Obama: My Bad

This is promising:

Obama: My Bad

If only for the change in tone. I voted for Obama. This is one of the reasons.

ProTip to people seeking public service: Hire a tax accountant. If you have help around the house, make sure you handle everything above board. Also, once you hire the tax accountant, make sure you disclose everything. It will save everybody a lot of grief and you’ll get the job.

See also: Obama calls for ‘Common Sense’ on Executive Pay.

  • http://daddyscratches.com DaddyScratches

    Couldn’t agree with you more. After watching W refuse to take responsibility for any mistakes (and there were plenty to choose from) made during his reign, I was heartened to see Obama man up on the new last night. Much better way to deal with these things than to act pigheaded and dig in one’s heels (sound familiar?).

    And I also agree about the tax accountant. How do they keep bitching that up so badly?

  • http://daddyscratches.com DaddyScratches

    (Also: I like Heather’s “Preview Comment” thing; it helps slow folks like me keep from submitting typos … like “new” instead of “news.” Just sayin’.)

  • makfan

    While I agree that executive compensation is totally out of control, I am not sure passing a law capping the CEO pay at any arbitrary level will help. It seems like there will be all sorts of unintended consequences.

    Still, what kind of businesses pays bonuses after receiving bailout money? I guess the definition of “bonus” has changed a lot from when I entered the workforce.

    • http://blurbomat.com blurb

      I believe this is called playing hardball. It’s also political window dressing. Most Americans view investment bankers as overpaid. That $18 Billion US bonus payout is nuts when they are getting handouts.

      Compensation for bankers has been off the hook for at least 2.5 decades. Maybe it’s time for some reality?

      I don’t think that half a million is “arbitrary”. CEO pay in the US is an atrocity. I don’t care how much you “create” as a CEO, you are doing it on the backs of your employees and that’s where the bulk of compensation should go. I think it’s time for the CEO worship in the U.S. to stop. This market crisis will help, hopefully.

      • http://vtol.blogspot.com PassTheChips

        Warren Buffet’s proposal of only paying bonuses based upon a three to four year period (i.e., clawbacks) is the place I think we are and should be headed (hopefully not through legislation).

      • makfan

        You are probably right about it being hardball.

        I think the only CEO worship is in the corporate boardroom. The directors approve these outrageous contracts, with the help of the disgusting compensation consultants, but who wants to vote no? You might not get asked to serve on the board next year.

  • http://www.level343.com/ Gabriella

    I have to agree with makfan — as much as I believe in capitalism in its most generic form (whatever that means), I am not sure one can hold compensation without being considered socialism…but that’s not my point.

    I am not a citizen of this country, even though I have been here long enough to get one (another story). However, what I find shameful is how many people in this administration are as bad as the last one.

    The way I see it, I can assure you, if I made mistakes on my taxes, the government would not be as lenient as they have been with these politicians. After all, isn’t that what vetting candidates is about?

    • http://blurbomat.com blurb

      Would you care to provide examples of the people in this administration who are as bad as the last one?

      Cheney, Rumsfeld, Arrington et al have some really big shoes to fill ;-) .

  • mayiwrite

    This is probably as best as we can expect from the current system, which wasn’t purged the instant Obama became president. I look at people’s achievements and tend to give them the benefit of the doubt. Obama appointed highly capable people; people accepted. People got called out; people stepped down. Obama openly takes the blame. I respect that.

    I still believe Obama. It’s been just over two weeks since he took the Oath of Office. Two weeks is not a lot of time, but he’s gotten some big things done. The hope is renewed, but the healing is just going to take a lot longer. Weeding out ALL the corruption isn’t entirely realistic, and what can happen is not going to happen right away.

    I like what Obama said about double-standards. That’s why he said he screwed up. Rule of Law is Rule of Law, for common citizens and government alike. It’s gonna take time. He’s on it.

    • makfan

      I do respect Obama for accepting blame and for his comments about double-standards.

  • mandee75

    I also feel that it is so refreshing to hear someone in Washinton say, I made a mistake! I also feel that those he chose to join his era of hope let him down. They had a responsibility to let him know what skeletons they had in their closet. It’s disapointing that SO many politicians have so many SCREWUPS!

  • nobody

    Very strange case — the infractions were subject to interpretation, certainly less clear-cut than Geithner’s. The lobbying stuff is par for the course, and not a path Congress wants to close down. Hillary’s conflicts at State (with Bill’s foreign fundraising) are a lot more serious. And the DC system of double standards was invented by and for guys like Daschle.

    I don’t think we have the full story on what happened here.

    I think Obama is discovering that his campaign statements about Washington culture overlooked a lot of complexities. The problem isn’t regulation, it’s the lack of real elections in the House, the use of language to obfuscate events, the insistence on “moral absolutes” with very poor grounding, and the refusal to think seriously about constraints. The size of government doesn’t help any, either. All that creates the motive and opportunity for abuse — which, people being what they are, is exploited.

    I hope he finds his feet quickly, this isn’t going very well.

    • http://blurbomat.com blurb

      I don’t think we have the full story, either. Still, for a sitting President to say the words, “I screwed up”. That alone is refreshing. I doubt we’ll ever know the full story.

      I’m liking the idea of appointing two separate people and one of them is a governor. I’d love it down to my liberal toes if the Oregon governor would take the spot.

      • nobody

        Kennedy-esque, even. And reminescent of Lincoln, an Obama hero.

        I would be very surprised if anyone else got the dual-role appointment. That was very unusual, and actually quite dangerous to the President’s control of his own Administration — a fact that may have played a role in the real story.

  • linuxchik

    I agree, very refreshing. I still think we’ve all tuned into an episode of Hypnotoad, though.
    http://​r33b​.net/

  • wendy93639

    I have always told my kids as they were growing up, “You WILL screw up. Just fess up if you fuck up.” I think that’s a great motto for the new administration.

    It’s so much easier to fix if we just fess up to the fuck up and go from there.

    We are all human after all, and it’s better if we act that way. No more holier than thou administration bullshit. Just plain, honest, we are all in this together administration will suffice.

  • steve-o

    In all fairness though, don’t you think Obama should have done a little homework on the candidates BEFORE he put them up for nomination? I’m all for people man-ing up to their mistakes and I applaud Obama for doing so, it is a breath of fresh air? But when 3 of the nominees for cabinet posts have issues with paying their taxes, I have to be suspicious. I also have to be suspicious when the president signs an executive order stating that if you’ve lobbied for something in the past two years, you can’t be considered for a position relating to whichever it was that you were lobbying for, and then nominates William Lynn, current VP of Ratheon, I have to be worried.

    Are we getting the change we were promised, or is Obama speaking out of both sides of his mouth. I’m ok with owning up to mistakes, but what I don’t want is a list of things to need to own up to.

    I don’t expect Obama to be perfect, but I do expect him to not be making stupid mistakes this early in the game. Because what it seems like, is that he’s sorry he got caught.

    • makfan

      I think that since Congress passes the damn complicated tax laws, they ought to at least be able to obey them…

    • http://blurbomat.com blurb

      I believe these were calculated risks. There was good vetting, but the climate and tone wouldn’t allow a squeak through.

      I don’t think this was a stupid mistake on Obama’s or his team’s part. This is people who should know better not having their shit dialed in.

  • http://misterfurious.blogspot.com Mr Furious

    Makfan,

    Those restrictions are only on CEOs whose companies took bailout money—I have absolutely NO PROBLEM with limiting compensation for those people.

    The $500,000 may have been arbitrary, or just a good-sounding number, but it brings the CEO/worker compensation ratio down from the recent ungodly 500:1 to a more equitable 25:1—like executives in the 60s did just fine with…

  • http://faydean.typepad.com faydean

    I’m concerned Jon though that you’re not seeing the forest for the trees here…

    Obama ran on change…hope…outting the old Washington practices etc. If you keep saying that his problems with nominations, the lobbying thing etc. aren’t “as bad” as Bush, then what are we changing?

    That’s the problem I keep hearing from liberals…they are so desperate for THEIR change, that they aren’t admitting that it really is no change at all. You can’t say they (the Bush years) were REALLY bad…so this bad thing isn’t as bad. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Like you giving Cheney etc. as counter to Obama’s people. What does that accomplish? Not being sarcastic or anything, I just don’t see how that is making things better. You either have to say NONE of this crap or admit you can’t avoid it, ya know…ie change the ethical atmosphere of Washington.

    He’s really not doing well in just the first couple of weeks. He’s made some very bad choices already, not only with nominations (Richardson and Ogden included) but now these four with tax issues and conflict of interests, I’m including Paneta (sp?). The letter to Iran was a huge mistake…they countered with “we think he’s weak”, like a foreign policy expert on the Middle East couldn’t have seen that one coming. And the bashing of CEOs too. Whether you agree philosophically on whether CEOs earn too much, it simply isn’t the job (or should it be) to limit people’s earnings…anyones earnings. That is definitely a socialist tenet and very dangerous to mess with. What is one man’s greedy wealth is another’s applicable compensation. You can’t possibly find a logical agreement on that. And it would take so little for that judgement to be misused.

    Why is Daschle a screwup but the rest aren’t?

    I’m being serious here Jon, political party aside, don’t you find that very concerning…that Obama would distinguish between one improperly paid tax versus another? They are all serious…or would be for you or I.

    And today’s op-ed piece in the Post was just horrible. First he uses very excessively negative language that sounded as if he was trying to scare the entire country…or extort his policy proposals into being passed no matter what…and then he basically says, no he definitely said, that the people voted for him (yet again he said it) so that makes his plan right. First off, the President should never purposefully use negative language in order to instill fear into the populous. I mean hell, doesn’t he think people are already scared without him telling them as their leader that we’re screwed? Doesn’t exactly come off as a Dr. Phil moment, ya know. It seemed very unpresidential. If you listen to historical speeches of presidents in tough times, they are somber…they do not dance around the gravity of a situation. But the good ones, try and instill hope and confidence. Obama did that as a candidate…now, well, he’s failing to use that some rhetoric. But now he’s commander in chief, so that lofty language is needed MORE now than then. He’s coming across, to many on both sides, as still running as a candidate when he speaks to the American people.

    And I think many could agree that just because he won doesn’t mean that he gets a blank check. It sounds very, almost, childish to keep reminding us that he won…like a whining kid not getting his way. A democracy doesn’t run like that. It is right and fair and the system IS working when these things are hashed out and no one side gets their way completely. I’m actually more pleased with Congress this past week and a half than I have been in years. It’s doing what it’s supposed to (if Pelosi and Reid will let it).

    He’s been on tv ALOT…like scary alot, like you can’t turn on the tv and he’s not holding another press conference alot. That isn’t making him look strong, it’s making him look scared…trying too hard and really over-exposed. People are going to start tuning him out if he doesn’t back off a bit.

    And tonight I was watching O’Reilly (shocking I know, lol) and all of the sudden they broke into the show for him (shocker) holding yet another televised speech (that’s four just today Jon…I didn’t see Bush this much on tv in eight years, LOL). Anyway, he was nearly yelling the speech…at America it seemed…then he got nearly teary…it was too emotional, too, amateur and sort of unnerving to watch him, like a bad reality show. He was very flustered and anxious looking. Newcasters, not only on Fox, but also CNN noted his demeanor and said it wasn’t very Presidential. It wasn’t. He looked as if he was floundering.

    That is very dangerous to the security of our country. Other nations are watching this kind of thing…him saying he messed up after only two weeks. And these nations are chomping at the bit to just have their way with us.

    He needs to take a breath, step back, let this process play out…be more supportive without being so inclusive (meaning him putting himself into the middle of the debate so much). This really is up to Congress…he can only support or not support the legislation they send him. Until then, he needs to just chill. Where did chill Obama go? Right now he looks like Obama who needs a valium. And I’m not being just “I don’t like Obama” here…I’m very serious in the impression that the guy is giving off the appearance of maybe having bit off more than he can chew.

    And lastly, in this climate, as you said, NOTHING in terms of financial misconduct can be or should be allowed…including Geitner. That was not good, seriously. Most Americans would say that pissed them off I think. I’m not sure why so many of these nominations have such easily vetted questionable tax issues. That is very, VERY concerning. They should audit the entire Congress…that would pay off our deficit probably, the back taxes and interest, LOL.

    It’s even more disconcerting when you have it happening in the administration who promised to not allow any such thing. He either has to stick to what he said or falter…he might not get exactly who or what he wants by sticking to what he vowed (ie make them step down and look for another candidate) but at least he would prove his integrity. Right now that’s in serious question, I think from many on BOTH sides.

    I will throw you the bone, lol, that it is refreshing language from a President…but not necessarily one that is appropriate perhaps ;) .

    Just wanna throw out there that I was being as unharsh in a very I hate Obama way as I could in this post (I know…wow, um, like where). I’m just trying to open your eyes maybe to some of his weaknessess. I was very impressed that some of the comments here, from his supporters, were easily critical of him. That makes me less scared in case he isn’t good for the country…no blind allegiance and willing opposition if need be. I’d feel that about anyone in the office though.

    • http://blurbomat.com blurb

      I’ll only comment to the one on topic thing in your rant:

      ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO HAVE A POSITION IN PUBLIC SERVICE NEEDS TO HIRE A CPA AND BE HONEST ABOUT THEIR TAXES.

      Other points: off topic.

      • http://faydean.typepad.com faydean

        Fine Jon.

        Sorry for expounding too much. I keep thinking we will actually have a dialogue about this stuff, but you obviously just disagree with me so much it is not possible.

        If you’d rather I not comment, then I won’t. There is a bias from you automatically on anything I respond with that simply keeps the debate closed between us.

        That’s fine. It’s your blog.

        I had just got done discussing these very issues with a liberal friend, rather in depth, right before I posted this last night, so I guess I was energized by the topic. And my “rant” as you called it, was just my take on things. I was curious as to your view. Guess I’ll have to continue to be curious or wait until you expound in another post. From now on, since you really seem to have a very negative reaction to my comments, I think I’ll just stop making them. Saves me from feeling shamed for even trying to engage, ya know.

        • http://blurbomat.com blurb

          STOP.

          Stop assigning the wrong meaning to my responses (or lack of response). Stop jumping to conclusions about what my responses mean. Stop being passive aggressive.

          I don’t have a negative reaction. Just stay ON TOPIC. We aren’t discussing moron pundits in this post. Yes, I’m name calling O’Reilly. MORON.

          The topic at hand: Obama saying he screwed up and the DUMBASS appointees for not being on top of their tax situation.

          I value your opinion. Even when it’s wrong. JOKE. Even when we disagree. Jesus.

          • http://faydean.typepad.com faydean

            You’re totally right Jon.

            I can be that…passive aggressive.

            Shouldn’t have even responded to ya this morning. I was prepping to go meet with my child principal’s and teacher and I was already defensive due to the anxiety.

            Now that I had the meeting and I totally don’t think they are trying to hang my sweet child out to dry, I feel less frantic and on guard. I read your response now and don’t feel the same way. I gotta stop responding to things online after being pumped by stuff I’ve got on my mind! Never serves me well for sure.

            Your first paragraph, I SWEAR…sounded so much like a friend of mine of 15 years who I chat with weekly! Made me laugh…and he and I had the biggest fight this week too, LOL. I swear, I must be a pip to deal with in real life. Poor people around me. If he and I were talking, he totally laugh that you, who does not know me from Adam, pegged me that quick.

            Sorry Jon…again. As I just told the principal…I see your point, I accept what you’re saying and I will try and work on that, ha, ha. I hate talking to principals!!!