Crackdown on Czars: Sen. Collins’ Amendment to Restrict Federal Funds & Examine Obama’s ‘Shadow Government’ Army of Czars (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on September 24, 2009
The abuse of Obama’s appointment of powerful yet non-vetted, non-scrutinized czars with unprecedented numbers is finally being addressed in the Senate.
We all remember Communist, 9/11 Truther radical czar Van Jones and his extremist background that was not questioned and was apparently condoned by the Obama administration, while being ignored by the mainstream/fringe media. This occurred long before the embarrassing video of Jones calling Republicans a**holes was whizzing across cyberspace, before he was spearheading boycotts of businesses and TV hosts who were not in lock-step supporting ObamaCare.
Czar Jones was just the beginning of tugging one loose, radical thread from the Obama administration’s growing “shadow government” tapestry.
I wrote about the excessive number of czars a few months ago, and included this video on the subject that Glenn Beck aired on his TV program back in June:
The Obama administration is power-grabbing and growing more radical and out of hand every day. Appointing 32 czars… horrific and excessive, especially since they shadow many existing government departments. So why do we need them?
We don’t.
Video encore: The Glenn Beck video below, from his show that aired a few months ago, is an eye-opener. This new bureaucracy of czars doesn’t have to answer to the American people, only to Barack Obama: Shadow government.
Obama’s Shadow Government & Czars — Glenn Beck’s ‘One Thing’ | Aired 06-09-09
Today at Pundit & Pundette: Descent into comedy: Our “safe schools” czar.
H/T to Michelle Malkin: 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.
Here’s Sen. Collins’s statement on the floor yesterday:
Mr. President, I rise to offer an amendment to ensure that the new czars appointed by this Administration can be held accountable to Congress and to the American people.
The effective functioning of our democracy is predicated on open government, on providing a transparent process for the people we serve. It cannot instill trust and confidence in its citizenry unless it fosters accountability.
It is against that backdrop that I raise my strong concerns regarding the Administration’s appointment of at least 18 new “czars” to manage some of the most complex issues facing our country.
As I recently expressed in a letter to the President, I am deeply troubled because these czars fail to provide the accountability, transparency, and oversight necessary for our constitutional democracy.
The creation of “czars” within the Executive Office of the President and elsewhere in the Executive Branch circumvents the constitutionally mandated “advice and consent” role our Founding Fathers assigned to the Senate. It greatly diminishes the ability of Congress to conduct meaningful oversight and to hold officials accountable for their actions. And it creates confusion about which officials are responsible for the government’s policy decisions.
Senators Lamar Alexander, Christopher Bond, Mike Crapo, Pat Roberts, and Robert Bennett joined me in writing to the President about these important issues. We identified at least 18 “czars” whose reported responsibilities may be undermining the constitutional oversight responsibilities of Congress or express statutory assignments of responsibility to other Executive branch officials.
To be clear, I do not consider every position identified in various reports as a “czar” to be problematic. Positions established by law or subject to Senate confirmation, such as the Director of National Intelligence, the Homeland Security Advisor, and the Chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, do not raise the same concerns about accountability, transparency, and oversight. Furthermore, we all recognize that Presidents are entitled to rely on experts who serve as senior advisers.
As I noted earlier, however, “czar” positions within the Executive Office of the President are largely insulated from effective Congressional oversight. And many “czars” appointed by this Administration seem either to duplicate or dilute the statutory authority and responsibilities that Congress already has conferred upon Cabinet-level officers and other senior Executive branch officials.
Indeed, many of these new “czars” appear to occupy positions of greater responsibility and authority than officials who already have been confirmed by the Senate.
Whether in the White House or elsewhere, these “czar” appointments are not subject to the Senate’s constitutional “advice and consent” role. Little information is available concerning their responsibilities and authorities. There is no careful Senate examination of their character and qualifications. And we are speaking here of some of the most senior positions within our government.
The appointments of so many czars have muddied the waters, causing confusion and risking miscommunication going forward. We need to know, with clarity: Who is responsible for what? Who is in charge – the czar or the Cabinet official? Who can Congress and the American people hold accountable for government policies that affect daily life?
For those reasons, Mr. President, I offer an amendment that would prevent any more federal funds from being made available for the administrative expenses of any “czars” until two key conditions are met.
First, our amendment would require the President to certify to Congress that every czar will respond to reasonable requests to testify before, or provide information to, any congressional committee with jurisdiction over matters the President has assigned to that individual.
Second, our amendment would require every czar to issue a public, written report twice a year to these same congressional committees. This report would include a description of the activities of the official and the office, any rule, regulation, or policy that the official or the office participated in the development of, or any rule, regulation, or policy that the official or the office directed be developed by the department or agency with statutory responsibility for the matter.
This amendment would represent a significant step toward establishing an oversight regimen for these positions that would provide the transparency and accountability our nation expects from its leaders – transparency promised by this Administration during last year’s campaign.
Beyond the specific requirements of this amendment, I, along with the five other co-signers of my letter, have asked that the President consult carefully with Congress prior to establishing any additional “czar” positions or filling any existing vacancies in these positions.
As our letter states, we stand ready to work with the President to address the challenges facing our nation and to provide our country’s senior leaders with the legitimacy necessary to do their jobs. To ensure that successful outcome, we must eliminate the serious shortcomings associated with “czars.”
We must rebuild and continually fortify the cherished standards of accountability, oversight, and transparency – not erode them further. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
Tony Ronzio, Sunjournal: America’s not the place for czars
Snippet from previous Frugal Café post, Van Jones Was the First: Obama’s Other Czars Now Under Fire by Democrat Congressman Dan Boren:
…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.
Related reading:
Goodtimepolitics: List of Obama’s Czars with Backgrounds
Fire Andrea Mitchell!: Democrat Rep. Dan Boren pushing for removal of UNCONFIRMED Obama Czars
Citizen Wells: Cass Sunstein, Obama Czar, Information and Regulatory Affairs, White House office, Sunstein quotes, US Constitution, Sunstein radical ideas
Hot Air Green Room: Cass Sunstein: An Intellect Who Towers Over the Founders
The Daley Gator: Now why would a “Diversity Czar” worry anyone?
CBS News: For Van Jones, A Week Already Feels Like A Year
Dianej in my opinion: Hey Catholics what say you on Cass Sunstein?
The Patriot’s Mind: Video of the Week – Glenn Beck on Obama’s Communist Czars
Stanley Kurtz, The Corner on NRO, Van Jones on ‘The Enemy’
Leigh Scott, Big Hollywood: Van Jones: Out of the Commie Closet — Who’s Next?
FOX News: Mainstream print and broadcast media ignore Van Jones: timeline of who reported what and when
Hot Air: White House source: We never asked Van Jones to fill out the vetting questionnaire Update: FBI vetted Jones and Unbelievable: Van Jones says 9/11 petition didn’t reflect his views; Update: Jones didn’t “carefully review” petition
GayPatriot: Van Jones: Dereliction of MSM in Age of Obama and Van Jones, Obama’s “Truther” Green Jobs Czar, Resigns and To Critics of Republicans: Show me the Legislation where GOP pushes its beliefs on others
Behind Blue Lines: Meet Zampolit Jones
George Moneo, Babalú, an island on the net without a bearded dictator: The company he keeps
Frugal Café Blog Zone: Andrew Breitbart on Van Jones and Media’s Inaction Reporting His Radicalism, Americans Tuning Out MSM
and GOP, Meg Whitman, Are Any of You Listening to Conservative Talk Radio? Here’s Michael Savage on Radical Van Jones 5 Months Ago (video) and You Kiss Your Mother with That Mouth? Obama’s Green Jobs Czar Van Jones: “Republicans Are ‘A**holes’” (video) and Undeterred by WH “Green Czar’s” Boycott Strong-Arming, Beck Hits Back on Van Jones’ Background & ‘Color of Change’ and We Have Many Questions, Mr. President: Michelle Malkin and Glenn Beck on Radical Czars in the White House (video)
Ed Driscoll, Pajamas Media: Van Goes Under The Bus — Updated
Diary of a Mad Conservative: More Jones on imperialist, evil white America and the religion of Marx
Tarheel Pundit: Play That Funky Jew-Hatin’ Music, Van Jones
Patterico’s Pontifications: The Unvetting of Van Jones
The Foundry: The Green Jobs Fallacy
Hot Air: Obama appointees: Plenty of empty seats, Plenty of thrones and Rattner’s exit prompted by probe?
JammieWearingFool: Another Great Vetting Job: Obama’s Car Czar Under SEC Investigation
Michelle Malkin: Czar backlash builds: Democrat calls for removal and So much for the Greatest Transition in World History and Castro Watch: Walking Commie corpse appears on TV and Culture of Corruption: Czars of the Obama Underworld and The pay czar’s power grab and The Etiquette Czar’s Rules for Patriotic Protest and Obama summons his army: “This is the moment our movement was built for.” and The pay czar’s power grab and Support the Czar Accountability and Reform Act of 2009 and Meet the FCC Diversity Czar and The science czar stonewalls and Alert: Car czar Steven “Chooch” Rattner is leaving; probes intensify
Pundit & Pundette: Van Jones smears himself, then resigns
Gateway Pundit: Sing It… Van Jones Cut Nasty Hate-Filled Music Album, Too! (Video) …Update: Album Cover Found!
The Underground Conservative: More Vetting Problems Ahead?
Right Voices: The White House Is So Desperate They Got Brokow To Try And Cover For Them
Washington Post: White House Adviser Van Jones Resigns Amid Controversy Over Past Activism
Left, Right, and Centered: Imagine What The Press Would Do With This Under W
Robert Stacy McCain, American Spectator: Van Jones: Victim of Right-Wing ‘Terrorists’?
NewsBusters: Jones Resigns Over What? and NYTs’ Friedman Was Big Fan of Green Job Czar Jones in Oct 2007
Verum Serum: CBS: Was VS Post the Last Straw for Van Jones?
Power Line: Lights Out for Van Jones
VotingFemale Speaks!: Van Jones – Obama Will Miss His Racist Radical Communist Pal; Obama? Your Crap just gets deeper
About the author
This is beginning to become the refreshing breeze we all need.
The enlightenment of the American People is infectious, and will deny Obama and his cronies the goal they desire to attain.
I am and always have been an optimist.
Kinda gives a warm fuzzy feeling inside, huh ?
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