Is Obama the Bringer of Change?

The election has come and gone, as has the inauguration. Barack Obama is now the 44th President of the United States. I wish the new president all the best of success in bringing the country out of the numerous messes it is in. Mr. Obama campaigned hard as the Bringer of Change, and he has made many promises to enact the spirit of change that would, essentially, erase the eight years of the Bush administration. Just today, the president signed an executive order that calls for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba within one year. A very ambitious start as Commander In Chief.

What is striking me as odd, though, is Mr. Obama's cabinet picks. Throughout his campaign, then-Senator Obama promised a "fresh face" in his administration, without relying on Beltway insiders and other longtime D.C. faces helping him run the country. He was very clear that the country needed to be taken in a direction that broke from established politics and political figures.

President Obama, however, has chosen Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, former Senate majority head George Mitchell as special envoy to the Middle East, former Senate leader Tom Daschle as Secretary of Health and Human Services, outspoken Democratic Arizona governor Janet Napolitano as Director of Homeland Security, and Sen. Ken Salazar as Secretary of the Interior. All are well-entrenched D.C. politicos. Mr. Obama's running-mate, and now Vice President, is long-time Senator Joe Biden (D - Vermont). So much for a fresh face to politics in D.C., and so much for "change"!

I'm also concerned about the President's choice for Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner. During his confirmation hearing before a Senate committee, it was learned that he failed to pay $34,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes until he was nominated by Mr. Obama for Secretary of the Treasury. It strikes me as a little strange that any President's pick for Treasury Secretary is someone who didn't pay his taxes. His confirmation, though has been approved by the committee, and awaits a vote by the full Senate.

If President Obama intends to make good on his campaign promises of "change", he seems (to me) to have a rough start. I hope his policies will make up for the staff choices he has made.