Czar backlash builds: Democrat calls for removal
Washington is waking up.
Via the Tulsa World, Democrat Rep. Dan Boren wants the removal of all czars who have evaded the confirmation process — also expresses his opposition to Cass Sunstein, Obama’s regulatory czar nominee (who is subject to confirmation hearings):
U.S. Rep. Dan Boren said Congress should use the power of the purse to push the Obama administration to remove so-called czars that do not go through a confirmation process.
Responding to questions during a telephonic town hall, the Oklahoma Democrat said he was glad Van Jones, who resigned over the weekend as controversy continued to build over past statements, has left his post.
Boren joined others in criticizing the growing trend to name czars to lead efforts in specific areas.
Such officials do not go through oversight hearings or a confirmation vote in the Senate.
Boren referred to them as unelected bureaucrats who do not answer to lawmakers. “It is something I have heard a lot about,’’ he said.
Even though such czars do not go through a confirmation process, Boren cited the “authority’’ that came along with the congressional control over the power of the purse.
He also singled out Cass Sunstein, who was picked by Obama to be the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget.
Boren cited Sunstein’s reported views on animal rights, adding they are out of step with those of Oklahomans.
“I don’t believe he should be appointed to anything,’’ Boren said.
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
 |
Joe Biden: Van Jones? Who’s He?
October 4, 2011 12:26 PM by Doug Powers
71 CommentsCulture of Corruption: Not so fast there, Carol Browner
January 24, 2011 10:00 PM by Michelle Malkin
34 Comments
A bipartisan target: Obama’s czars
January 7, 2011 10:36 AM by Michelle Malkin
22 CommentsCrash the White House/Medicare czar closed-door meeting
December 15, 2010 10:46 PM by Michelle Malkin
169 Comments
Confirmed: Obama job-killlers Salazar, Browner lied about drilling ban rationale
November 10, 2010 12:50 PM by Michelle Malkin
68 Comments
The Obamacare Inquisitions: A brief, brutish history
September 15, 2010 10:01 AM by Michelle Malkin
28 Comments
Stuck on stupid: Obama’s czar fetish
June 15, 2010 11:25 PM by Michelle Malkin
193 CommentsVan Jones and Michigan: Perfect together
June 15, 2010 10:28 AM by Michelle Malkin
28 Comments
Categories: czars
YEA!!!! There are some Democrats left. Hat tip to the Congressman!
I wish him well.
This is a very good sign.
More please.
This is The United States of America not Russia, and this country does not have czars. Get rid of them all. Now.
Dan Boren has his good points. He’s MUCH better than his uncle, David Boren.
He’s on the Board of Directors of the NRA.
But, he supported the “stimulus”, he was an Obamamaniac, he supported Sonia Maria Sotomayor for the Supreme Court.
This is a good sign, but he needs to do more.
Sounds like someone very worried about his reelection prospects. I’ll believe it when I see legislation proposed, not mere hot air blown into the political ether.
What’s wrong with Sunstein, every kooks kook. I don’t see what would be the problem for the parent rat suing for catching and killing one of their kids.
Glenn Beck is talking about Cass Sunstein right now. Congress is putting the man up for confirmation today, as we speak. This is being rushed through…again, the tactic of this marxist administration. They plan to ram it through against some very strong objections. Stay tuned.
By the way, my husband and I just spent 4 days in the company of some rabid leftists. Fortunately, there were a few conservatives, but I was uncomfortable and felt somewhat intimidated. I made one small, non-confrontational comment and this lady glared at me and said, “What did you just say?” It was ugly. And this was a lady who had been very nice and friendly for two days. But as soon as I let slip I was a “conservative”, she changed toward me, and made me feel threatened. This is really bad, folks. I was so relieved to get out of there. And I won’t subject myself to that kind of scenario again!
One democrat with a conscience. WHO KNEW!
Rep. Dan Boren deserves phone calls and emails from us voicing our approval of his position because I’m sure he’s being blasted by his liberal constituents. It wouldn’t hurt for us to call our own senators and representatives asking them to push for the removal of the czars… the momentum is there, it just needs a harder push.
Yep! It’s a great way to keep these folks in line. They ought to be reminded (on a regular basis) of who they work for!
I just followed MM’s link to Rep Jack Kingston’s bill HR 3226 that would cut off funds for “advisors” to the president who have not been confirmed by the Senate. Representative Dan Boren’s name did NOT appear among the co-sponsors of the bill. Hmmmmm…….
30pcs, Amen to that! I wonder at what point in our history did Congressmen stop representing their constituents to Washington and start representing Washington to their constituents?
Liberals get trillions of dollars of action, conservatives get a few words. So it was in the Bush years and so it is in the time of the Obamaniacs.
Can you imagine someone trying to run their marriage like that?
“Honey,” as the husband rushes out the door, “I’ve got another big date tonight. It’ll be expensive and our budget can’t afford it, but I’ll get a raise some day. I promise. In the meantime, I love you. Bye!”
Can this marriage be saved? I think not.
I hope not.
Obama’s next Czar?
http://www.piratejokes.net/images/blarrrg/obama-pirate-1.jpg
…not mine, but appropriate
We could have/should have predicted this. When one branch of the federal government is perceived to usurp on the powers of another, eventually there will be push back. The appointment of all of these positions under the executive branch was certainly eventually going to cause the legislative branch to respond.
At least one rep on the Left is thinking about safeguarding the constitutional authority of Congress; let’s hope the others catch on fast.
Jet, that’s the million dollar question. Hopefully, we’ve learned a very valuable lesson from all of this … we need to stay vigilant. Human nature being what it is and all.
“And I won’t subject myself to that kind of scenario again!”
We have your back, Happyscrap. Into the lions’ den we must go. Confrontation, at this point, is unavoidable.
1865, when the government went from a federal form to a national form. Since then, slowly, the national government has been seeking more and more power over the citizens and the states.
Probably about the time they stopped holding their townhalls in the townhall and started holding them in the union hall.
Great quote at Politico today:
Like I keep saying, our government is losing its legitimacy. A “post-pastisan” government united to defy the will of voters is doomed to fail. It could all topple in next year’s elections.
One thing is for sure, conservative ideas are very popular and the pols who embrace them, have little to fear from their party leaders and the cultural elites.
FIFY
Glare back and ask why she hates the Constitution so much. Guaranteed she will avert her eyes.
“Vigilance” is the word of the movement. I’ve seen it used a few times of late in this and other blogs. Vigilance also scares the beejeezuz out of the politicians. They get comfortable in their ivory tower up on the hill and forget for whom they work and from whom they derive their authority. Vigilance scares the MSM, too. They’ve forgotten the meaning of the word and have sold their collective souls for their narrow-minded cause. What shred of integrity they had left slithered away in 2008. We, the people, must maintain the vigilance. We must keep an eye on our children – know what goes on in the classroom, know the teacher, the principal, the administrators. We must become involved in our governance. Simply voting every two or four years and then settling into our comfortable lives, letting the foxes guard the henhouse will get us into the situation we face today. Vigilance is driving the tea party movement to DC this weekend. Vigilance elicits respect and/or fear from the fools on the hill. There is, indeed, a grassroots movement in this country; a low, rolling thunder that portends the coming tsunami. It is fueled by vigilance. “Vigilance” is the word of the movement.
He’s defending Congressional turf against the Executive. It has nothing to do with defending Constitutional principles.
He. Is. A. Democrat.
Can we use having some of these kinds of Democrats on our side on particular issues? Of COURSE. But do not forget what they really are. They are allies of conservatives in the same way Stalin was our ally in WWII.
You have to be on constant vigil with these slicksters in the Obama administration. As a backlash against the Czars builds, look for the Obamanites to start changing the titles of these usurpers and burrow them deeper into the bowels of the White House.
Agreed. But at this point, where I am faced with the complete loss or watering-down of my family’s health coverage so close to actually happening, any port in a storm.
You’re going to see a lot of rats looking for cover as it gets closer to the election next year. They’re all going to say what they think we want to hear.
We need to watch what they do, however, and call them on it. Then vote them out. Time to clean house.
I haven’t read all the comments so if this has been included, I apologize.
link here
punk reid of hemorrhoid fame is suppose to be behind the push to confirm sunstein the equally moronic one. pushing it thorugh a little on the shady side since reid hasn’t done an ethical thing in years.
How did you guess that she was ugly??
= Yeah, she really was. This was not the time to be confrontational because it was a social setting with family and friends. These people were friends of a distant cousin from Eugene, Oregon who was there for a visit, so we felt we needed to be “polite”. It wasn’t easy!! I’m so glad to be home.
P.S. Thanks to those of you who showed me how to put in the cute little smiley faces, etc. I will try not to drive you nuts with them!
Somebody, please stop me!!
Community Auditions song (revised)
Czar of the day, who will it be.
Your vote may hold the key.
It’s up to you.
Tell us who, will be czar of the day.
Finally found my tip did you?
It wasn’t you who made it confrontational.
But apparently they didn’t.
And we’re glad to have you back.
On September 9th, 2009 at 11:33 am, happyscrapper said:
What kind of world do we live in that makes it an odd occasion when someone wants to know what the hell is going on?
Our Congressman, Chet Edwards (D-TX), who I heard had been in the running for Obama’s VP, told a town hall audience that anyone who objects to Federal health insurance on a constitutional basis is a radical extremist.
Ok–I asked ages ago how to make the little smiley faces too, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…
(don’t pay that spacey no nevermind–that biotch is craaazeeee)
We never had these problems until the Fourth Estate decided to get in bed with the government. The media used to ask the hard questions, now the people have to do it for themselves.
I..er…um…
Make sure you put a space after the sentence then a colon(:) followed by a close parentheses())
Like this:)
I just finished breakfast with several friends, we are a mixed group of dems and republicans
For the first time I saw real anger at how Obama has bungled everything they worked to give him. Their words not mine. They see the majoritys in both house as being squandered by a tone deaf, self-importance that they claim to have not seen before now in Obama. I suggested it was always there and that we tried to tell em, but well you cna guess how that went.
It was a good time and until next week we all agreed to watch the president continue to over-expose him image this week and waste political capital. It saddened my dem friends and uplifted my hopes that finally the true face of our marxist in chief is actually being exposed to all
Well, Spacey, it’s not that we don’t like you.
It’s just that, weeeeell, we don’t like you.
thought so.
I know how to make
I have not been a particular supporter of Dan Boren; not because of him, but because of the political side of his family (David Boren)and their use of politics for personal gain. However, for all you who aren’t familar with Oklahoma, Dan Boren is sandwiched between Inhofe and Coburn on the Senate side and Sullivan (Tulsa) in the first district. Dan is from the second district (mine) which is gerrymandered from the Osage, around the eastern side of Oklahoma, down to “little Dixie” (heavily conservative Democrat). All but Dan are Republicans and not RINOS. All are conservative, including Dan.
Oklahoma has a long history of getting rid of politicos that go to Washington and turn left. We also have a history of getting rid of politicos that are so far right as to be embarrassing to the state. We also have a history of ssupporting moderates and conservatives of all races and genders from either party.
Dan Boren is doing what his constituents want. I am coming around to him more every day. However, he is part of the Democrat caucus and as such abets taking power from conservatives. Dan initially did not have town hall meetings because he “knew what his constituents wanted”. I once took this in a perjorative manner, but since have ascertained that he did indeed know what his constituents wanted. He did have a few meetings anyway, which, I am sure reinforced his knowledge of what his constituents wanted.
Oklahoma started out socialist and populist. That lasted until Truman – Johnson. We have voted conservative ever since. However, we still have a few inane liberals that like to write letters to editors, but we mostly use them for humor and entertainment.
Enjoy.
(Just in case you haven’t seen something similar.)
Dan Boren doesn’t like Czars. I wonder how he feels about Nepotism?
You know who your friends are
So nice to see another Okie on here. Ditto on your comments. Our conservative roots run deep and the fact that we are proud of them sets us apart from other states. My transplanted Michigander husband mentioned last night how proud he is to be an “Okie!”
wooHOOOOO
Feels good to be on board.
I was tired of the short bus.
DNC/Obama motto
RUN AS A CENTRIST…
GOVERN AS A SOCIALIST!
Careful now. It’s like makeup and padded bras. A little goes a long way.
Rogue–allrighty then.
I use lots of one, and have no need for the other.
But, I remember that looney, leftwing liberal Mike Synar. He would run as a Conservative, then vote as a liberal. We finally got rid of him when we cleaned house in ’96.
Yes, Cheddar! I do believe yours was the one that broke the code for me! Thanks! I will put an extra pile of Parmesano/Reggiano on my hot dish tonight in your honor.
I love the eye roll!
You may have noticed that it doesn’t take much to entertain me.
Did anyone listen to Glenn Beck this a.m.? Sounds like something BIG is coming down the pike soon. Maybe tomorrow. He always delivers, so I am getting the popcorn ready.
Spacey – you’re a hoot, smiley art or not.
Hi Happy, this is the ‘Other Happy’ and yes, I’m listening to Beck here at work (our family business).
I just emailed my Senators and let them know that even though I am a vegetarian and animal lover, Cass Sunstein takes the animal rights issue too far and that such and unbalanced approach makes him unqualified to supervise regulations for the “people.” I hope they got the pun.
My eldest daughter is almost 40 now and decided to become vegetarian while still in junior H.S. Her problem is that she doesn’t like tofu or mushrooms, but LOVES cheese. You get the picture. She is overweight (just a little). I think we have more vegetarians in our immediate family than most, and I don’t know why. As for me, I eat meat a few times a week, but don’t need much! The only time I fix a big steak is when Obama tells us not to. Stay happy, and I will too!
proud to be a ‘hoot’–I’ve been called much worse. But let’s leave family out of this…
You should have repeated yourself, quite loudly and slowly as if she were deaf or slow. It might not have defused the situation, but it would have amused most everyone else.
ECS
You fellow Oklahomans may remember David Walters who ran for Governor in 1990. He managed to mortgage his house for 10 times its value and used that money to get elected. It was illegal and he did get caught but still became Governor. Later he held a $25,000 a plate dinner and used those funds to pay off that mortgage. Campaign finance reform at its best. Democrats able to give $25k to their candidate skirting the legal limit of $1,000. At that time there were also 200+ Corporation commissioners indicted for fraud based on kickbacks from contractors. Mr Anthony from CR Anthony was instrumental in bringing them down. JC Watts was in the middle of that but escaped indictment. David Boren was right in the middle of all that too.
I think Walters pleaded guilty to some lower crime and did not run for reelection but he bought it the first time. Follow the money.
Before we get a bazillion posts on the corrupt democratic OK politics, we put Walters in jail, Harris is now sort of living on a reservation in Arizona I think, after he was removed from office. A bunch of commissioners were jailed. A long term EX senator from little dixie is still fighting to stay out or get released from jail. Most of this was the left over from the socialist – to – conservative movement. Now if the rest of you could do that for the federal government, we would all be happy.
By the way, Oklahoma had some very honest and respected democrat politicians – speaker of the house Carl Albert from Bug Tussle (in little dixie), James R. Jones and the David Boren (now OU president). In Oklahoma, the university presidencies are reserved for ex-governors or high ranking people in the Dem party. If we have a retiring ex-governor and no university, they create one for him. (sarc)
Hmm.. Walters pleaded guilty to a misdemeaner campaign violation and was given a 1 year deferred sentence.
A reference to a “deferred sentence” is normally to a sentence where, if the defendant successfully completes a period of probation, the charge is dismissed without a conviction being entered. The result is that the person can truthfully deny having been convicted of the underlying criminal offense.
If the defendant violates the terms of that probation, the conviction is entered and they are sentenced on the charge.
He didn’t go to jail for campaign finance violations. I believe his jail time was for insurance fraud. I think its safe to say he was a little bit of a crook but was able to parlay that criminal activity into a Governorship. Not a bad trade off. 1 year deferred sentence as described above for 4 years as Governor.