted present.

The GOP contingent caved and the members who would be investigated pulled an Obama and voted "present".

Amazingly, the smartest and most ethical man in history--Ron Paul--seems to keep siding with the shady representative from Harlem evey time a chance arises.

This garbage explains why we are in the minority and are now forced to watch as Nancy Pelosi decides our economic future.

Rangel Probe About What You'd Expect

That is, it's not a probe at all:

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.

Hey, who can blame Rangel? The President is pushing for a tax cheat to become Treasury Secretary--the head of the IRS--and is pushing for another man to become AG who had some super shady dealings under the Clinton administration and was instrumental in pardoning terrorists.

Rangel just bided his time and knew that he had to blow off a few questions here and there and come about February, he'll be in the clear.

Hope and change my friends, hope and change.

Saturday Morning News and Notes

It's damn cold in the Northeast. Yesterday was about 12 F in the New York City metro area where I was working and today is somewhere around 20 F as a high. It's called winter and I don't think any one north of Florida will be on the side of Al Gore in the global warming debate right about now.

Anyway, here's what's happening around the world:

Did a Sen. Schumer feel-good earmark lead to the Canadian Geese population remaining at high levels and subsequently bringing down that US Airways jet? Possibly. Liberals are just not cognizant of the law of unintended consequences even though the examples are myriad (welfare, etc.)

Tiger Woods makes a horrible career move by wading into politics where he was always smart enough to stay away before. Think Michael Jordan, Eldrick.

We were told that if Obama was elected, the the US would be accepted back into the world community again in unity. They were right, we are unified in nausea. (apologies to Glenn).

Shocker! Rep. Waxman (the single weirdest looking dude to ever be elected to Congress) hasn't investigated a company in his district he said he would. Between Obama and the Democrat-led Congress, expect a broken promise approximately every single minute.

How long would it take to drive from South Jersey to Maggie's Farm? If I leave now I might make the main course and the stogies...

Just another reason I love America. Veterans and those who've had sons and daughters serve and unfortunately in some cases die or get injured know why their children chose to serve the greater good. You can't explain patriotism to someone who has never donned the uniformed or was/is a family member of one who has.

Rep. Rangel Still on the Hot Seat

Rep. Charles Rangel thought that once a Democrat was elected as president, his legal troubles would diminish and he could go right on cheating the tax payers of America. The oily, shady congressman appears to have been wrong:

Rangel endured a lot of bad news last year, beginning with a series of reports that he paid reduced rent for a campaign office and personal office in the Harlem high-rise where he lives. Another series of stories raised questions about his fundraising activity on behalf of the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York, including revelations that he used congressional stationery to raise money from prominent potential donors.

The chairman eventually asked the ethics panel to investigate both allegations. The committee then expanded its probe in the wake of revelations that Rangel had failed to pay the correct amount of property taxes on a rental property in the Dominican Republic.

A report by the ethics panel was expected before Congress resumed this year, but now many members and aides expect the committee to extend the inquiry before issuing a final report.

Those people pushing to extend the inquiry must be doing it because America is racist! Uh, no we're not, we overwhelmingly elected an African-America to the highest office in the land so we can toss that aside.

Rangel is a tax cheat who figured he was above the laws that govern us great unwashed. His fellow Democrats are probably shunning him for misusing his office and pissing on the citizenry, right? Uh, wrong:

Since the beginning of the year, Rangel has met regularly with party leaders, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), as well as with members of the Obama economic team to hash out an ambitious package of tax cuts that will eventually become part of the massive economic stimulus bill.

A sign of things to come, folks. The next four years will make the previous eight seem like a protestant church meeting ethics-wise.

The Obama Next Issue; Richardson Withdrawals Name

The One has not even been inaugurated and he has been enveloped in two major ethics issues. The Blago mess won't subside anytime soon but he managed to oust the source of the next one:

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has withdrawn his nomination to be President-elect Barack Obama's commerce secretary amid a grand jury investigation.

Obama's transition office said Sunday that Obama has accepted Richardson's withdrawal.

A federal grand jury is investigating how a California company that contributed to Richardson's political activities won a lucrative New Mexico state contract.

A person familiar with the proceedings has told The Associated Press that the grand jury is looking into possible "pay-to-play" dealings between CDR Financial Products and someone in a position to push the contract through with the state of New Mexico.

It's amusing that they say Obama "accepted Richardson's withdrawal" when it was most-likely Obama demanding his withdrawal.

Obama is trying to reach Clintonian levels of scandal even before he sets foot in the Oval Office and the way things are going, he'll go well above those levels.

So we now have another prominent Democrat under an ethics cloud and who was trusted by Obama enough to be offered a cabinet post. The Messiah seems to be one hell of a judge of character to put together this group of ethically challenged misfits.