Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Just three days after being sworn in, President Obama famously pushed aside Republican objections to the stimulus package, reminding congressional leaders that it was his agenda -- not theirs -- that was going to prevail, telling them "I won." He went on to allow a bill that no Republican congressman supported to be pushed through on a fast track and then triumphantly and very publicly signed into law.

On Wednesday, Obama signed the $410 billion spending package that includes billions in earmarks -- thousands of pet projects that he promised to curb during last year's campaign. He called the bill an "imperfect" one and was apparently so uncomfortable with it that it was signed in private.

This seems to call into question exactly who is in charge here. Why didn't Obama say to the congressional Democrats "I won," and force them to change the bill? He ran against earmarks and repeated his pledge to curb them, yet could not use his formidable star power and popularity to get Congress to take them out of the bill?

Newsweek has an article this week in which they claim that it is Nancy Pelosi, and not Obama, who is running the show -- at least as it relates to spending bills coming out of Congress. I suppose it's not surprising -- she has far more governmental and political experience than he does. But the fact is, we didn't elect Pelosi -- at least not knowingly -- and unlike Obama, her approval rating is down around 35%. So the thought of her running the country should upset Obama supporters as well as the rest of us.

If anything makes a Republican turnaround likely in 2010 it will be Obama letting Pelosi run wild.

So how did Obama explain signing a bill he knows to be full of the very earmarks he campaigned against? "I am signing an imperfect omnibus bill because it's necessary for the ongoing functions of government," he said. In a typical eating your cake and having it too moment, Obama added, "This piece of legislation must mark an end to the old way of doing business."

So Obama was able to criticize earmarks will signing a bill loaded with them. Classic.

But, Obama didn't stop there. He also released a "signing statement" in which he warned that some of the bill's provisions raised constitutional concerns, just days after criticizing former President Bush for doing the same thing.

I guess it's good to be king.