I’ve been thinking lately if there is one thing that I can concentrate on. To continually inform everyone about and get the information out there. Recently Glenn Beck stated that with so much going on and so much being thrown at us that everyone needs to be a watchdog for the constitution. I think this is dead on. It was suggested to find something you are interested in or want to know more about and just study and watch that one thing. Get the information out on what is happening with that particular subject. I have decided to research and look into all the “czars” that the President has been appointing.
There are several things I have learned in attempting to start a business and make my own stake. One of the things I learned early on is that I don’t have to know everything. I can create what many people refer to as a “Master Mind Alliance.” You can surround yourself with people knowledgeable in areas you know little or nothing about. You should leverage their knowledge and time to help fill in the gaps and get to your goals much faster. This is what his “High and Mightiness” has done. I think the Old McDonald’s farm analogy is perfect. There are currently more “czars” in the administration then the Russian dynasty ever had. Recent counts put it at just about 40 “czars” and growing. Here is a sampling.
1. Herbert Allison Jr., bailout czar, [replaced Bush bailout czar Neel Kashkari, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability confirmed by Senate]
2. Alan Bersin, border czar
3. Dennis Blair, intelligence czar [Director of National Intelligence, a Senate confirmed position]
4. John Brennan, counterterrorism czar
5. Carol Browner, energy czar
6. Adolfo Carrion, urban affairs czar
7. Ashton Carter, weapons czar [actually Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics and so subject to Senate confirmation]
8. Aneesh Chopra, technology czar
9. Jeffrey Crowley, [openly gay white man] AIDS czar
10. Cameron Davis, Great Lakes czar
11. Nancy-Ann DeParle, health czar
12. Earl Devaney, stimulus oversight czar
13. Joshua DuBois, religion czar, aka God czar
14. Arne Duncan, education czar
15. Kenneth Feinberg, pay czar
16. Daniel Fried, Guantanamo closure czar
17. J. Scott Gration, Sudan czar
18. Melissa Hathaway, [soon to be] cybersecurity czar
19. David J. Hayes, water czar [a Deputy Interior Secretary and therefore subject to Senate oversight]
20. Richard Holbrooke, Afghanistan-Pakistan (Af-Pak) czar
21. John Holdren, science czar
22. Kevin Jennings, safe schools czar [nominated to be Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education, Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, a newly created post; openly gay founder of an organization dedicated to promoting pro-homosexual clubs and curricula in public schools]
23. Van Jones, green jobs czar
24. Gil Kerlikowske, drug czar
25. Ron Kirk, trade czar
26. Vivek Kundra, infotech czar [Shoplifted four shirts, worth $33.50 each, from J.C. Penney in 1996 (source)]
27. Douglas Lute, war czar [retained from Bush administration, married to Jane Holl Lute, currently a Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security]
28. George Mitchell, Mideast peace czar
29. Ed Montgomery, car czar [replacing Steve Rattner, who stepped down amid controversy over his former firm’s role in a possible kickback scandal]
30. Lynn Rosenthal, domestic violence czar
31. Dennis Ross, Mideast policy czar
32. Gary Samore, weapons of mass destruction czar
33. Todd Stern, climate change czar
34. Cass Sunstein, regulatory czar
35. Larry Summers, economic czar
36. Michael Taylor, food czar
37. Arturo Valenzuela, Latin-American czar (nominee) [although this post is referred to as a czar, he is nominated to be Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs and so is subject to Senate confirmation]
38. Paul Volcker, economic czar number two
39. Elizabeth Warren, TARP czar [chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Trouble Assets Relief Program; note that Herb Allison is more frequently called the TARP czar]
40. Jeffrey Zients, government performance czar [replaced original nominee Nancy Killefer who withdrew her name after issues with her personal income tax filings surfaced]
Positions established but not yet filled:
41. behavioral science czar
42. copyright czar
Positions rumored as being planned:
1. income redistribution czar
2. land-use czar
3. consumer financial protection czar, aka mortgage czar (source)
4. radio-internet fairness czar
5. student loan czar, to oversee a program of mandatory service in return for college money (source)
6. voter list czar
7. zoning czar
I know that recently the person rumored to become his Cybersecurity Czar resigned and went back to the private sector. It makes you wonder if she learned some things about government “efficiency” that didn’t sit well with what she was tasked to do.
Although there are a few of these people that are in positions confirmed by the Senate, most of them are not. There is even a long standing Democrat Senator that is against and worried about the President appointing all these czars. It circumvents the process laid out in the Constitution for oversight by the Congress. Circumventing the Constitution and grossly expanding the scope and reach of the Executive Branch does not seem to bother the “Chosen One.” He says he has a “mandate” from the people to “fundamentally change” America. I like the old fashioned fundamentals just the way they are.
I believe it is important and crucial for us to know who is advising the President, what their beliefs are, and what their backgrounds are. Lots of people try to say, “oh, that was in the past, or I have changed my view on that.” I firmly believe that our past actions and beliefs have a profound effect on who we are and the current opinions we hold. Every week I will research a “czar” and back it up with sources. I will share that information with you so we can all stay informed. If there is another subject or topic that is just dying for me to comment on, I’ll just have to have two posts that week.
Remember to write and call your representatives on issues you are concerned about. Go to town hall meetings when they are home on break and discuss the issues. Don’t be afraid of the SEIU and ACORN goons that are trying to keep you out. Show up and exercise your first amendment right to free speech, even if your representative doesn’t want to listen to it.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment