You Gotta Protect The One’s You Serve

Comic from This Historic Times

Remember these promises during Barack Obama’s campaign?

Followed by some action during the bank bailouts… when populist pressure was mounting:

Pledging to take “the air out of golden parachutes,” President Obama announced Wednesday that executives of companies receiving federal bailout money will have their pay capped at $500,000 under a revised financial compensation plan.

But whaaaaaa, not so much when no one is looking:

“The Obama administration is engineering its new bailout initiatives in a way that it believes will allow firms benefiting from the programs to avoid restrictions imposed by Congress, including limits on lavish executive pay, according to government officials.

Administration officials have concluded that this approach is vital for persuading firms to participate in programs funded by the $700 billion financial rescue package.”

Oh, and remember how he was opposed to Bush’s consolidation of powers in the executive branch and the NSA wiretapping program:

Turns out that once you get those powers, you aren’t so opposed to them, so now…:

The Obama administration formally adopted the Bush administration’s position that the courts cannot judge the legality of the National Security Agency’s (NSA’s) warrantless wiretapping program, filing a motion to dismiss Jewel v. NSA late Friday.

This is in essence a tacit endorsement of Bush’s policies saying the judicial branch cannot shut down warrantless wiretapping, so better check your phone to make sure no one’s listening.

See Also: Obama Administration Seeks to Help Wall Street Circumvent the Executive Pay Restrictions that Obama Has Been Advocating in Public, Very, very bad from Obama Administration, Obama = Worse than Bush, No Comment, Obama invokes “State secrets” over wiretapping lawsuit, Decoding Obama Law, TARP May Cost $167 Billion More Than Estimated, Former S&L Regulator: Absolutely A Banking Bailout Coverup, Some Changes I Can’t Believe In, US watchdog calls for bank executives to be sacked, Once You’re TARPed There’s No Going Back, Bailout Protestors March Near Wall Street, Obama Looking to Launder Bailout Money to Avoid the Pay for Performance Plan?, and Resist or Become Serfs.

[tags]barack obama, obama administration, ceo caps, caps in ceo pay, compensation, bonuses, bank bonuses, nsa wiretapping program, bush wiretapping, warrantless wiretapping, executive powers, policy, position, hypocrisy, campaign promises[/tags]