PRESIDENTIAL "CRAM DOWN" ANNOUNCED

First of all, I would like to congratulate President Obama and making a statement that too few Presidents have made. It was in regards to the botched nominations of Daschle and what's-her-face. He took full responsibility for the mistakes in the "vetting" process; he didn't duck the fact that the buck did stop at his desk on that one, so that's a point in his favor this morning, as far as I'm concerned.

Standing by his side, ironically, was Tim Geithner, the new Secretary of the Treasury who had his own tax problems and managed to get confirmed. No further comment on this irony.

Obama went on to suggest that the current economic crisis was the fault of the business executives who were busy in their self-serving ways. Well, I certainly would not disagree that they have some culpability in this mess, but the real people responsible are FRAP, (Frankfarter, Reid and Pelosi), and the House Financial Oversight Committee of which Frankfarter is Chairman. Although that is well-established fact, I think the Prez was trying to justify his capping of executive wages at $500,000 for those firms who accept government money.

Right away, FOX News concluded that other major and successful companies will be out there trying to hire away those execs frozen at the $500,000 level. I don't think that will happen. If you were the Chairman or on the Board of a successful corporation that didn't need government handouts to operate, why would you hire some President-CEO of a company that was in financial trouble to replace your own successful President? Actually, I don't disagree with the Prez on this one; I think it sends a good and strong message.

So far in this post, he's batting two for three. But now, however, he steps into real doo doo.

He's been saying, as he's been pushing his economic stimulus package, that he wants Congress to review it and pull out the stuff that's not really "stimulus." Today, however, he reversed himself and told Congress flat out to quit playing games with it and to get it passed by next week. Obviously, he wants it passed in its current $900 billion form, pork and all and including the probability that ACORN will get up to $5 billion of it.

Now, how does THAT grab your buttocks?