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Senator Robert Menendez (D- NJ), who sits on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, is commenting in a hearing today I watched on CSPAN. He just blamed the entire lack of accountability for how TARP funds were spent under the first half of the payout on George Bush and Secretary Paulson.

Not one word that maybe he and his cohorts failed to write accountability into the TARP bill. As I predicted earlier:

(9/25/08) This is a no-brainer for a politician. Vote with Bush and if it goes well (which we won’t know for many years), they can take credit. If it goes badly, they can blame Bush and rewrite history- make it all that bad bad man George Bush’s fault.

Told you so. I don’t know about you, but I am sick of politicians from both parties refusing to take any responsibility for mistakes. I’m willing to accept that Sen. Menendez helped pass the best bill he the could, and I’m willing to accept that he is a patriotic American who did what he thought best for the country.

I am not willing to accept excuse making and blame shifting. The good Senator should at least admit that some of the blame for the misspent money lies with Congress, who blindly trusted an Administration that had mislead them before.

After watching several recent press conferences with Obama and Press Secretary Gibbs, it is apparent that the gloves are off. The honeymoon is over. The body language has changed and voices are going to different pitch levels.

So maybe new levels of annoyance with the media will be seen in this administration. Thanks to Northern Muckraker for highlighting the incident with the reporter who had the nerve to approach the President too closely. One might guess that this is a reporter who, at other times, has been allowed within arm’s reach of the President. You see POTUS mingling with the media all the time. I’m sure every reporter withing 100 yards of the President is vetted. So is this a signal that the “good times” with the media is over? We shall see.

The media is hungry. Presidential Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is being eaten alive right now. It’s worse than watching an episode of National Geographic. I will remember this the next time my conservative friends say the media is a lap dog for the Democrats. They may be biased, and they may favor one party over the other, but it was beautiful to watch them do their job today.

The inquisitors at the press conference today just would not leave the “Daschle Issue” alone. They relentlessly kept coming back to it. And Robert Gibbs was frustrated. After all, the nerve of the media to question the President’s commitment to a “change” in Washington. This is all just too funny.

Tom Daschle withdrew. About time. MSNNC.com took several paragraphs to get to the real reason why Tom Daschle needed to withdraw his nomination.

Daschle also was facing questions about potential conflicts of interests related to the speaking fees he accepted from health care interests. Daschle also provided advice to health insurers and hospitals through his post-Senate work at a law firm.

Tom Daschle is a poster child of the “revolving door” that Obama decried during his race for the presidency. He reportedly made about 5 million dollars in the 4 years he has been out of office working for the very folks he would now be regulating. Can anyone pronounce “conflict of interest?”

Many of us (this author included) have made mistakes and done things we have been ashamed of. Some of these should disqualifiy us for certain offices and responsibilities in the future. Some should not. If this were an elected position, we could safely leave it to the voters to decide for themselves.

But this was not an elected position. We the people were not getting a choice. It was an appointed position. And it was a position being filled by a President that made a special emphasis during his campaign that he would “change” the way business was getting done in Washington. He would demand a higher standard. He would stop the “revolving door.”  Yeah… right.

The New York Times and MSNBC  just threw a rock under the wheels of the Obama train. I was shocked to see this headline at the New York Times; Obama’s Ethics ReformPledge Faces an Early Test. The opening paragraph was eloquent and brutal:

During almost two years on the campaign trail, Barack Obama vowed to slay the demons of Washington, bar lobbyists from his administration and usher in what he would later call in his Inaugural Address a “new era of responsibility.” What he did not talk much about were the asterisks.

I really thought the honeymoon would last longer, but you have to love the media this time. They have a vested interest in finding bad news. This is why our founders understood that freedom of the press was critical in a free society.

Ironically, I had just posted a comment yesterday on the Northern Muckraker that I would take a “wait and see” attitude about whether or not Obama meant would stick to his word to the American people about higher standards.

Well, I didn’t have to wait long. I figure if the New York Times can start the questioning, I can follow their lead and not risk being labeled a “mean spirited conservative.”

Is it too much to ask that President Obama keep his word about ethics and standards in his administration? I was a vocal critic of these same types of violations in the Bush Administration and the Republican-lead Congress. That’s the reason I supported Democrat Tim Walz in 2006.

It’s time we demand that our elected representatives set standards and keep them. America needs heroes, like the brave Hudson River pilot who remembered to call the library and tried to make things right regarding his overdue book at the bottom of the Hudson River.

Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger did not “forget” his responsibility. What a guy. Our elected officials need to inspire us like that.

The Economic Stimulus Bill of 2009 is a rough and tumble start for President Obama. He should be congratulated for his obvious skills in “herding cats” in Congress. It’s nice to see someone sit down with the other party and demonstrate a real willingness to be bipartisan.

I was opposed to the ”shove it down our throats” tactics that that Congress used to pass the TARP bill. And I was pleased when Tim Walz, our Congressman, stood against it.

This time however, in spite of the fact that it violates my belief that “less government is better” I am reluctantly going on the record that Congress should not be criticized if they vote to pass this. I am not an economist, nor the son of an economist, but I give three reasons for my view:

1. The American people seem to be overwhelmingly in support of government spending a lot of money to attempt a rescue of our economy.
2. Sometimes just the act of “doing something” can have a positive emotional impact on many folks who do not otherwise believe that they can rescue themselves. Government “creating belief” is not always bad; and it has worked in the past.
3. The deliberation of this bill has been much better than the TARP fiasco, and more importantly, the money spent will be directed at “the folks” and not companies that caused the crisis.

Tim Walz should vote his conscience on this bill. I have emailed him my support for whatever his vote is. This is not a fun time to be a legislator.

What is sad is that there is obvious pork in this bill, the impact will most likely be less than expected, and folks will be disappointed. And to top it off… we will have to (again) borrow this money from foreign banks. Fun.

I believe that the economy will bounce back in spite of government help, not because of it. Americans are resilient, and we are motivated to succeed in spite of all obstacles. So if it helps folks feel better that the government will “help” them, then that’s fine by me. But at the end of the day, we will fix this ourselves.

Read the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Legislative Summary sent to me by Tim Walz.

Barak Obama. Congratulations on a well run and clean campaign. You have earned the privilege of leading us. I celebrate your victory with you. But I will be watching what you do, not just what you say. My feelings about this victory are best expressed by Mike Huckabee in his recent blog post:

“I can’t help but feel that many courageous leaders of the civil rights movement look down from heaven tonight with a smile that the day has come when a man is elected without regard to his color.  I salute President-elect Obama for his discipline and tenacity that has given our country the opportunity to witness this significant event. Politics is not an event but a process. We sometimes lose the events but it never gives us the right to stop being faithful to our principles that enlisted us in the process. We shall live to fight another day. ”

Norm Coleman? Wake up Norm. Dean Barkley is the guy who showed you that we are tired of politics as usual. It seems you still have a recount ahead of you.

Tim Walz. Congatulations on your landslide victory. You deserved it.

Tony Cornish. You just pulled out a narrow victory. Hey- you are “my guy” so next time, campaign a little harder. We need you up there defending our rights and working for us.

The House. Have not seen all the numbers, but of course the Democrats picked up a few seats. Not as many as I’m sure they wished.

The Senate. I need to see after the dust settles, but it *appears* as if the Democrats will just miss the 60 vote majority the needed if they wanted to cut off debate. Will this be their excuse when they can’t govern?

It’s about 7:30 pm CST and polls across the nation will soon be closed. Our polls close in just half an hour. My votes and my predictions (let’s see how close I come):

President: I voted John McCain, Republican. This patriot deserves my vote, but I did not campaign for him, and I’m unsure how much better he would govern than George Bush. And my jury is still out on Palin. Wasn’t thrilled about this VP pick. But I had to vote against Obama, who I truly believe is a greater threat to individual rights and freedoms. Who wins? Obama by a landslide.

Senate: I voted Dean Barkley, Independent. I may be a conservative, but Norm Coleman should not go back to the Senate after selling us out so quickly in the Great Wall Street Bailout of ‘08. Al Franken is rude and disgusting, so that left Dean Barkley, who actually serverd as an appointed Senator after Paul Wellstone’s tragic death. Who wins? Al Franken by the tiniest of margins.

House: I voted Tim Walz, Democrat. I have blogged about him earlier. I may disagree with him on many issues, but  when it counted, he stood against his own party and represented his constituents. Gee, what a concept. He has earned my vote, and I actively campaigned here in Kiester for him. I also contributed to his campaign. Who wins? Tim Walz by a modest margin.

MN House: I voted Tony Cornish, Republican. Tony is the incumbent, and he’s worked hard for his constituents. Among other things, he helped save our local grocery store and he worked hard behind the scenes to help our school district get some relief from unfair bonding formulas. In addition, he champions our Second Ammendment Rights (Conceal Carry Law) and he is still working to get Castle Doctrine law passed in Minnesota. Who wins? Tony Cornish by a small margin.

National Races: Democrats pick up at least 15 more seats in the House, and (I’m out on a limb here) they get their 60 seat majority in the Senate (counting Independents who caucus with them).

Republicans need to learn from this. They have lost their way since Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich. They are no longer conservatives who champion liberty, freedom and smaller government. They have become the K Mart of politics, with no purpose or identity, while Obama has just breathed new life into socialism in America. Don’t whine. Don’t blame Obama. Don’t blame the media. Blame yourselves.

A day that I believe we will live to regret. A day that Senators and Congressmen will rewrite in their “recollections” (thankfully we have C-Span Archives). This is the Iraq War vote all over again. Scare the crap out of us, hand the Executive Branch a blank check, and then wait to see what happens. Congress waits… if all goes well, this is “a great bill we passed for the American People.” If all goes badly, “that bad, bad man George Bush caused the whole problem, then shoved this bill down our throat. We had no choice, and it’s all Bush’s fault.”

Liberals and Conservatives should both weep today.

The Bailout Bill of 08 passes, 263-171. Bush will sign it. My Congressman, Democrat Tim Walz, voted against the bill again. Thank you Conrgessman Walz. You deserve to be reelected.

Even the “experts” don’t think this will work according to MSNBC.

See the media getting ready to rewrite history after they pushed this bill? They are laying out their escape plan… “well, we never were sure it would work, but we had to try.”