Perception vs Reality in the Obama Administration

Today in Montana, President Obama tried another of his town hall meetings about health care reform. The crowd was another friendly one - he was in Bozeman, after all - and it was interesting that even with a friendly crowd, he was insecure enough to pull out the Bush bashing card. He told the audience that even with the big increase in drug benefits to seniors that Bush wrote into law, it was not funded. What he didn't say, though, as the crowd basically ignored his bashing statement in a traditionally red state, was that it is the legislature that funds legislation. Maybe if he had spent more than a few days in the U.S. Senate, on the job, he would have realized the full process. Or, if he had watched the "Bill on Capitol Hill" video that the kids watch.

But perception is rarely reality in Washington, D.C. Or, maybe even in Chicago, Illinois. Seems that First Lady Michelle Obama has not shaken the cloud she is under from her time at the University of Chicago Medical Center. You may remember that, besides receiving a triple in her salary after her husband became a U.S. Senator, she initiated a program called the Urban Health Initiative. The program redirects under insured and uninsured patients to local health clinics and other hospitals in the community. When it was first implemented, the program was not well-received, to say the least, by some like U.S. Rep Bobby Rush who even called for congressional hearings on the program in June, according to an article by Wailin Wong and Jason Grotto in the Chicago Tribune.

So, while enjoying being a behind the scenes player in promoting health care reform, playing up her former work experience, Michelle Obama was really just another push-them-off-on-someone-else kind of administrator.

And, speaking of advancing while pursuing hypocrisy in your work ethics, Rep. John McHugh (R-NY) was the latest Republican to join the Obama administration as the new Secretary of the Army. It is interestingly noted, however, the Weekly Standard recently, that McHugh had a 12 year record of voting pro-life as an elected official. Then, upon the announcement of his new position, before confirmation, he has voted "for a bill would establish an office that would promote abortion overseas; he didn't vote on an amendment to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood; and he voted to allow taxpayer-funding of abortions in Washington, D.C. - a measure that will lead to the "funding of 4,000 or 5,000 abortions annually with congressionally appropriated funds, including about 1,000 abortions a year that would not happen otherwise," according to the National Right to Life Committee's Douglas Johnson.

So much for integrity. It would appear there was a quid pro quo attached to that plum gig.