A devastating analysis

A devastating analysis of the Obama administration's first days from McClatchy:

"These first days aren't going the way that President Barack Obama hoped when he promised to change the way Washington operates. He remains popular, with broad support from the American people, but the taint of politics as usual is challenging the aura of something new.

Three of his top nominees have been caught with tax problems, two of them departing abruptly Tuesday. Two more were former lobbyists named to high positions despite Obama's ban on lobbyists in his administration. Yet another, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, had to withdraw weeks earlier because of an investigation into alleged ''pay-to-play'' politics at home. . . .

''Only the little people pay taxes,'' said a Rex Babin cartoon, showing Daschle and Geithner climbing into a limousine, in The Sacramento Bee.

''There's a huge scientific breakthrough today. Researchers say they're very close to finding someone from Obama's Cabinet who's actually paid their taxes,'' Jay Leno said on NBC's Tonight Show. . . .

At the same time, the man who wanted to lead the way to a new, less partisan politics finds himself caught in a partisan donnybrook between Congressional Democrats and Republicans over a landmark proposal to stimulate the economy. The partisan fight is feeding dissent over the proposal and eroding public support.

Obama got the proposal through the House of Representatives without a single Republican vote. A new Gallup Poll on Tuesday found that just 38 percent of those polled want the proposal passed as written, while 37 percent want ''major changes'' and another 17 percent want it defeated. "

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/886724.html

Read the whole thing.