A New Era of Responsibility? from the Fox Forum

A New Era Of Responsibility? The Conundrum That Is Barack Obama

By Jon Kraushar
Communications Consultant


We’re only a few days into Barack Obama’s presidency and already the plans and people he is committing himself (and the country) to raise questions about the “new era of responsibility” he called for in his inaugural address.

How responsible is it for Obama to select Timothy Geithner as his treasury secretary — one of the architects of a fiasco of money mismanagement and unaccountable federal bailouts whose cost is ballooning toward one trillion dollars?




Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner delivers his opening statement on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 21,2009, during his nomination hearing before the Senate Finance Committee. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Obama wants to put Geithner, an admitted tax scofflaw, in charge of our tax system. How does this square with his inaugural pledge that, “…those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account—to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day”?

In his inaugural address, Obama also said:

“The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act—not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth.”

Obama’s economic stimulation plan is being compared to President Roosevelt’s in the Depression. FDR, like Obama, maintained that government “make work” infrastructure projects would employ millions and grow the economy. However, in FDR’s time, the nation only revived with the “jolt” of World War II, which revved up manufacturing and employed people both in and out of the military.