pay your taxes

Am I the only one asking if Obama did any research before choosing his cabinet? Yesterday Tom Daschle withdrew his name from the Secretary of State position for allegedly not paying $150,000 in back taxes. Nobody forgets to pay that much in taxes. Daschle now makes the fourth person that Obama originally named to his cabinet who cannot accept the position due to issues with paying taxes. Again, I have outrageously high expectations for Obama; and I acknowledge that. He has a long way to go before I will feel satiated. I have to keep reminding myself he hasn't even been president for a month. However, his cabinet positions has left much to be desired. Perhaps Maureen Dowd in today's New York Times said it best, "It took Daschle's resignation to shake the president out of his arrogant attitude that his charmed circle doesn't have to abide by the lofty standards he lectured the rest of us about for two years... The Democratic president has been spending so much time trying -- and failing -- to win over Republicans that he may not have noticed the disillusionment in his own ranks. Betrayed by their bankers and leaders, Americans were desperate to trust someone when they made Barack Obama president. His debut has left them skeptical about his willingness to smack down those who would flout his high standards or waste our money."

1. One idea that now has Obama's backing is an idea by Vermont senator Bernie Sanders. His plan is that any executives that work for companies that are receiving federal bail-out money should have their salary capped at $500,000 a year. YES!! What Americans want their tax money going to the salaries of crooked, idiotic, CEOs who have run their companies into the ground?! And again, if these executives want to make more money, than simply they cannot accept any federal bail-out. Again, this law has not been passed yet but Obama has openly encouraged the senate to begin legislation on this. Yes, this will be primarily a PR move, but it is a PR move that I badly would like to see.

2. Currently listening to Jack Johnson's "Banana Pancakes". Album: In Between Dreams.