Barack Obama's First 100 Days - 5/1/2009

From the mail file.

Bruce

Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch Weekly Update:

Every president since FDR has bestowed great importance on the first 100 days of his administration. The first 100 days period is often a good chance for the new president to accomplish some major objectives. And it is a natural time for the nation to begin to take the measure of the man.

So, now that Barack Obama's first 100 days are behind us, I thought it would be worthwhile to take a look at some major themes that have emerged in the early days of his presidency.

Screwed Up Presidential Appointments: Back in February, President Obama admitted he "screwed up" when he appointed former Senator Tom Daschle to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Daschle, it turned out, was a tax evader and a lobbyist rife with conflicts of interest. But Daschle is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Obama's screwed up presidential appointments. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Obama's pick for the Commerce Department, for example, was forced to pull his name from contention when the press reported Richardson was at the center of a grand jury investigation into influence peddling.

Among the other Obama appointments with significant ethical baggage: Eric Holder (Attorney General); Janet Napolitano (Secretary of Homeland Security), Hillary Clinton (Secretary of State), Timothy Geithner (Secretary of Treasury), Greg Craig (White House Counsel), Gary Locke (Secretary of Commerce), and Cecilia Munoz (Director of Inter Governmental Affairs).

Amnesty for Illegal Aliens: We have been waiting a long time for Barack Obama to address the issue of illegal immigration. However, when he finally got around to articulating his plans, we longed for the day when he simply ignored the issue. Obama recently announced his bold plan to provide a "path to citizenship" for the millions of illegal aliens currently residing in the country. (Honest Americans call this "amnesty.") Not only would such policy undermine our very fabric of law, but it will almost certainly lead to a massive flood of illegals coming across the border from Mexico. Of course none of this comes as any surprise considering that Obama's point person on illegal immigration, Cecilia Munoz, once worked for the ultra-radical National Council of La Raza, a racist group that is committed to staging a takeover of the American Southwest and returning it to Mexico.

Okay, we all knew Barack Obama was a big government tax and spender, but did we really think it would ever get this bad this quickly? It took President Bush eight years to run up a $1.9 trillion debt. Obama's proposals hit $4.8 trillion in 100 days, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Money aside, it appears President Obama is using the financial crisis to advance a radical socialist agenda by allowing the federal government to gobble up large stakes in private enterprises. The really troubling part is the fact that no one has any idea how much further Obama is willing to take this campaign. And no one in Congress is putting a stop to it.

Corrupt Connections: During the campaign, the media asked us to forget all about Barack Obama's troubling connections. Domestic terrorist William Ayers, convicted felon Antoin "Tony" Rezko, and the reverend Jeremiah Wright were irrelevant and off limits. And then Judicial Watch obtained a number of documents from Blagojevich's office related to federal investigations involving the former governor, including federal grand jury subpoenas listing key White House advisors and other notable people connected to the national Democratic Party. All of this took place just before Obama took office, which meant that the pitch man for "hope and change" began his presidency under a cloud of suspicion and corruption.

When it comes to the expansion of government power and the guaranteed resulting corruption, the Obama administration is simply out of control. After 100 days of Obama, I'm sure you'll agree Judicial Watch's watchdog role is more important than ever.