Obama, one year later

One year ago, Barack Obama came into office with soaring approval ratings as the nation struggled with two difficult wars and a deepening recession. Americans, it seemed, put great stock in their new leader.

That was then.

One year later, the president's approval ratings have plummeted to 50%, down from 64% shortly after he took office, according to the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-01-18-obama-one-year-later_N.htm

As a candidate, Obama pledged to have the most open and accessible administration in history.

Obama specifically promised that lobbyists would no longer write legislation behind closed doors.

Nonetheless, Obama spent last week behind closed doors, with union lobbyists, rewriting the excise tax provisions of the healthcare bill, to exempt union negotiated benefits from the "Cadillac" tax.

He's lucky he's only down to 50%.