Obama: "I am Responsible".

Obama knows he will not be blamed for the actions of the AIG executives and board of directors. But, he is also not confessing to engaging in a war against a failing economy without an army in Treasury to fight it. Pres. Obama has been remiss in getting his treasury nominees through the Senate confirmation process, and that post haste from day one. If Pres. Obama has been waiting on the Senate, he has failed to become lobbyist in chief to hasten the Senate process along.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner may, or may not, be the right person for the job. To date, there isn't a detailed comprehensive plan for dealing with the toxic assets on financial corporate balance sheets, to judge Geithner as Secretary. Media, hating a vacuum of information, has taken to Geithner's past role as New York's Federal Reserve governor to fill the void and the controversy and debate over Geithner's past is distracting the Obama administration from the tasks at hand, consuming media cycles on topics other than those planned, and causing Pres. Obama to expend political capital on what otherwise should be a surge ahead in putting the financial crisis in the past.

President Obama has been in office almost 2 months. A very short time in a 4 year presidency, but, no doubt, a very long time for those in the White House and especially the undermanned, understaffed, Treasury Department. Pres. Obama is responsible for this, and saying one will take responsibility is different than taking the actions to remedy that for which one is responsible. President Obama said today, he is responsible. Now, let's see if he takes the bull by the horns and wrestles it to the ground, demonstrating an ability to respond appropriately to the situation. America is watching, Pres. Obama; supporters and adversaries alike.

My definition of responsibility is having the ability to respond appropriately to the circumstance one finds oneself in. To fight a war, one must have the manpower to succeed. The Treasury Department is at the front lines of this war against the recession, faltering banks, and other financial institutions. And the Treasury Department does not yet have the manpower to win this battle. Ultimately, the responsibility is yours, Mr. President. And we won't forget that you told us so.

All this said, Obama is new to his position, responsibilities, and challenges as every first term president is. As such, most would agree, especially with the challenges awaiting him, that he deserves a pass on dropping the ball once or twice while getting up to speed in his first couple month's in office.

But, what is Congress's excuse? The vast majority of them have been in office since the Recession began at the end of 2007. Most of them are not new to their office, or responsibilities, or these challenges which have been growing under their watch for nearly a year and a half now.

Senator Dodd yesterday lied to the public in saying he didn't know who introduced a clause into the bill to allow AIG's bonuses to remain intact. Today, he confesses that it was he who introduced that clause, recognizing he wasn't going to get away with that lie. But, now, he says introduced it because a person in the Treasury Department asked him to. A person, Dodd refuses to name. Sen. Dodd has been the recipient of large contributions to his re-election campaigns from, you guessed it, AIG. Sen. Dodd has no credibility, and now appears to be attempting to lay responsibility for his action on the Obama administration.

Does Sen. Chris Dodd (CT.-D) deserve to remain in office? Do most of those in the Congress deserve reelection, having so fumbled their duty to us as our representatives for regulation, oversight, and transparency in our markets and government? How effective can Obama be if Congress person's remain in the hip pockets of wealthy corporate and private sector special interests, like AIG, Exxon/Mobil, the Coal Industry, and the Agricultural and Pharmaceutical industries?

Is the Senate deliberately holding up Obama's Treasury nominations process due to pressures from their corporate lobbyist campaign contributors? We just don't know, do we? And that is damning of Congress in and of itself. The American people should have confidence in their most deliberative legislative body on earth. Where is the confidence if we don't know anymore what their motives are whom their actions represent?

By David R. Remer
Published: March 18, 2009 9:37 PM
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