Archive » czars

**Written by Doug Powers First the bad news: I lost a bet because Biden doesn’t think that Van Jones is a moving company. Now the good news: Joe’s being Joe again. From the Schnitt Show by way of JWF: Later in his response in talking about the frustration seen in the Tea Party and the [...]

The Obama Culture of Corruption won’t be the same without her. But the question is: While lying, eco-radical czar Carol Browner may be stepping down (Politico has the scoop), does it really mean she’s stepping out of the inner circle? Word has it she may have lost out to health care czar Nancy DeParle for [...]

The issue of the federal government’s exploding cadre of un-appointed, unconfirmed mandarins has festered since the nascent days of the Obama administration — and I remind you that opposition to Obama’s czar fetish was, ahem, bipartisan. Flashback September 2009: Doubts about “czarism” were expressed long before the Jones dust-up by [the late] Democratic Sen. Robert [...]

Let’s briefly review the Obama administration’s unprecedented transparency record: *Loophole-ridden, special interest-pandering DISCLOSE Act *Backdoor kickbacks *Secret Big Labor deals *C-SPAN camera evasion *Disclosure-ducking coffeehouse meetings *Sunlight-shirking holiday and midnight floor votes *Behind-the-scenes recess appointments That’s for starters. And now, the White House is set to hold a new round of backdoor meetings with recess [...]

I’ve been covering Loathsome Cowboy/job-killer Ken Salazar’s ongoing corruption of science and environmental policy at the Interior Department for you extensively here. He has largely escaped mainstream scrutiny. But with a new House GOP majority and independent watch dogs on his tail, he may finally get the lasting ass-kicking he deserves. As you’ll recall, Salazar [...]

“Special adviser” is the new czar. Facing stiff opposition and pointed questions about the left-wing, anti-business advocate that he wanted to nominate as chairman of the new federal consumer financial protection bureau, President Obama once again circumvented the Senate’ constitutional advice and consent role and installed Elizabeth Warren with a wave of his hand: Consumer [...]

The Obamacare Inquisitions: A Brief, Brutish History by Michelle Malkin Creators Syndicate Copyright 2010 Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is just the latest creepy keeper of the Obamacare enemies list. The White House has been keeping tabs on individual and corporate critics of the federal health care takeover for more than a year. [...]

In his widely-panned, bloodless Oval Office address Tuesday night (did I call this last month or what!?), President Obama tapped his Navy Secretary Ray Mabus as the new oil spill recovery czar. Doesn’t he have enough to do leading the Navy? More to the point, as my latest column below points out, don’t we have [...]

The Blog Prof has video of former green jobs czar/Valerie Jarrett’s favorite left-wing radical Van Jones hailing Michigan Democrat governor Jennifer Granholm’s abysmal clean energy economy. Watch here and consider the record of the governor Jones praises as a “gold standard” in leadership: Under Granholm, the #1 employer in Michigan is now the government. Coincidentally, [...]

“Food fight.”

A Columbia U. alum sends along info about a Van Jones performance at the business school next week. If you are a current student or alum and can get to the event, be sure to RSVP and let us know what he’s up to: The Green Collar Economy: /A discussion with Van Jones, President Obama’s [...]

The Obama administration’s eco-crats — who have had free reign in their war on carbon — are now getting push back from…Democrats. It’s about time: Three House Democrats are now pushing legislation that would stop the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating carbon emissions—a decision the agency announced in December — without express permission from [...]

My column takes a look at a trio of under-reported stories of 2009. It was hard to pick just three, of course. FoxNews.com has its own list here. What’s on your list? Related end-of-year notes: A few of my Cone of Shame 2009 awards. *** Under-reported stories of 2009 by Michelle Malkin Creators Syndicate Copyright [...]

The White House has named yet another unaccountable appointee to oversee information technology. We already have shady Vivek Kundra as Federal Chief Information Officer. Then we have Aneesh Chopra as US Chief Technology Officer. Now, meet the new Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt: Here’s the full-text of the announcement email sent to the White House email [...]

Just in time for Christmas, pay czar Kenneth Feinberg has clamped down on the salaries of midlevel employees at bailed-out companies. But the broader targets are not just bailed-out firms, of course. The power-grabby pay czar wants his limits to be adopted industry-wide. Bah-humbug, via MarketWatch: The Obama administration’s pay czar announced on Friday new [...]

Eco-czars of the Obama administration, activate! Form of…a corrupted “scientific” finding on greenhouse gas “public endangerment.” Timed for maximum impact on the Copenhagen global warming treaty talks, the Obama EPA is set to announce that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare, paving the way for the green bureaucrats to radically regulate emissions. Keeping an [...]

Graph via Steve McIntyre My syndicated column today looks at the global warming cultists in the Obama administration who are working overtime to paper over the ClimateGate scandal. Yesterday, Phil Jones, the head of the U.K.’s Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia stepped aside while the university investigates. Penn State prof Michael [...]

Here’s the e-mail of the day, from a beleaguered federal employee at the Commerce Department. Thanks to the e-mailer for giving us a revealing glimpse into the bowels of the spam-happy, appointee-overrun Obama bureaucracy. Michelle, I work for the Department of Commerce as a federal employee…and am getting rather fed up with what I have [...]

A panel of constitutional scholars told the Senate that lawmakers can’t really do anything about Team Obama’s massive proliferation of unaccountable appointees with unlimited authority — until they get caught exceeding their assigned powers. Which, of course, we know so little about because the White House has kept so many czar budgets and staffing out [...]

The push for czar accountability — a major theme of Culture of Corruption — continues. In the Senate, GOP Sen. Susan Collins yesterday proposed an amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill that would restrict federal funds of at least 18 appointed Obama czars. There are currently four co-sponsors. You can see the amendment text here. [...]

Who said it? President Obama’s manufacturing czar, Ron Bloom — just one of the Democratic Socialists of America-tied radicals spotlighted in Trevor Loudon’s latest dossier.

All the President’s “Point People.”

Barack Obama has always been a protectionist double-dealer. During the campaign season, he attacked John McCain for driving foreign cars. Never mind that among the 18 members of Obama’s auto task force and their staff, only two own American vehicles. He also unveiled a “Buy American” logo to attack McCain as a hypocrite for embracing [...]

Aw, Van Jones has a new fan club. Via The Hill: The Green Party invited President Barack Obama’s green-jobs czar to join their ranks, possibly as a future presidential candidate, after he stepped down last Sunday following controversial statements and activities…“Like the Greens, Van Jones sees green jobs and a healthy environment as interconnected pillars [...]

Here’s last night’s 57-40 Senate roll call vote on the confirmation of Cass Sunstein to be Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget aka “Regulatory Czar.” Six Republicans voted yes– Bennett, Collins, Hatch, Lugar, Snowe, and Voinovich. Five Democrats voted no — Begich, Lincoln, Nelson, Pryor, Webb. Independent [...]

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 [...]

President Obama’s payoffs to Big Labor continue. The union bosses got not one, but two, Cabinet appointees: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. Former SEIU chief lobbyist and Soros-funded operative Patrick Gaspard is White House Director of Political Affairs. SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger serves on the President’s Economic Recovery [...]

Scroll down for updates… Bay Area Marxist/Truther/Mumia-supporting race hustler-turned-environmental justice guru Van Jones has resigned from his post as Barack Obama’s green jobs czar. In classic Team Obama style, Jones blames an orchestrated “campaign” of “lies and distortions to distract and divide.” Get ready for the coming media/left-wing martyrdom of Jones. Never mind his own [...]

The GOP is finally waking up on Obama czardom. I’ve mentioned GOP House Rep. Jack Kingston’s bill on Czar Reform and Accountability before. Today, GOP Sen. Kit Bond called for congressional oversight on nutball green jobs czar Van Jones: U.S. Senator Kit Bond, ranking member of the Green Jobs and the New Economy Subcommittee of [...]

“I got to know him really well.”