US president slams into political reality
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AP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 05, 2009 00:00
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama slammed into Washington's unforgiving politics at the end of only his second week in office, as two of his key government nominees withdrew under a cloud of tax problems.
The messy political developments threatened to blunt Obama's effort to take his economic message to the American people through a series of interviews with every national television network Tuesday.
The president is trying to move an $800 billion-plus economic stimulus program through Congress, but has so far been unable to gain the bipartisan support he had hoped would define his presidency. The television appearances were seen as an effort to speak more directly to U.S. voters who are feeling the pain of the worst U.S. economic decline in 80 years. But the day's political developments served as a major distraction.
Former Sen. Tom Daschle pulled out Tuesday as Obama's pick as Health and Human Services secretary, citing a growing chorus of criticism over his failure to fully pay taxes from 2005 through 2007. He has since paid more than $140,000 including interest. Obama, normally the picture of calm and confidence, performed mea culpas in a series of TV interviews following Daschle's withdrawal. "I screwed up," Obama declared.
Growing anger
"It's important for this administration to send a message that there aren't two sets of rules - you know, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes," Obama said in one of a series of interviews with TV anchors. Obama was also taking steps in response to the growing public anger over revelations in recent days that Wall Street firms paid more than $18 billion in bonuses in the midst of the severe economic downturn in 2008.
The Obama administration plans to limit pay to $500,000 a year for executives of government-assisted financial institutions in a new get-tough approach to bankers and Wall Street, a senior administration official said Tuesday.
Daschle's departure was a deep blow to the White House because it not only cost Obama his services as a Cabinet secretary, but removed him from the second important role he was to play in shepherding through Congress the administration's plans to overhaul the nation's health care system - one of Obama's top campaign pledges.
News of the former Senate majority leader's withdrawal broke just hours after Nancy Killefer pulled her candidacy to be the first chief performance officer for the federal government, saying she didn't want her failure to submit payroll taxes for household help to be a distraction for the president. She had faced but subsequently settled a Washington tax lien of $946.69 on her home. A day after saying the nominee had his full support, despite the tax troubles, Obama said he accepted Daschle's withdrawal.
"Tom made a mistake, which he has openly acknowledged," Obama said. "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." White House press secretary later insisted Killefer and Daschle decided on their own to withdraw.
Clean administration
The Obama White House has set itself for intense ethics scrutiny and was not backing down despite the reversals suffered Tuesday over Daschle and Killefer. In his daily briefing with reporters, Gibbs insisted Obama was determined to run a clean administration. "The bar that we set (on ethics) is the highest that any administration in the country has ever set," he said under intense questioning about the withdrawals.
Sandwiched between the withdrawals and the interviews, Obama took the highly unusual step of nominating a third Republican to his Cabinet - Sen. Judd Gregg as commerce secretary. Presidents rarely rely as heavily on figures from the opposition party to fill government slots. The other Republicans in the Obama Cabinet are Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
The president is trying to move an $800 billion-plus economic stimulus program through Congress, but has so far been unable to gain the bipartisan support he had hoped would define his presidency. The television appearances were seen as an effort to speak more directly to U.S. voters who are feeling the pain of the worst U.S. economic decline in 80 years. But the day's political developments served as a major distraction.
Former Sen. Tom Daschle pulled out Tuesday as Obama's pick as Health and Human Services secretary, citing a growing chorus of criticism over his failure to fully pay taxes from 2005 through 2007. He has since paid more than $140,000 including interest. Obama, normally the picture of calm and confidence, performed mea culpas in a series of TV interviews following Daschle's withdrawal. "I screwed up," Obama declared.
Growing anger
"It's important for this administration to send a message that there aren't two sets of rules - you know, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes," Obama said in one of a series of interviews with TV anchors. Obama was also taking steps in response to the growing public anger over revelations in recent days that Wall Street firms paid more than $18 billion in bonuses in the midst of the severe economic downturn in 2008.
The Obama administration plans to limit pay to $500,000 a year for executives of government-assisted financial institutions in a new get-tough approach to bankers and Wall Street, a senior administration official said Tuesday.
Daschle's departure was a deep blow to the White House because it not only cost Obama his services as a Cabinet secretary, but removed him from the second important role he was to play in shepherding through Congress the administration's plans to overhaul the nation's health care system - one of Obama's top campaign pledges.
News of the former Senate majority leader's withdrawal broke just hours after Nancy Killefer pulled her candidacy to be the first chief performance officer for the federal government, saying she didn't want her failure to submit payroll taxes for household help to be a distraction for the president. She had faced but subsequently settled a Washington tax lien of $946.69 on her home. A day after saying the nominee had his full support, despite the tax troubles, Obama said he accepted Daschle's withdrawal.
"Tom made a mistake, which he has openly acknowledged," Obama said. "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." White House press secretary later insisted Killefer and Daschle decided on their own to withdraw.
Clean administration
The Obama White House has set itself for intense ethics scrutiny and was not backing down despite the reversals suffered Tuesday over Daschle and Killefer. In his daily briefing with reporters, Gibbs insisted Obama was determined to run a clean administration. "The bar that we set (on ethics) is the highest that any administration in the country has ever set," he said under intense questioning about the withdrawals.
Sandwiched between the withdrawals and the interviews, Obama took the highly unusual step of nominating a third Republican to his Cabinet - Sen. Judd Gregg as commerce secretary. Presidents rarely rely as heavily on figures from the opposition party to fill government slots. The other Republicans in the Obama Cabinet are Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.