Like many presidents during the decades after the Watergate Scandal, Barack Obama promised to run an ethical, transparent government.

That didn’t last long.

Providing more evidence of the shallowness of Obama’s pledge was the news a few days ago that Joseph Jordan, administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, is leaving the White House.

Jordan is taking a job with FedBid, a company that operates reverse auctions for the government. In reverse auctions, buyers, in effect, solicit bids from potential suppliers of goods and services.

That’s right: Jordan, whose job includes buying goods and services on taxpayers’ behalf, is going to a company involved in the process of such sales. His new job will include working with the government reverse-auction program.

Talk about a revolving door. But Jordan “is abiding by all ethical and legal obligations,” a White House spokesman insisted.

Perhaps Jordan is complying with technicalities in the law – but the ethical issues are crystal clear.

Unfortunately, this sort of outrageous conduct is nothing new. Taxpayers should not put up with it.