Barrel Strength

New York Times, March 16

In strongly worded remarks delivered in the White House East Room before small business owners, Mr. Obama called A.I.G. “a corporation that finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed.” … “All across the country, there are people who work hard and meet their responsibilities every day, without the benefit of government bailouts or multimillion-dollar bonuses,” said Mr. Obama, who called the issue one of “fundamental values.”

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I think the real news was that the small business owners failed to start yelling, “Connect the dots, you idiot! Let them fail! You’d let us go under without a second glance! Give us back our money!”

This administration continues to ensure that this crisis is “not wasted“.  The WSJ notes the following.

President Barack Obama has filled nearly twice as many government posts as the previous two presidents did at this point in their first terms. The problem is, the current administration has so much more on its plate that it needs more key people in place to advance its ambitious agenda…

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner remains his department’s sole confirmed official…

According to the White House’s tabulation, Mr. Obama by the end of February had inserted 512 staffers scattered throughout government, compared with 288 for the Bush administration and 286 under President Bill Clinton. Of those, 32 Obama aides were for more senior jobs requiring Senate confirmation, compared with 22 under George W. Bush and 25 under Mr. Clinton. The administration by March 1 had hired a striking 183 noncareer senior executives, compared with just two under Mr. Bush and 57 under Mr. Clinton.

The most critical item on the agenda should be the financial crisis.  It seems that Obama is more interested in ensuring that his political agenda progresses, by appointing candidates to other posts, but is willing to let the economy burn.