Back Off, Leave Obama’s Czars Alone! Democrats Kill GOP Bill for More Transparency & Oversight of Non-Vetted Czars (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on September 25, 2009
Czar mania in the Obama administration has been preserved! Rather than make an attempt to provide a smidgen of the transparency Barack Obama promised countless times during the presidential election campaign and many times thereafter, well… never mind.
Commendable effort to bring some accountability to Obama’s “czardom,” but unsurprisingly, it was destroyed by Democrats.
From Fox News:
Senate Democrats Kill GOP Effort to Rein in Obama’s Czars
By Trish Turner
September 24, 2009
Senate Democrats, under pressure from a White House arguing separation of powers, rejected a GOP attempt Thursday to provide greater transparency and congressional oversight of 18 so-called czars appointed by the Obama administration without Senate confirmation.
Democrats employed a procedural tactic to kill the GOP proposal, which would have withheld federal funds for the creation of any new, unconfirmed czar positions until the administration agreed to allow the individuals to testify before Congress under “reasonable” requests.
The proposal also would have required every czar to produce a detailed “public, written report” biannually of their actions and involvement in the creation of policy, rules, and regulations.
But Democrats used a Senate rule that prohibits legislating on a spending bill — something that is often done by both political parties despite the rule — to kill the measure.
Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine who sponsored the amendment to a spending bill that funds the Interior Department, decried the move on the Senate floor, saying she was “deeply disappointed” in her Democratic colleagues.
“My amendment has been carefully tailored to cover officials that the president has unilaterally designated for significant policy matters,” said Collins, who is the top Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
“It would not have covered the president’s chief of staff, for example, and it would not cover less senior White House officials, despite some misinformation to the contrary,” Collins said, noting that her staff had worked with White House officials Wednesday night without agreement.
Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., a close ally of the White House, was not convinced. He said he sensed a more politically-motivated attack by “czar watchers,” invoking “the political wiseman” FOX News’ Glenn Beck, as well as Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who Durbin said had found a larger number of czars than Collins, who detailed 18 unconfirmed czars for the record.
Durbin noted that both Beck, who he jokingly called a “political adviser,” and Hutchison had come up with the same number of czars, 32, which included positions that are confirmed by the Senate.
“Who’s going to define who is covered by your amendment?” Durbin implored. He also noted that the workload the Collins amendment would have imposed on the czars would be onerous.
But Democrats earlier in the week appeared to be on the cusp of accepting the amendment without objection.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., manager of the Interior spending bill, had told Collins that Democrats were prepared to include her amendment, though one objection had popped up. At the time, Collins told FOX News that it appeared to be a simple misunderstanding.
Soon after, it became clear the White House had objections. Feinstein told FOX News on Thursday that the White House had told her to back off.
This Glenn Beck Show video is from August 2009. Van Jones, the “green jobs” czar, is no longer in the White House. Jones resigned soon after this video aired once his controversial, radical past was exposed.
Glenn Beck & Michelle Malkin: The Backgrounds of Some Of Obama’s Czars Are Criminal and Nutty | August 2009
Related reading:
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
Citizen Wells: Cass Sunstein, Obama Czar, Information and Regulatory Affairs, White House office, Sunstein quotes, US Constitution, Sunstein radical ideas
Diary of a Mad Conservative: Fox Hannity: Dems shut down czar legislation and More Jones on imperialist, evil white America and the religion of Marx
Goodtimepolitics: List of Obama’s Czars with Backgrounds
Fire Andrea Mitchell!: Democrat Rep. Dan Boren pushing for removal of UNCONFIRMED Obama Czars
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
Ztower: Banks to bail out FDIC? Finance Czar Andy Borowitz might not see it as far-fetched.
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
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)
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
Pundit & Pundette: Van Jones smears himself, then resigns
Gateway Pundit: NBC Reporter Chuck Todd: Covering Van Jones Story “A Waste of Time” (Video) and Krauthammer Drops Jeremiah Wright Bomb Says Van Jones’ Lunacy “Is a Reflection of the Boss” (Video)
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
President Obama has a white house mmm-mmm-mmm
And in this whitehouse he has some czars mmm-mmm-mmm
Here a czar,
There a czar
Everywhere a czar, czar
President Obama had a white house mmm-mmm-mmm
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