Posted on 09/19/2011 4:51:13 AM PDT by Kaslin
As the Obama agenda proves increasingly impotent, Americans have witnessed Obama's czars crash and burn or run for cover over the past thirty months. From Van Jones to Kevin Jennings to Nancy-Ann DeParle to Todd Stern to Ron Bloom, Obama's style of management--bypassing the senate-confirmed agency heads--has failed to yield the results promised to the American people. You would think Obama would give up on the failed idea of using a curious collection of White House czars to manage complex economic and regulatory issues. No way.
Instead, in the American Jobs Act, Obama is proposing a new group of czars as a part of his "jobs" act-- the American Infrastructure Financing Authority (AIFA) czars. President Obama’s newest czars will be given the authority to manage over a trillion dollars of federal funding for roads, bridges, buildings, waterways, dams and other infrastructure.
Here we go again. No doubt, Obama hopes that few legislators or American citizens will read the deadly details buried within the 199 pages of his proposed American Jobs Act that will establish this latest czar-ship, nor understand just how expensive AIFA is going to be.
As with Obama’s other czars, the AIFA czar comes with infrastructure requirements of his own: staff, office space and technology needed to perform the job. Managing what is in reality a trillion dollar budget is going to require a huge new staff that will, essentially represent an entire new federal agency. Of course, nowhere does President Obama tell us why a new czar is required to manage infrastructure projects. More importantly, Obama does not explain why the vast federal bureaucracy now responsible for these activities must be bypassed and a new, redundant agency is built.
Make no mistake: the AIFA Czar position is redundant. All of the infrastructure projects and tasks identified to be performed by Obama’s new Czar are already the responsibilities of the Senate-confirmed heads of Department of Transportation, the U.S. General Services Administration and the Department of Energy.
Some of these tasks are:
· Highways or roads.
· Bridges.
· Mass transit.
· Inland waterways.
· Commercial ports.
· Airports.
· Air traffic control systems.
· Passenger rail, including high-speed rail.
· Freight rail systems.
· Waterwaste treatment facilities.
· Storm water management systems.
· Dams.
· Solid waste disposal facilities.
· Drinking water treatment facilities.
· Levees.
· Open space management systems.
· Pollution reduced energy generation.
· Transmission and distribution.
· Storage.
· Energy efficiency enhancements for buildings, including public and commercial buildings.
What does Obama's decision to create a new agency entity with redundant responsibilities say about his confidence in his own Senate-confirmed appointees that currently lead DoT, DoI,DoE and GSA? And just why is the President proposing to transfer all of the power and contractual authority held by the Secretaries of DoT, DoI, DoE, and the Administrator of GSA to a new White House Czar?
If the President is voting no-confidence in his Senate confirmed appointees, then they should go. But the nation should not have to spend precious taxpayer dollars on yet another, flaky, Obama Administration scheme to create a new White House Czar that is simultaneously able avoid traditional accountability to the American taxpayer, while at the same time seriously politicizing decisions under White House control at a scale never seen before.
We've seen how the president's czars respond to oversight from Congress. When Congress calls with questions and concerns, the White House staffer often hides behind the protection of Executive Privilege. And, the agency head, confirmed by the Senate, is held responsible. Agency heads and Cabinet officials must venture to the Hill and be accountable to Congress. Yet, the actual policy for that program has often been managed by one of the ubiquitous White House czars.
Obama has created yet another accountability challenge. In addition to their ability to hold positions on other Boards of both for-profit and non-profit corporations, AIFA not only has a Czar but also a 7-member Board of Directors, all with decision-making ability. Often, when decision-making responsibility is divided among so many, accountability is reduced and the president can hide behind the skirts of a handpicked group of loyalists. AIFA would essentially be a vastly more powerful NLRB complete with all of the known problems and dangers of a grasping group of unaccountable political cronies.
When problems arise, a finger-pointing frenzy often ensues and the American taxpayer is left holding the bag. Of course, you have to admire Obama’s scheme, as noted in section 346 (on page 116), that offers token reports and evaluation of the success/failure of the Czar and Committee’s spending decision some four years after implementation. In this way, the final report card will only be issued long after all Obama devotees are out of office.
And what about the dedicated, trained, career employees at DoT, DoI, DoE and GSA who have been performing the tasks of contracting, construction proposal and prospectus review and development, government legal review of contracts and leases and repairs and maintenance?
These career professionals possess some of the best technical minds in their respective areas of expertise. The current system is mostly transparent. And, it is only when the White House applies political pressure that these things go badly wrong (Solyndra anyone?).
Instead of respecting and utilizing the expertise of these career professionals, Obama has proposed a system wherein they become pawns to political posturing and every infrastructure decision has the potential to become politicized.
Just at a time when our nation should be talking about cutting costs, Obama has put in motion the wheel of a phantasmagorically, bloated, spending project, that increases, phenomenally, the size of government, duplicates existing governmental functions, escapes honest accountability, all while subordinating all contracting, development, and infrastructure programs to a new White House Czar.
This idiot is like a rat, lost in a maze. He keeps turning around and going back the way he came; only to hit the wall again. According to Einstein, he’s insane.
e’s a turkey alright.
He also prefers to command and have it be done without hesitation regardless of whether or not his command is legal within the limits of defined power.
Look at how many ‘under the radar’ things he’s done.
I was just thinking....I want to be Czar for Czars.
I read the article. GOOD NIGHT!!! This is major!
” We need to be even MORE vigilant in this last year of an Obama administration.”
Agreed !!
The last gasp of a dying Socialist dynasty
“This is major!”
Yes, I think it could be. What all the radicals in the Obama administration are doing behind the scenes is quite far-reaching. From the article:
“Here are the types of vendors (and the employers that hire them or purchase goods from them) who will likely be caught up in the DOL’s new proposed rules:
Writers (or authors) who may write a website, publication, sell a book, or other material that may promote a positive employee relations culture, thereby dissuading employees from unionizing
Website designers who may be contracted to design and build a website to be used for internal communications with employees
Consultants who coach management on how to structure and effectively manage employee teams
Employee engagement consultants who help companies and employees with positive employee relations
Productivity consultants who design and implement quality, or any other type of teams that may give employees a voice in the success of their companies’ products
Safety consultants who help establish safety committees that give employees the ability to voice safety concerns to their employer to resolve safety issues
Human resources consultants that design, write, or implement employee handbooks or policies
Compensation and benefit consultants who design and administer any type of benefit, pay or incentive plans for companies
Consultants who conduct surveys to determine employee satisfaction at their jobs”
“And check out what the Department of Labor is about to do...”
Is there a thread about this? There should be! Could you start a thread if there isn’t one yet? Word of this needs to get out.
This is going to hurt small businesses very seriously. Any staff training or any activity with the purpose of improving employee morale could put the business owner in jail unless they disclose their income to the public.
Yes, I read that and I’m still in shock.
I have been working toward starting my own business. I know website development and I have quite a few ideas.
I want to build up and encourage my future employees. One thing that I want to do is to teach them to go farther, and be more successful than just working for me. It would bring me great joy to see employees of mine go on to start their own businesses!
Now, because of this, apparently I won’t be able to do anything to train my workers once I have them. It would be construed as making the workplace better.
Can you imagine, the audacity of making a workplace better... a crime!
“The white house is now a bunker and the pronouncements are like those of Hitler during the final days.
As the artillery shells explode all around, pronouncements are issued to phantom units. There is no communication back but rather than acknowledge the unit is gone, there is rage against the commander who refuses to reply.”
I really liked your post, and the analogy. If the white house really is in it’s final days (15 months to go), who exactly are the commanders to whom it is issuing what pronouncements?
Best I can come up with, is the pronouncement is the “jobs plan” and the commanders is the Supercommittee. I think the supercommittee will reply, in due time, and the reply will be some sort of compromise that will further enrage the white house and leave the people disatisfied as well.
A shadow government-—plain & simple.
People we never meet- never vote for-never see getting vetted in front of Congress- with a staff & expenses we never find out about are running the USA.
Impeach this Kenyan SOB before he is able to completely destroy this country. I would love to know how much of tax payer dollars he and his fat a&& wife have stashed away in offshore accounts. Maybe that’s why he needed so many SS#’s.
Then the democrats can demonize the "rich people" who don't pay their fair share and gin up the takers and then we will all be so happy, with love, peace and harmony throughout the land under BO's hope and change leadership.
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