The right's sudden concern about black Democratic presidents appointing Presidential 'Czars' has been simmering in the wingosphere for a while -- and now Eric Cantor gives it a Congressional imprimatur.
By appointing a virtual army of "czars" -- each wholly unaccountable to Congress yet tasked with spearheading major policy efforts for the White House -- in his first six months, the president has embarked on an end-run around the legislative branch of historic proportions.
To be sure, the appointment of a few special officers to play a constructive role in a given administration is nothing new. What is new is the elevation of so many czars, with so much authority on endless policy fronts. Vesting such broad authority in the hands of people not subjected to Senate confirmation and congressional oversight poses a grave threat to our system of checks and balances.
A grave threat!
Totally not like those benign Bush Czars, which included:
- Cyber Security Czar
- Regulatory Czar
- AIDS Czar
- Bird Flu Czar
- Intelligence Czar
- Health IT Czar
- Katrina Czar
- Manufacturing Czar
- Drug Czar
- Domestic Policy Czar
- War Czar
- Copywright Czar
- Abstinence Czar
- Mine Safety Czar
- Latin American Czar
- WTO Health Czar
- Corruption Czar
- Privacy Czar
- Health Czar
IOKIYAR, blah, blah...
Notes Amanda Terkel,
Ironically, Cantor's link to the outrageous "TARP czar" goes to the bio of Herbert Allison — who was confirmed by the Senate. There's also Cantor's "technology czar" Aneesh Chopra and the "government performance czar" Jeff Zients. Both men have already been confirmed by the Senate; Chopra is the Associate Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Zients is OMB's Deputy Director for Management. Zients is serving in two roles — in both the OMB and as Chief Performance Officer — but he was fully vetted by the Senate.
Historic end-around!
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