Job Opening

[scottw]

well, there's one LESS communist advising the president these days, at least not formally anymore, as far as we know...Van Jones...Green Job Czar, about whom there is no evidence that he has ever actually created a job, let alone a green one...has resigned....apparently, Obama sat in his pew for 20 years and never heard a word of his radical, hateful views..wait...no...that was the other guy.....apparently, Obama thought he was rehabilitated and no longer a communist with radical views...wait...no...that was the other, other guy..... how is it that a guy who advises the president and occupies a Czar position in the administration and who was surely, thoroughly vetted...resigns...over what? why, the mainstream media has barely mentioned his existence, let alone anything controversial regarding him, his past or past statements, if Obama likes him, he must be perfect for the job, he's omnipotent.....well, I'm sure they were going to get around to reporting this guys contoversial past at some point, or...perhaps they just don't have a problem with it..maybe between stories about Michelle's biceps and Obama's cool disposition and brilliant mind....good bye Green Job Czar...we hardly knew ye....Wanted...Green Job Czar...duties include.....to be determined...176k plus benefits....non-communists need not apply.......

[Raven]

asleep at the wheel

[stripersnipr]

I think we've got a couple of posters here that are fully qualified to step into Jones' shoes.

[spence]

Sounds like he wasn't vetted very well.

Snipr...where are my shrimp?

-spence

[Cool Beans]

Originally Posted by stripersnipr

I think we've got a couple of posters here that are fully qualified to step into Jones' shoes.

So are we nominating Spence to the position?

[spence]

Originally Posted by Cool Beans

So are we nominating Spence to the position?

Unfortunately, Jones was extremely well qualified for the position of Green Jobs Czar. I'm not...

-spence

[justplugit]

This Czar stuff is a bunch of baloney.

Just a way of Obama creating job titles to employ his friends, imho.

Another example of, "you can tell a man's character by the friends he keeps. "

[Cool Beans]

Originally Posted by spence

Unfortunately, Jones was extremely well qualified for the position of Green Jobs Czar. I'm not...

-spence

Are you serious? Just cause hes a huge protester and communist, doensnt make him qualified. You are much more qualified that Jones....You are not a communist and you're my favorite tree hugging left wing nut out there...

I vote for Spence!!

[justplugit]

It's been reported that he never filled out the vetting paper work.
Who ever got a job without filling out the application?

[spence]

Originally Posted by justplugit

It's been reported that he never filled out the vetting paper work.
Who ever got a job without filling out the application?

From what I heard the paperwork is more for appointees who require confirmation. The czar positions are a little more relaxed.

-spence

[Bocephus]

biggest reality show ever...... who is next to leave the administration? Which one is the Marxist? Which one is the communist? which one is the racist? Which of the czars are sleeping with the interns? and WHO is the mole?? tune in next week to find out...(cut to infomercial on new, IMPROVED Gov't healthcare) LOL seems to me that the anointed one is getting his buddies jobs, telling everyone "No need to check them out, they are friends of mine, trust me, he/she is ok" ; ) these are the people who are running the country, and they cant even get a background check right? Either that, or the nay-sayers spoke up and were shot down as being "not in tune" with average americans, cuz Obama knows best.

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by spence

The czar positions are a little more relaxed.

-spence

Ya, i agree Spence, they couldn't get much more relaxed then that.

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by spence

From what I heard the paperwork is more for appointees who require confirmation. The czar positions are a little more relaxed.

-spence

That's exactly why Obama has so many Czars. They don't have to be approved or confirmed like cabinet members. I'm sure if you looked into the backgrounds of a lot of his Czar cronies, you'd find things that would prevent them from being confirmed by even liberal members of the Senate.

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by fishbones

That's exactly why Obama has so many Czars. They don't have to be approved or confirmed like cabinet members. I'm sure if you looked into the backgrounds of a lot of his Czar cronies, you'd find things that would prevent them from being confirmed by even liberal members of the Senate.

Eh. Bush had over 30 different czars during his time in office, none of which were official vetted.

This isn't a brand new thing in the executive branch. This czar business developed during the early years of the Bush administration. The Republican Congress changed the regulations for presidential advisers, giving person advisers to the president "executive privilege" (Cheney's favorite buzz-phrase) and not being required to have background checks or be approved.

Entertainingly, Glenn Beck (who's started a lot of the yelling about czars) states that George Bush had 4 czars and Obama has "16 and counting." "Fair and Balanced" my ass.

A bigger concern for me is Obama appointing a former UAW member as Manufacturing Czar. I believe the UAW to be a figurative bucket of concrete in which the automotive companies feet were cemented into before they went overboard.

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by JohnnyD

Eh. Bush had over 30 different czars during his time in office, none of which were official vetted.

This isn't a brand new thing in the executive branch. This czar business developed during the early years of the Bush administration. The Republican Congress changed the regulations for presidential advisers, giving person advisers to the president "executive privilege" (Cheney's favorite buzz-phrase) and not being required to have background checks or be approved.

Entertainingly, Glenn Beck (who's started a lot of the yelling about czars) states that George Bush had 4 czars and Obama has "16 and counting." "Fair and Balanced" my ass.

A bigger concern for me is Obama appointing a former UAW member as Manufacturing Czar. I believe the UAW to be a figurative bucket of concrete in which the automotive companies feet were cemented into before they went overboard.

Stop just making stuff up. First off, Bush was not nearly the first President to have Czars. They've been around for about 30 years. Don't you remember Reagan making a big splash with the appointment of the Drug Czar many years ago?

Second, Bush had 30 over 8 years. He did not have 30 at all times during his tenure in office. Many were for specific, topical issues and were not long term. The total number of people in the positions was higher, as there was turnover during the 8 years.

Obama's been in office for 8 months and he already has 28, not 16.

Herb Allison - TARP Czar
Alan Bersin - Border Czar
Dennis Blair - Intelligence Czar
John Brennan - Terrorism Czar
Carol Browner - Energy Czar
Adolfo Carrion, Jr - Urban Affairs Czar
Ashton Carter - Weapons Czar
Aneesh Chopra - Technology Czar
Jeffrey Crowley - AIDS Czar
Cameron Davis - Great Lakes Czar
Nancy-Ann DeParle - Health Czar
Earl Devaney - Stimulus Accountability Czar
Joshua DuBois - Faith-based Czar
Kenneth Feinberg - Pay Czar
Danny Fried -Guantanamo Closure Czar
J. Scott Gration - Sudan Czar
Richard Holbrooke - Afghanistan Czar
John Holdren - Science Czar
(OPEN) - Green Jobs Czar
Gil Kerlikowske Drug Czar
Vivek Kundra - Information Czar
George Mitchell - Mideast Peace Czar
Ed Montgomery - Car Czar
Dennis Ross - Mideast Policy Czar
Gary Samore - WMD Czar
Todd Stern - Climate Czar
Cass Sunstein - Regulatory Czar
Paul Volcker - Economic Czar

Are you comfortable with Obama's other choice's besides Van Jones? How much do you know about these people? No need to answer with any facts, just use more Glen Beck stuff.

[spence]

What's the problem with Obama's czars? It seems just like a slightly different management strategy, where he can apply a point person to an important topic, rather than have it get lost in the government chaos.

-spence

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by spence

What's the problem with Obama's czars? It seems just like a slightly different management strategy, where he can apply a point person to an important topic, rather than have it get lost in the government chaos.

-spence

Obama's Czars are in charge of $1.7 TRILLION. I'm just not so sure that putting the President's cronies in charge of that type of budget is prudent. There's no Congressional oversight of these people. Who's keeping tabs on their spending? The Budget Czar?

Even Senator Robert Byrd, a Democrat thinks that having all these Czars is "dangerous".

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by fishbones

Stop just making stuff up. First off, Bush was not nearly the first President to have Czars. They've been around for about 30 years. Don't you remember Reagan making a big splash with the appointment of the Drug Czar many years ago?

Second, Bush had 30 over 8 years. He did not have 30 at all times during his tenure in office. Many were for specific, topical issues and were not long term. The total number of people in the positions was higher, as there was turnover during the 8 years.

Obama's been in office for 8 months and he already has 28, not 16.

Herb Allison - TARP Czar
Alan Bersin - Border Czar
Dennis Blair - Intelligence Czar
John Brennan - Terrorism Czar
Carol Browner - Energy Czar
Adolfo Carrion, Jr - Urban Affairs Czar
Ashton Carter - Weapons Czar
Aneesh Chopra - Technology Czar
Jeffrey Crowley - AIDS Czar
Cameron Davis - Great Lakes Czar
Nancy-Ann DeParle - Health Czar
Earl Devaney - Stimulus Accountability Czar
Joshua DuBois - Faith-based Czar
Kenneth Feinberg - Pay Czar
Danny Fried -Guantanamo Closure Czar
J. Scott Gration - Sudan Czar
Richard Holbrooke - Afghanistan Czar
John Holdren - Science Czar
(OPEN) - Green Jobs Czar
Gil Kerlikowske Drug Czar
Vivek Kundra - Information Czar
George Mitchell - Mideast Peace Czar
Ed Montgomery - Car Czar
Dennis Ross - Mideast Policy Czar
Gary Samore - WMD Czar
Todd Stern - Climate Czar
Cass Sunstein - Regulatory Czar
Paul Volcker - Economic Czar

Are you comfortable with Obama's other choice's besides Van Jones? How much do you know about these people? No need to answer with any facts, just use more Glen Beck stuff.

What exactly did I make up? I never said Bush was the first person to have czars. I said it developed under him. Reagan's Drug Czar was his *only* czar. For example, Previous Presidential Czars:
Reagan: 1
George H. W. Bush: 2
Clinton: 6
George W. Bush: 35
Obama: 32

From 6 under Clinton to 35 under Bush demonstrates some development in the Czar positions. All of which is attributed to the change by Congress in the Congressional vetting process not being required. Czars are also exempt from FBI background checks, even though all Czars can be informed on any Top Secrets of the US.

Taking a second look, the Beck post was dated a couple months ago (my oversight), but doesn't change him stating (rather, lying) that Bush had 4 czars and Obama has 16 (and counting) in order to push his "Fair and Balanced" position.

I'm not comfortable at all with the Czar position. Wasn't under Bush, still am not under Obama. There should be background checks and a vetting process for anyone working at that level of our government. Still doesn't change that this isn't some new thing made up by Obama, as is being fabricated by the Right.

**Edit** One additional thing, looking at the list you posted, many items on that list would fall under what you dubbed "specific, topical issues." Guantanamo, TARP, Great Lakes, Stimulus Accountability, Afghanistan.

[spence]

Originally Posted by fishbones

Obama's Czars are in charge of $1.7 TRILLION. I'm just not so sure that putting the President's cronies in charge of that type of budget is prudent. There's no Congressional oversight of these people. Who's keeping tabs on their spending? The Budget Czar?

Even Senator Robert Byrd, a Democrat thinks that having all these Czars is "dangerous".

Congress still sets the budget, even if Congress doesn't have direct oversight it's not like the Czars can spend taxpayer money that's not already been allocated.

I'm not saying I'm for a structure like this, but I do see some positives along with the potential for Executive abuse.

-spence

[fishbones]

Johnny, who from the right is fabricating anything about the Czars? You like to throw around phrases like "being fabricated by the right" because it makes Republicans look bad. Unfortunately, your source for information is Glen Beck. The singer Beck is more credible than Glen Beck when it comes to politics. Look at statements from Democrats and liberals regarding Obama's use of Czars. It's not just a Republican or conservative view.

As for Bush, he did have a lot of Czars. Most of them were probably unessessary, too. But, did he have any that had to resign after their credentials were called into question? Also, you didn't even do any research to see how long any of Bush's Czars held their positions did you? I bet you don't know how many he had 8 months into his first term either, do you?

And since we're on the sublect of Czars and Presidents, what's your take on Obama's promise of transparency? Seems to me that all these Czars can do things without any oversight and no one but the President to report back to.

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by spence

I'm not saying I'm for a structure like this, but I do see some positives along with the potential for Executive abuse.

-spence

We're in agreement on this, Spence. All Presidents must have trusted and qualified people to advise them, because no matter how smart they are, they can't know everything they're required to know to make decisions on.

I'm more concerned with there being no vetting process for these appointments. Especially when there is so much going on, someone like Van Jones could possibly slip under the radar.

[spence]

Originally Posted by fishbones

But, did he have any that had to resign after their credentials were called into question?

Granted this is from a site I just Googled up, but they cite 42 Bush administration members who resigned with some degree of controversy.

Complete Bush Appointee Resignation Scorecard | the DC Shuffle

That's a lot.

-spence

[Swimmer]

Originally Posted by spence

Sounds like he wasn't vetted very well.

Snipr...where are my shrimp?

-spence

Obamas vetting team leaves a lot to be desired. This is what really bothers me about his administation. Quickie fixes all around, shallow, not well-thought plans put in place, all these czars he appointed that he thinks will skirt congressional approval.

[detbuch]

The time to have complained about other presidents' Czars has passed. Obama is the current president, not Bush or Reagan or Clinton.

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by spence

Granted this is from a site I just Googled up, but they cite 42 Bush administration members who resigned with some degree of controversy.

Complete Bush Appointee Resignation Scorecard | the DC Shuffle

That's a lot.

-spence

I didn't read the entire page, but I didn't see any of the people from his list of Czars included.

If you want to go to fringe websites for more reliable information, I can direct you to some nice Bill Clinton scandal pages.