Change: The First Three Weeks (It's worse than you thought alert)

American Thinker ^ | February 10, 2009 | Randall Hoven

[Zakeet]

Far be it from me to criticize Barack Obama before he's even had a chance to rule. Well, he's had almost three weeks in office as I write, and some patterns are beginning to emerge. Here is a list of accomplishments 20 days into President Obama's first term.

Prior to taking office.

• Bill Richardson withdrew his nomination for Secretary of Commerce "under pressure of a federal investigation into how his political donors landed a lucrative transportation contract."
• In December, President-elect Obama introduced a $775B stimulus plan, which enjoyed a 79% approval rating in the polls at the time .
• By January 12, the cost of the stimulus was up to $850B and "43% of people surveyed called it a ‘good idea,' while 27% said it is a ‘bad idea.' The rest didn't have an opinion," according to the Wall Street Journal.

January 21. Day One in office, or "Clean Government Day."

• Obama issued an Executive Order on "Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel," which requires Obama's appointees to sign a statement saying they won't violate existing laws on things like gifts from lobbyists. That is, if you work for Obama, you are expected to obey the law. It's a new era.
• Obama issued an Executive Order on "Presidential Records," which makes it easier to obtain former Presidents' documents over objections on grounds of executive privilege. It specifically revokes George W. Bush's Executive Order 13233. If you had been planning to take Bush to court, your job just got a little easier.
• Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum on "Pay Freeze," which says, "I intend to freeze the salaries of senior members of the White House staff", and directs the Assistant to the President and the Chief of Staff to get back to him on that in 30 days. The 30 days aren't up yet, so the freeze level is unknown at this time.
• Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum on the "Freedom of Information Act," which, from what I can tell, does nothing new except direct the Attorney General to issue guidelines "reaffirming the commitment to accountability and transparency." So existing policy is reaffirmed.

January 22, "Be Nice To Terrorists Day."

• Obama issued an Executive Order on "Ensuring Lawful Interrogations," which defines "outrages upon personal dignity (including humiliating and degrading treatment)" as "torture" or the equivalent of torture, and not allowed by any agency of the US government, at least upon persons in custody. (If you are not in custody, it is still OK for the government to humiliate you.) This order also says all interrogations must be in accordance with the Army Field Manual - unless, of course, "the Attorney General with appropriate consultation provides further guidance." I believe waterboarding used to require a go-ahead from the President or Vice President; now Eric Holder is good enough.
• Obama issued an Executive Order on "Closure of Guantanamo Detention Facilities," which says Gitmo "shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than 1 year from the date of this order." It also orders a halt in all military commissions there, while the Gitmo situation gets reviewed.
• Obama issued an Executive Order on "Review of Detention Policy Options," which establishes a task force to study what to do with "individuals captured or apprehended in connection with armed conflicts and counterterrorism operations."
• Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum on the "Review of the Detention of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri," who is being held as an enemy combatant in the Navy brig in Charleston, South Carolina. He is the only enemy combatant known to be held in the continental US. He is a citizen of Qatar, but was arrested in Peoria, Illinois, because, according to the New York Times , "government officials contended that he was an al-Qaeda sleeper agent, sent to the US to commit mass murder and disrupt the banking system." This presidential memorandum says his case should be reviewed, just like all the Gitmo cases. Apparently, the problem is not whether enemy combatants are held in Gitmo or somewhere else; the problem, apparently, is holding those who intend to commit mass murder at all.

January 23, "Be Nice To Abortionists Day."

• Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum on "Mexico City Policy and Assistance for Voluntary Population Planning." The Mexico City Policy was enacted by President Reagan, rescinded by President Clinton and reinstated by President Bush. Now President Obama is rescinding it again. The policy prohibits nongovernmental organizations from using federal funds "to pay for the performance of abortions ... or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions." So rescinding that policy allows US government funds to pay for abortions or to coerce people to have or provide them.

January 26, "Help the US Automobile Industry Go Broke Quicker Day."

• Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum on the "State of California Request for Waiver Under the Clean Air Act." This memorandum orders the EPA to review the decision denying California a waiver to enforce stricter auto emissions standards. If the waiver is granted, California will become the defacto arbiter of auto emissions standards in the US. So in a case of obvious interstate commerce with enormous national economic impact, President Obama rediscovers the value of states' rights.
• Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum on "The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007." This memorandum directs the Secretary of Transportation and the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to do their jobs. Federal law requires that the NHTSA publish a final rule on fuel standards for model year 2011 vehicles by March 30, 2009. This memorandum says the NHTSA must comply with that federal law.

January 27, "Be Nice to Terrorist Lovers and Tax Cheats Day."

• Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum on "Unexpected Urgent Refugee and Migration Needs Related to Gaza." This memorandum directs that up to $20.3 million be used for "humanitarian needs of Palestinian refugees and conflict victims in Gaza." In a totally unrelated story one week later, "Armed police officials with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza seized United Nations refugee supplies at gunpoint."
• Timothy Geithner was confirmed as Secretary of the Treasury. Geithner suffered a short-lived controversy for failure to fully pay taxes. He paid $34,000 in back taxes. After admitting to "careless mistakes" in doing his own taxes, he is now in charge of tax collection for the government of the United States.

January 28, "Bipartisan Schmipartisan Day."

• Obama's stimulus package passed the House with a vote of 244-188. That version of the plan was $819B. All 288 yea votes were from Democrats. The opposition was bipartisan: all 177 Republicans and 11 Democrats.

January 29, "No Statute of Limitations on Anything Day."

• Obama signed into law the "Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act," making it easier to file equal-pay lawsuits. Before, such a lawsuit had to be filed within 180 days of the date the pay was agreed upon. Now the limit is within 180 days of the most recent paycheck. So trial lawyers can now search for pay discrimination decades into the past.
• "A day after President Obama struck a conciliatory tone toward Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged Washington on Wednesday to apologize for its actions toward his country for the past 60 years." Iran has also given the preconditions necessary before talking with Obama: send all US military forces back to the US.

January 30, "Payback the Unions and Keep Joe Busy Day."

• Obama issued an Executive Order on "Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws", which revokes George W. Bush's Executive Order 13201, which forced employers to notify employees of their rights. However, government contractors will be forced to "post a notice, of such size and in such form, and containing such content as the Secretary of Labor shall prescribe, in conspicuous places in and about its plants and offices." So the notices will no longer contain what President Bush wanted them to contain (e.g., their rights under the law), but what the new Secretary of Labor wants them to contain.
• Obama issued an Executive Order on "Economy in Government Contracting", which says government contractors will no longer be reimbursed for "any activities undertaken to persuade employees to exercise or not to exercise" the right to organize and bargain collectively.
• Obama issued an Executive Order on "Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts", which says a government contractor can't just hire who he wants, but must first try to hire the same people who worked for the previous contactor - the contractor who likely lost a competitive bid to the new contractor.
• Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum on "White House Task Force on Middle-Class Working Families." This puts Joe Biden in charge of a task force to "focus on raising the living standards of middle-class working families." The task force must provide annual reports on its findings and recommendations.

February 3, "Being President is Hard Day."

• Tom Daschle withdrew as Secretary of Health and Human Services due to controversy involving failure to fully pay his taxes from 2005 to 2007. He ultimately paid $128,000 in back taxes plus $11,964 in interest. He was also criticized for his lobbying ties to the health industry, after having made over $5 million in the last few years.
• Nancy Killefer withdrew as deputy director at the Office of Management and Budget and the first "performance officer" in the White House due to tax problems, including failure to pay unemployment compensation on household help.
• According to the Financial Times, "India has warned US President Barack Obama that he risks ‘barking up the wrong tree' if he seeks to broker a settlement between Pakistan and India over the disputed territory of Kashmir... the new US administration was in danger of dredging up out of date Clinton administration-era strategies... The warning comes as Richard Holbrooke, Mr Obama's special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, prepares to come to the region for the first time."
• Support for Obama's stimulus package, now flirting with a $900B price tag, fell to 37%, according to Rasmussen.
• Iran denied visas to the US Women's Badminton Team, sent by the US in hopes of easing tensions between the two countries.

February 4, "More Socialized Medicine Day."

• Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum on "State Children's Health Insurance Program." This memorandum withdraws previous limits on the flexibility of states to set income eligibility standards for SCHIP.

February 5, "Community Organizing, Low-Flow Coffee-Makers and Trade-War Day."

• Obama issued an Executive Order on "Amendments to Executive Order 13199 and Establishment of the President's Advisory Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships." For some reason, the phrase "community initiatives" will be replaced with "neighborhood partnerships" throughout all language on the initiative. Whatever "neighborhood partnerships" are, they have equal footing with faith-based ones. In other words, the local Planned Parenthood or ACORN center will be treated like a house of God, in the eyes of the federal government.
• Obama issued a Presidential memorandum on "Appliance Efficiency Standards." This memorandum directs the Secretary of Energy to do his or her job. The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, and a later court decree, require the DOE to issue efficiency standards for appliances by certain dates. This memorandum says DOE should comply with the Act of 1975 and the later court decree.
• According to Time, "Europe's euphoria over Barack Obama is fading fast. As Congress wrangles over the President's $819 billion stimulus package, a ‘buy American' clause has the European Union threatening legal action and retaliatory sanctions and opening up the prospect of an explosive trade war."

February 6. "Be Even Nicer to Unions and Terrorists Day."

• Obama issued an Executive Order on "Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects", which revokes President Bush's Executive Orders 13202 and 13208. This new order encourages federal executives to require government contractors and subcontractors to use union-organized labor.
• Pakistan released Abdul Qadeer Khan from custody. Khan was the father of Pakistan's bomb and also provided plans for nuclear weapons to Iran, Libya and North Korea. He is considered a major nuclear proliferation threat.
• In response to President Obama's Executive Order of January 22, charges were dropped against Gitmo detainee Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, an al-Qaida suspect in the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000, which killed 17 US sailors.

February 8. "Republican Moderates to the Rescue of the Rescue Day."

• The AP reports that the stimulus package is still in some trouble in the Senate. The Senate version costs $827B, or just $8B more than the House version, after having been pared back from $900B, supposedly, due to the influence of a handful of Republican moderates. That is, in the House, zero Republicans supported the stimulus, and its cost was $819B. But in the Senate, due to support from a handful of Republican moderates, the cost will only be $827B. That is how Republican moderates compromise.
• Yemen released 170 al-Qaida suspects.

I should also report on the progress of the Democratic Congress. Here is what the House did already in 2009:

• Established January 2009 as "National Stalking Awareness Month."
• Supported the ideals of "National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week."
• Established a redress process for individuals, such as suspected terrorists, wrongly delayed or prohibited from boarding a flight.
• Reauthorized SCHIP.
• Delayed digital TV.
• Encouraged states to report to the feds information regarding people who die in the custody of state law enforcement agencies.

President Obama also said many words in these first 20 days: press conferences, speeches and op-ed pieces, but I left these out of the above list in order to concentrate on actions rather than words. (To my knowledge, Obama did not complete another autobiography in the last three weeks.)

I probably missed a few things, but I think you get the drift. Undo whatever Bush did. Expect appointees to obey the law, with a mulligan given for first-time offenses less than $128,000. Pay back Democratic special interests like unions, trial lawyers and Planned Parenthood. Define "bipartisanship" as inviting Republicans to lunch and telling them, "I won." Spend really, really huge amounts of other people's money. Make terrorism a law enforcement issue instead of a national defense issue. And watch terrorists and nuclear proliferators be released, from Pakistan to Yemen to Gitmo.

President Obama has lived up to my expectations.

I believe these first 21 days could best be summarized in the immortal words of Mark Steyn, who said, "We have nothing to hope for but hope itself."

[Nachum]

The List

First president not to attend The Inaugural Medal of Honor Ball
Many exectutive orders the first week in office. Including
* -allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians with ties to Hamas to resettle in the United States.
* - Scrapping the Mexico City Policy that protected taxpayers from involvement in overseas abortions for eight years. Obama will send hundreds of millions of dollars to groups that aggressively promote abortions on a worldwide scale.
Obama issued Executive Order "Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects", revoking Bush Executive Orders 13202 and 13208. The new order encourages federal executives to require government contractors and subcontractors to use union-organized labor.
Obama issues Executive Order "Amendments to Executive Order 13199 Establishment of the President's Advisory Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.". Neighborhood partnerships" have equal footing with faith-based ones. The local Planned Parenthood or ACORN center will be treated like a house of God, in the eyes of the federal government.
First official phone call to Abbas
Insults China
First interview, with foreign news outlet- for Muslims
Talks about his muslim family
Picks fight with Limbaugh
Won't take question from press
Allows to FDA approve first human embryonic stem cell safety trial (3 days after Pres. Bush left)
Excludes any compromise with GOP on Stimulus bill Massive pork in stimulus bill
5% of stimulus bill to actually go to infrastructure
Offers to negotiate directly with Iran
Puts 5 millionairs on his cabinet
Makes a tax cheat the Sec. of the Treasury
Bombs Pakistan
Argues with the Pope on abortion
Signed the SCHIP bill, that gives health care to illegals
Won't allow a video of his retaking of the oath of office
Ordered the closure of Gitmo
Halts all pending Bush regulations
Second week:
Appoints extremist Samantha Powers to head foreign policy team
Secret nuke talks with Iran/Syria
Appoints tax cheat for commerce secretary
Illegal alien aunt, granted a "stay" of deportation Daschle the tax cheat/lobbiest proposed as secretary for health care
Nancy Killefer for candidacy to be the first chief performance officer for federal government fails to pay household help taxes ...withdrawn
Obama brings the U.S. Census Bureau under White House jurisdiction under protest from Republican lawmakers
12 lobbyists (or more) appointed to high gov't positions within the first 14 days of his administration (up to 17 by another source)
Administration demands defense cuts of 10% during wartime
Obama envoy George Mitchell tells Palistinians " they believe can extract from Israel concessions reaching "much further" than during talks held under the previous administration
The European Union warns the US yesterday against plunging the world into depression by adopting Obama's “Buy American” policy, intensifying fears of a trade war Obama immediately backs down from policy
After stating her priority would be "mum-in-chief", Michelle Obama goes on listening tour and then makes political speeches with her husband not yet one month in office...
George Mitchell resigns from a Saudi Lobbying firm, two weeks into his appointment as "Special Middle East Envoy"
Obama administration says it will cancel 77 drilling leases near Utah parks
Ogden, President Obama's pick for deputy attorney general, used to represent Playboy
Steven Chu, Obama's secretary of energy (not a climatologist) states: California's farms and vineyards could vanish by the end of the century, and its major cities could be in jeopardy, if Americans do not act to slow the advance of global warming
Obama names “most fined” Washington State bureaucrat Ron Simms to the #2 position in HUD
Hilda Solis, Obama's pick for labor secretary's husband is found to be a tax cheat just before the confirmation vote
Directed military prosecutors to revoked charges pending against mastermind of USS Cole bombing: Al Nashiri
Adding insult to injury: speaks to families of USS Cole dead, after decision to free Al Nashiri- not before

Third week in office

Obama changes the setup of the National Security Councel by executive order
Shauna Daly, professional “dirt digger” hired as “White House councel research director”
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel got free housing from House rep (D) Rosa DeLauro for 5 years . DeLauro is married to Stan Greenberg; a pollster (Quinlin Rosner Research) with lucrative contracts from both that representatives.
A Syrian paper reported that the Obama U.S. Dept. of Commerce agreed to sell plane parts to Syria
A lawyer for the Obama administration surprised a panel of federal appeals judges by making an argument to preserve state secrets in a trial regarding terrorism subjects. This argument was made, after repeatedly attacking the Bush administration for doing the same thing.
President Obama said Monday that "only government" can shake the country out of recession, as he tried to settle doubts about his administration's costly economic recovery package during a prime-time press conference.

[FarRightFanatic]

Stunning, just stunning. Bookmarking this and sending to everyone I know.

And we still have YEARS of his rule - I mean presidency - to live through!

[N2Gems]

ping

[DoughtyOne]

That was a good one wasn’t it. He drove the left crazy with that move. Remembering he was the President of the Screen Actor’s Guild, it’s rather interesting that he saw that one so clearly.

[DoughtyOne]

Obama has one goal with this bill. It’s a complete takeover of the United States for the Socialist/Marxist Democrat party. This bill will not restore jobs, fix the economy, or anything other than to bury this nation in so many additional gifts to the public, that the U.S. will be unable to pay for it, and a large segment of the public will be unable to vote for anyone but the Democrats who bear presents at every turn.

If Obama were an adult, he might be slick enough to pull this off without much downside. IMO, he isn’t going to be able to fool the adults in the room for long.

Look at the stock market today. Obama’s press conference yesterday was a complete disaster. The media may try to tell us what it wants us to think, but the underlying support for these policies will vaporize.

The majority of citizens can only be so dumb. IMO, they can’t be dumb enough to miss Obama’s vacuous intellect, and the disaster his policies will bring upon this nation.

Look at the phone calls to the U.S. Capital. They are hundreds to one against Obama’s policy.

He’s not selling this to anyone except three dumb ass RINOs in Washington, D.C.

[a fool in paradise]

Challenge the constitutionality of it all.

[Allegra]

I never hear BO talk where he doesn't have a little whiny comment about how it's not his fault, he inherited the problems. I'm so sick of it. It's his stupid dimwitocrat buddies and their socialist agenda that got us into this mess.

Exactly. The problems he whines about inheriting were largely put in place by that incompetent branch of government called "Congress."

[browardchad]

If Obama were an adult, he might be slick enough to pull this off without much downside. IMO, he isn’t going to be able to fool the adults in the room for long.

I hope you're right, but I'm not quite that optimistic. There are, unfortunately, far too many voters who also don't think like adults, and a media that is only too happy to accommodate their ignorance.

Bottom line, IMO? Much more pain to come.

[KansasGirl]

Bookmark

[KansasGirl]

Where do I get a shirt?

[Kackikat]

And wasn’t BHO a member of the Senate for past few years? It appears he was part of problem, and not part of the solution.

[DoughtyOne]

Well, if our side doesn’t stand up to Obama and block this, then the Constitutional question will be very hard to raise and push through. I’m not against it, but look where the birth certificate question went. Absolutely nowhere.

[DoughtyOne]

I heartily agree that there is much more pain to come. We’re only a few weeks into the start of this nimnal’s rule.

[william clark]

Just click on the linked image in the posting. It’ll take you the cafepress store where that design and some other potential “Freepwear” is available.

[Colonial Warrior]

[neverdem]

thanks, bfl

[El Gato]

Short of putting goose stepping troops on the streets to ensure control, Obama and the nation’s media are heading into very dark territory

Short of? That sounds like about as dark as the territory can get. Very hard on those "troops" though.

[Ciexyz]

I agree with postponing the digital changeover.

[olivia3boys]

The town hall meeting of Obama’s? Where the guy complained he was working at McD’s and the woman wanted a new kitchen and bathroom?

I’ve read lots of books about Jonestown and Peoples Temple, and seen lots of documentaries (I’m fascinated/horrified by what Jim Jones was able to do).

The guy and the woman at the town hall meeting sounded EXACTLY as Jim Jones’ followers did. And they addressed Obama in exactly the same way (ie, “Thank you, thank you; we are so blessed to have you, take care of us, etc.”).

Truly frightening.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks neverdem.