Heading into the seventh month of the Obama era, many progressives aredisappointed, dismayed, and increasingly disgusted at the growingBushitis of this administration and its continuing protection andimitation of the criminal former regime and this administration'sobeisance at the GOP altar of government of, by, and for the wealthyfew and corporations.

This isn't what we voted for....just mellifluous talk forget thewalk; a candidate who apparently didn't promise to keep his promises,embracing his predecessor's defiance of the Constitution and human andcivil rights.  Hell, no.

Bushites seem to be still be running the Department of Justice, forexample, and former Wall Streeters and their supporters are in controlat the Treasury Department and dominate Obama's economic team dictatinghis economic policies, all with Obama's involvement (he picked them)and acquiescence.

Secrecy and solidifying an imperial presidency seem to be alive and well in the Obama White House.

Now Obama appears to have even killed the deadline for his health care reform that isn't...a Rube Goldberg Capitol Hill monstrosity.

And the Obama administration has betrayed the trust and votes ofregular Americans by ignoring the advice, "You got to dance with themwhat brung you."  This administration increasingly dances only withthem what apparently bought it.

The latest Obama foray into Bushland is appalling.

Glenn Greenwald at Salon explains: "Neil Barofsky, the chief watchdog over the $700 billion TARP bankbailout program, is one of those rare creatures in Washington:  hetakes very seriously his responsibilities of independent oversight andaccountability.  A career prosecutor, Barofsky is a life-long Democratwho donated money to Obama's presidential campaign.  But ever since hewas appointed to head the oversight office created by Congress when itenacted TARP -- an office designed to ensure transparency andaccountability at the Treasury Department and in the banking industry-- he has repeatedly clashed with Obama's Treasury officials over theirlack of transparency in how the trillions of dollars in TARP-relatedfunds are being sent to and used by the banking industry.  So seriouslydoes Barofsky take his oversight duties that, as a Washington Post profilenoted in March, "he refuses to eat with senior administration officialsin the [Treasury] building's executive dining room to maintain hisindependence."

"Barofksy's clashes with administration officials have intensified of late.  Last week, he issued a report documenting that the actual amount of taxpayer money theoretically put at risk in the bank bailout -- once Federal Reserve, FDIC and other programs are counted -- is $23.7 trillion,not the widely cited figure of $700 billion, a report that promptedattacks from the White House and Treasury on his credibility. Separately, Barofsky has continuously disputed White House claims thatit's impossible to account for what has been done by banks with theTARP funds.  Barofsky wants to compel banks to account for those fundsand then publicize that information, while the administration opposessuch efforts, claiming that accounting for TARP monies is impossibledue to the "fungibility" of those funds.  To disprove that claim,Barofsky sent out voluntary surveys to the bank which proved that those funds could be tracked (andhe found TARP funds were being used by receiving banks largely toacquire other institutions and/or create "capital cushions" rather thanincrease lending activity, the principal justification for TARP).

"Most significant of all, and obviously due to Barofsky's truly independent oversight efforts, the Obama administration is now attempting to induce the Justice Department to issue a ruling that Barofsky's office is not independent at all-- but rather, is subject to, and under the supervision of, theauthority of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.  By design, such a rulingwould completely gut Barofsky's ability to compel transparency andexercise real oversight over how Treasury is administering TARP, sinceit would make him subordinate to one of the very officials whoseactions Congress wanted him to oversee:  the Treasury Secretary's. Barofsky has, quite rightly, protested the administration's efforts todestroy his independence, and has done so with increasing assertivenessas the administration's war on his oversight activities has increased. Why would an administration vowing a New Era of Transparency wage waron a watchdog whose only mission is to ensure transparency andaccountability in these massive financial programs?

"....No matter one's views of the wisdom of the bailout and relatedprograms, transparency, accountability and independent oversight areabsolutely vital, and that is what Barosksy's office was created toensure (though it's unlikely -- given how Washington works -- thatCongress actually expected that the person in charge of that officewould take those duties seriously and be willing to fight with senioradministration officials to protect his independence)."