My Problem With Obama

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Let me first state that I am an ardent supporter of President Obama. I signed the Draft Obama petition in 2006 & worked for his election through 2008. I’ve got posters, booklets, & other souvenirs from his election & inauguration. I download his speeches & appearances onto my computer so that my kids & grandkids will have something to go on other than stories & watered down versions of events, like we get when looking at 2 minute clips of Kennedy.
Now that I’ve firmly established my Obama street cred, I’ve got beef with the guy. It’s got nothing to do with foreign policy, of which he’s doing a pretty good job so far. I’m not angry at him with domestic policy. I’m going with a wait & see attitude on the stimulus package, health care, & the like. My old Yes We Can attitude is fading over one major subject & that subject is transparency in government.
When Obama ran for president, he said that the American people deserved to know what’s going on with their government. He started off strong by setting up websites where you could check where the money was going with regards to the stimulus package. However, there now comes word from MSNBC that the administration is blocking the news media from getting lists of visitors to the White House http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31373407/.
It’s an old policy that the Bush administration had in place but had gotten them into hot water (No more secret meeting to write energy policy. Remember that campaign rally slogan?). Obama’s reasoning is that privacy needs to be in place in case important people are interviewing for administration positions, etc. I find that to be a lame excuse at best. Once the position’s been filled, they should release the names, not block the public from knowing.
The second policy that I have a problem with is giving major donors to the election campaign diplomatic positions. I know that it’s a policy that’s been in place since the dawn of politics but it’s a policy that has truly run its course. It smacks of cronyism, whether these people are qualified or not. Having given lots of money should completely take them out of the running for what are mainly cushy positions (with some major exceptions).
Continuing both of these policies fly in the face of his campaign promises & need to come to a halt now. True transparency in government means not continuing with the secretive politics that have been played in the past but by letting the American people know what’s being done in their name.