Obama’s Honeymoon is Over

It is never just one thing that causes us to say, “It’s over.”  It wasn’t just Daschle and his taxes.  It was also Geithner and his taxes and Killefer and her taxes and Richardson and his grand jury and a few lobbyists named to top jobs.

But more importantly it is the stimulus and the other players on the world’s stage.

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) said today, “It doesn’t treat the disease; just the symptoms.” 

He’s a doctor.

Coburn also said of the stimulus bill, “I don’t think the president has read it.”

Coburn said the stimulus will probably pass “but it won’t work, it won’t be successful.”

In Russia, President Medvedev gave Kyrgyzstan a $2 Billion loan and asked them to close the U.S. air base on their soil….

That air base feeds the U.S. and NATO war effort in Afghanistan…..

Iran has launched a satellite and North Korea says it will launch a rocket that can hit the U.S.

So now the BBC agrees with our assessment that the Obama honeymoon is over….

Related:
Many Obama Plans Could Suffer As Players End Their Seasons, Situations Change

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By James Coomarasamy
BBC News, Washington

It was beginning to look rather awkward for President Obama.

To have one high profile nominee – Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner – reveal a tax problem was bad enough.

But when it emerged last Friday that his Health and Human Services Secretary-designate, Tom Daschle, had failed to pay around $130,000 (£90,000) in taxes on a car and chauffeur he had been provided by a business associate, a pattern of careless vetting seemed to be emerging.

And Tom Daschle was not just any nominee.

The popular former Senate Majority Leader was, in many ways, Barack Obama’s Washington mentor.

Inside knowledge

It was Mr Daschle who persuaded the young man (who began his US Senate career just as Mr Daschle was ending his) not to delay his run for the White House.

And it was Mr Daschle who provided him with key inside knowledge and key members of staff – especially in the early caucus state of Iowa – to help him get there.

This closeness explains, perhaps, why the initial reaction of the President and Senate Democrats was to stand by their man.

On Monday, President Obama said he “absolutely” backed Mr Daschle.

Read the rest:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7868753.stm

The BBC article ends:
The significance of Tuesday’s decision may recede with time, but it was undoubtedly Barack Obama’s worst day in office.

One that looks like the end of an initial honeymoon period for a President who has raised expectations to a level that is already proving hard to meet.