Another  Obama appointment seems to have committed a financial no-no, but this time it’s one I like. Treasury-secretary nominee Timothy Geithner, former chairman of the New York Federal Reserve, has apparently failed to pay $34,000 in taxes he owed as self-employment taxes while working for the International Monetary Fund (this is apparently an honor type system; employees of the IMF have to pay their own self-employment taxes). In addition, he is accused of knowingly hiring a housekeeper who was an illegal immigrant. Ranking Republicans have not considered this an automatic disqualification, but this is still an unfortunate event to befall someone who is charged with easing America’s economic woes, something I think Mr. Geithner is well qualified to do. Time will tell us what will happen. More on the story here.

After seeing an ad in the margin on Facebook for the support of Hamas in Gaza, I was outraged (not surprised) by the fact that even a completely non-political website such as Facebook is accepting advertising from companies selling this anti-Israel clothing. I proceeded to become frustrated when I realized how many people, uneducated of the situation, whether they realize it or not, will be subject to the subliminal messaging of a little sign in the corner of their screen that displays, in a flashy, ‘cool,’ attractive way, to support Hamas in Gaza.

So, in an effort to set things straight, I’ll let a much more qualified person do the talking for me: Charles Krauthammer in his new article on the situation between Israel and Gaza. In case you haven’t already read this very popular article, click here.

(you may or may not need to quickly make an account on WashingtonPost.com)

In case you haven’t seen it, here it is. I agree with those calling this one of the most bizarre press conferences in recent times. He mentions mammograms, cervical cancer, and says that the House has impeached him because of the things that he has done for Illinois families. The Tennyson poem quotation at the end seals the deal.

The Economist has an excellent article on different classifications of recessions and depressions. The conclusion, in short, is that the United States is unlikely to slip into the same kind of depression as the 1930′s because economic policy makers have learned from mistakes of the past (allowing banks to fail and the money supply to quickly shrink).

I’m not one to play the “flip-flopper” card that often. Every politician has the right to change his mind, and, I actually prefer a pragmatist who changes his opinion in light of new evidence over an ideologue who sticks to his guns even after reality slowly exposes the falsity of his viewpoint. But I can’t help pointing this out- this was Obama’s position on Blagojevich’s appointment just a week ago:

“Roland Burris is a good man and a fine public servant, but the Senate Democrats made it clear weeks ago that they cannot accept an appointment made by a governor who is accused of selling this very Senate seat. I agree with their decision, and it is extremely disappointing that Governor Blagojevich has chosen to ignore it. I believe the best resolution would be for the Governor to resign his office and allow a lawful and appropriate process of succession to take place. While Governor Blagojevich is entitled to his day in court, the people of Illinois are entitled to a functioning government and major decisions free of taint and controversy.”

Now that 2009 has rolled around, it seems that Obama is the one giving Reid and the Senate the go-ahead for seating Burris. This somehow reminds me of when David Axelrod first said that Obama had discussed his vacant Senate seat with Blagojevich and then later said that there had been no communication between the two. Now, I’m not quite sure, but, I think something is amiss!

After eight years of listening to Al-Qaeda talk about its hatred towards America and Bush’s incompetence and hedonism , it seems that the incoming administration will have to suffer the same fate.

In a recent article, Al-Qaeda spokesman Al-Zawahiri said that Obama “kills your brothers and sisters in Gaza mercilessly and without affection,” and called Israel’s defense against Hamas in Gaza “Obama’s gift to Israel.” So, in a very restrained effort to bypass delving into the fallacies and lies in Al-Zawahiri’s statement, let’s examine one overlying point that basically summarizes the entire article.

It seems that Al-Qaeda’s titles of Bush being the instigator of problems and great white oppressor are not quite as distinctive as previously thought. Despite all of the hope for Obama change, it appears that the incoming president will soon be adopting similar pet names from the terrorist organization. But how could that be? Obama is not even president yet. Obama did not initiate the war on terror in Afghanistan. Obama did not invade Iraq. Obama did not pursue Al-Qaeda terrorists and associates. So why does Al-Qaeda already disapprove of Obama if he isn’t the one who has been bringing this harm upon America?

Answer: because he is America’s representative, a country which sides with Isreal. It doesn’t matter who is in the president’s chair; Al-Qaeda is a radical organization that hates America and everything it stands for. It won’t change.

Well, it seems that before he is even inaugurated, the Obama administration has suffered another blow. Bill Richardson is withdrawing his name from the running for commerce secretary. The reason? He is being investigated by a federal grand jury for awarding a state contract worth in the vicinity of $1 billion to a California company which donated to his campaign Details here. 

Seriously dudes, this is the last thing America needs right now. We’re trusting this man with leading our country out of some difficult times, and every week a new charge of corruption comes to someone close to him. I almost want to start a game out of this. We guess which member of Obama’s cabinet will be indicted next with some sort of heinous corruption charge, and see who comes up with it. I wish I didnt have to suggest this, but the news is the news…