AllahPundit’s post on HotAir is scary reading. Here’s what makes it scary:

At a forum with reporters on Thursday, the head of the department that has traditionally taken the lead on global oil-market policy, was asked what message the Obama administration had for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries at its meeting next month.

“I’m not the administration,” the Cabinet secretary replied. “I will be speaking and learning more about this in order to figure out what the U.S. position should be and what the president’s position is.” The day before, reporters asked him about OPEC output levels after a speech to a group of utility regulators. He responded that the issue was “not in my domain.”

It sounds like Obama’s cabinet requirements are that cabinet officers either have to be corrupt or clueless. This guy sounds like he fits into the clueless category.

I know I’ve harped on this these awhile but it still fits. The Obama administration is still not earning America’s trust. They were ‘hired’ to fix the banking system. The rollout of that plan has incited fear amongst Wall Street experts. Obama was hired to clean up the banks’ toxic assets. That’s been a failure thus far. They were hired to fix the economy. People have reached the conclusion that the stimulus bill, which Nancy Pelosi wrote and that President Obama signed with just 3 Republican votes, wastes alot of money.

The Obama administration’s scattergun approach with the stimulus bill isn’t inspiring confidence with Main Street or Wall Street. People are wondering when we’ll stop sliding.

Add onto that the fact that the Energy Secretary is insisting that he isn’t “the administration” and it’s reaching laughingstock status. That’s before people read Jennifer Rubin’s article:

The president then has a two-fold problem. First, the economy is worsening. By seizing the tiller with a series of rescue plans (crafted and approved almost exclusively by Democrats) and promising he will “save” millions of jobs (the precise figure keeps shifting) he and his Democratic allies in Congress now “own” the economy and will be held responsible for the progress of the recovery. Second, the very policies which they intend to implement are proving to be unpopular both on Wall Street and on Main Street.

You can see the panic beginning to rise in his media fan club. Paul Krugman eyes the latest Fed report predicting high unemployment through 2011 and whines, “Who’ll stop the pain?” Michael Kinsley is fretting that we are in for a bout of inflation.

The way that the stimulus bill passed was President Obama’s worst nightmare. Getting three liberal Republicans to vote for the bill won’t provide any cover for his administration or to Congressional Democrats. This isn’t how you build longlasting majorities. It’s how you lose them.

I’ve repeatedly said that Republicans should let Democrats own the stimulus bill. That’s precisely what they did. Now the White House is attacking a credible, boisterous opponent. While it’s probably politically necessary at this point, it isn’t helping their reputation.

The question that will soon be asked is whether, and when, Democrats will start fending for themselves rather than trusting the Obama administration. I’m betting that a bunch of Blue Dogs are quickly reaching that point already.

That’s the surest sign that an administration is flailing.

Technorati: Cabinet, Energy Secretary, President Obama, Energy Policy, Bailouts, Stock Market, Stimulus, Incompetence, Nancy Pelosi, Economy, Democrats

Cross-posted at California Conservative