A daughter of one of our cousins posted on Facebook a you tube video showing the pro socialized healthcare point of view. Edie wrote a response, which ended up being too long to post on Facebook, so we're posting it here:
Before Medicare was signed into law in July 1965, healthcare in this country was relatively cheap and doctors made house calls, sometimes negotiating their services for something their patients could offer them (law of consecration, anyone). That all changed when the government decided to get involved and provide services for the elderly by instituting Medicare. Has it helped the elderly? Sure, there have been people who have benefitted from it. But what are the consequences? First, doctors and communities have become increasingly disconnected from their elderly, believing they are being taken care of, and so no one else needs to be involved. Second, Medicare became the standard for insurance companies to set their prices and services. If health insurance companies were truly competitive between each other without government involvement, we would see a huge decrease in prices and a higher level of service. But because Medicare, a government entitlement program, is the jumping off point for insurance coverage guidelines, the prices are inflated and the services rationed. I had a very kind doctor who told me to make another appointment to see her because she wasn’t allowed to spend more than fifteen minutes with me at a time. That’s your Medicare services setting the standards.
Do we need reform? Absolutely. Should it involve more government intervention? Absolutely not. It was government involvement that made the services worse. There was a time in this country that churches and local communities were the caretakers of their people. I believe that that should still be the case today. If our church or any other church believed that we should be relying on the government for care, you would see the church stopping their welfare services and sending volunteers to work for the government services. Instead our church encourages self-reliance and offers church programs to help us stay off the government dole. Is it always enough? Not always. That’s where communities step in. The law of consecration teaches that we will all bring our services to offer to each other; we should be doing that now on a community level.
There is a reason that a bishop in our church is assigned to have jurisdiction over ALL the people in his ward boundaries, member and non-member. Because we take care of each other. I believe that it is irresponsible and immoral to turn our duty to care for ourselves and each other over to the government, and I say that as a government employee.
The war in heaven was fought because we wanted free will and some wanted to take it away. Every time the government enacts a new program, we give up a little more of our freedom to them. And even if a healthcare program works under this president and this congress, who’s to say what will happen with a future president and future congress. And, then, it will be too late to get back our right to choose our healthcare. We will have sold out our responsibility and our free will to care for ourselves and others.
We do need healthcare reform in this country, but I believe that it needs to start with cutting back the current government involvement and restrictions.
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. ~ Thomas Jefferson
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Christians Beware
The below article is from http://www.worldnetdaily.com/. This should make every American stand up and fight back.
Court orders Christian child into government education
10-year-old's 'vigorous' defense of her faith condemned by judge
By Bob Unruh© 2009 WorldNetDaily
A 10-year-old homeschool girl described as "well liked, social and interactive with her peers, academically promising and intellectually at or superior to grade level" has been told by a New Hampshire court official to attend a government school because she was too "vigorous" in defense of her Christian faith.
The decision from Marital Master Michael Garner reasoned that the girl's "vigorous defense of her religious beliefs to [her] counselor suggests strongly that she has not had the opportunity to seriously consider any other point of view."
The recommendation was approved by Judge Lucinda V. Sadler, but it is being challenged by attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, who said it was "a step too far" for any court.
The ADF confirmed today it has filed motions with the court seeking reconsideration of the order and a stay of the decision sending the 10-year-old student in government-run schools in Meredith, N.H.
The dispute arose as part of a modification of a parenting plan for the girl. The parents divorced in 1999 when she was a newborn, and the mother has homeschooled her daughter since first grade with texts that meet all state standards.
In addition to homeschooling, the girl attends supplemental public school classes and has also been involved in a variety of extra-curricular sports activities, the ADF reported.
But during the process of negotiating the terms of the plan, a guardian ad litem appointed to participate concluded the girl "appeared to reflect her mother's rigidity on questions of faith" and that the girl's interests "would be best served by exposure to a public school setting" and "different points of view at a time when she must begin to critically evaluate multiple systems of belief ... in order to select, as a young adult, which of those systems will best suit her own needs."
According to court documents, the guardian ad litem earlier had told the mother, "If I want her in public school, she'll be in public school."
The marital master hearing the case proposed the Christian girl be ordered into public school after considering "the impact of [her religious] beliefs on her interaction with others."
"Parents have a fundamental right to make educational choices for their children. In this case specifically, the court is illegitimately altering a method of education that the court itself admits is working," said ADF-allied attorney John Anthony Simmons of Hampton.
"The court is essentially saying that the evidence shows that, socially and academically, this girl is doing great, but her religious beliefs are a bit too sincerely held and must be sifted, tested by, and mixed among other worldviews. This is a step too far for any court to take."
"The New Hampshire Supreme Court itself has specifically declared, 'Home education is an enduring American tradition and right,'" said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Mike Johnson. "There is clearly and without question no legitimate legal basis for the court's decision, and we trust it will reconsider its conclusions."
The case, handled in the Family Division of the Judicial Court for Belknap County in Laconia, involves Martin Kurowski and Brenda Kurowski (Voydatch), and their daughter. The ADF also argued that the issue already was raised in 2006 and rejected by the court.
"Most urgent … is the issue of Amanda's schooling as the school year has begun and Amanda is being impacted by the court's decision daily," the court filing requesting a stay said. "Serious state statutory and federal constitutional concerns are implicated by the court's ruling and which need to be remedied without delay.
"It is not the proper role of the court to insist that Amanda be 'exposed to different points of view' if the primary residential parent has determined that it is in Amanda's best interest not to be exposed to secular influences that would undermine Amanda's faith, schooling, social development, etc. The court is not permitted to demonstrate hostility toward religion, and particularly the faith of Amanda and Mother, by removing Amanda from the home and thrusting her into an environment that the custodial parent deems detrimental to Amanda."
"The order assumes that because Amanda has sincerely held Christian beliefs, there must be a problem that needs solving. It is a parent's constitutionally protected right to train up their children in the religious beliefs that they hold. It is not up to the court to suggest that a 10-year-old should be 'exposed' to other religious views contrary to the faith traditions of her parents. Could it not be that this sharp 10-year-old 'vigorously' believes what she does because she knows it to be true? The court's narrative suggests that 10-year-olds are too young to form opinions and that they are not yet allowed to have sincerely held Christian beliefs," the ADF said.
"Absent any other clear and convincing evidence justifying the court's decision, it would appear that the court has indeed taken sides with regard to the issue of religion and has preferred one religious view over another (or the absence of religion). This is impermissible," the documents said.
The guardian ad litem had an anti-Christian bias, the documents said, telling the mother at one point she wouldn't even look at homeschool curriculum.
"I don't want to hear it. It's all Christian based," she said.
Court orders Christian child into government education
10-year-old's 'vigorous' defense of her faith condemned by judge
By Bob Unruh© 2009 WorldNetDaily
A 10-year-old homeschool girl described as "well liked, social and interactive with her peers, academically promising and intellectually at or superior to grade level" has been told by a New Hampshire court official to attend a government school because she was too "vigorous" in defense of her Christian faith.
The decision from Marital Master Michael Garner reasoned that the girl's "vigorous defense of her religious beliefs to [her] counselor suggests strongly that she has not had the opportunity to seriously consider any other point of view."
The recommendation was approved by Judge Lucinda V. Sadler, but it is being challenged by attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, who said it was "a step too far" for any court.
The ADF confirmed today it has filed motions with the court seeking reconsideration of the order and a stay of the decision sending the 10-year-old student in government-run schools in Meredith, N.H.
The dispute arose as part of a modification of a parenting plan for the girl. The parents divorced in 1999 when she was a newborn, and the mother has homeschooled her daughter since first grade with texts that meet all state standards.
In addition to homeschooling, the girl attends supplemental public school classes and has also been involved in a variety of extra-curricular sports activities, the ADF reported.
But during the process of negotiating the terms of the plan, a guardian ad litem appointed to participate concluded the girl "appeared to reflect her mother's rigidity on questions of faith" and that the girl's interests "would be best served by exposure to a public school setting" and "different points of view at a time when she must begin to critically evaluate multiple systems of belief ... in order to select, as a young adult, which of those systems will best suit her own needs."
According to court documents, the guardian ad litem earlier had told the mother, "If I want her in public school, she'll be in public school."
The marital master hearing the case proposed the Christian girl be ordered into public school after considering "the impact of [her religious] beliefs on her interaction with others."
"Parents have a fundamental right to make educational choices for their children. In this case specifically, the court is illegitimately altering a method of education that the court itself admits is working," said ADF-allied attorney John Anthony Simmons of Hampton.
"The court is essentially saying that the evidence shows that, socially and academically, this girl is doing great, but her religious beliefs are a bit too sincerely held and must be sifted, tested by, and mixed among other worldviews. This is a step too far for any court to take."
"The New Hampshire Supreme Court itself has specifically declared, 'Home education is an enduring American tradition and right,'" said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Mike Johnson. "There is clearly and without question no legitimate legal basis for the court's decision, and we trust it will reconsider its conclusions."
The case, handled in the Family Division of the Judicial Court for Belknap County in Laconia, involves Martin Kurowski and Brenda Kurowski (Voydatch), and their daughter. The ADF also argued that the issue already was raised in 2006 and rejected by the court.
"Most urgent … is the issue of Amanda's schooling as the school year has begun and Amanda is being impacted by the court's decision daily," the court filing requesting a stay said. "Serious state statutory and federal constitutional concerns are implicated by the court's ruling and which need to be remedied without delay.
"It is not the proper role of the court to insist that Amanda be 'exposed to different points of view' if the primary residential parent has determined that it is in Amanda's best interest not to be exposed to secular influences that would undermine Amanda's faith, schooling, social development, etc. The court is not permitted to demonstrate hostility toward religion, and particularly the faith of Amanda and Mother, by removing Amanda from the home and thrusting her into an environment that the custodial parent deems detrimental to Amanda."
"The order assumes that because Amanda has sincerely held Christian beliefs, there must be a problem that needs solving. It is a parent's constitutionally protected right to train up their children in the religious beliefs that they hold. It is not up to the court to suggest that a 10-year-old should be 'exposed' to other religious views contrary to the faith traditions of her parents. Could it not be that this sharp 10-year-old 'vigorously' believes what she does because she knows it to be true? The court's narrative suggests that 10-year-olds are too young to form opinions and that they are not yet allowed to have sincerely held Christian beliefs," the ADF said.
"Absent any other clear and convincing evidence justifying the court's decision, it would appear that the court has indeed taken sides with regard to the issue of religion and has preferred one religious view over another (or the absence of religion). This is impermissible," the documents said.
The guardian ad litem had an anti-Christian bias, the documents said, telling the mother at one point she wouldn't even look at homeschool curriculum.
"I don't want to hear it. It's all Christian based," she said.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Czar Gazing
The below information is taken from http://www.glennbeck.com/. It's time to ask our Washington representatives the following questions: (1) Where is the funding coming from to pay the czars salaries? (2) Why aren't the czars going through the congressional vetting that the cabinet has to go through? (3) How much power do these czars have? (4) Why are several of these czars associated with communist groups? (5) Why do we need these czars? (6) Where in the U.S. Constitution does it allow for the hiring of czars?
List of Obama's Czars
As of July 20, 2009:
• The Brainroom counts 32 czars in the Obama administration, based on media reports from reputable sources that have identified the official in question as a czar.
• In addition, President Obama has said that he will create the position of cyber czar, and there have been media reports that there could be a health insurance czar and a copyright czar. When and if those positions are filled, that would bring the total to 35.
• Since czar isn't an official job title, the number is somewhat in the eye of the beholder.
NOTE: positions that also existed under previous administrations are indicated with an *.
1. Afghanistan Czar - Richard Holbrooke
Title: Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Salary: unknown Reports to: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Appointed: January 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: State
• Will work with CENTCOM head Gen. David Petraeus to integrate U.S. civilian and military efforts in the region.
• 45 years of experience have made him a fixture of the Democrats' foreign policy establishment.
• Was U.S. ambassador to U.N., 1999-2001
• Brokered the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords in Bosnia
• Also served as Assistant secretary of state, East Asia and the Pacific (1976 to 1980); worked in foreign service (1962 to 1976)
• From 1972 through 1976, was the editor of Foreign Policy magazine.
2. AIDS Czar * - Jeffrey Crowley
Title: Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy Salary: $102,000 Reports to: President Obama (as part of the Executive Office of the President’s Domestic Policy Council) Appointed: February 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Health and Human Services
• Coordinates HIV/AIDS policy domestically and internationally.
• Senior Research Scholar at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute and a Senior Scholar at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center.
• Was Deputy Executive Director for Programs at the National Association of People with AIDS
• Has Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health
3. Auto Recovery Czar - Ed Montgomery
Title: Director of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers Salary: unknown Reports to: Larry Summers, the president's top economic adviser, and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis Appointed: March 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Labor
• Will work to leverage government resources to support the workers, communities and regions that rely on the American auto industry.
• Was Deputy Secretary and Chief Economist at the Labor Department (1997 to 1998)
• Is Dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Maryland (2003 to present)
• Has PhD in economics from Harvard
• In 2008, made $1,200 in political donations, all of which went to Obama’s presidential campaign.
• Wife is the granddaughter of a General Motors worker from Portland, Mich. • Drives a 2000 Lincoln
4. Border Czar * - Alan Bersin
Title: Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs Salary: unknown Reports to: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano Appointed: April 2009 Agencies that might have handled similar issues: Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
• Will coordinate all of the department's border security and law-enforcement efforts.
• Essentially had the same job under President Clinton; served as Attorney General Janet Reno's special representative on border issues, a job that he held while retaining the position of U.S. attorney for San Diego.
• This time, boss will be Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who will expect him to handle illegal immigration and drug violence issues along the Mexican-American border
• Previous experience: Chairman of the San Diego Regional Airport Authority (2006 to 2009); Secretary of Education for California (2005 to 2006); Superintendent of San Diego Public Schools (1998 to 2005); U.S. Attorney for San Diego (1993 to 1998)
• Graduate of Harvard and Yale Law School
• Talking about border security shortly before he was named Clinton border czar in 1995, said he wanted to focus on suspected smugglers of both drugs and people and was not interested in prosecuting “economic migrants.”
• Often tied to the 1994 border policy called “Operation Gatekeeper.” The policy shifted the U.S. focus from the arresting of immigrants who actually crossed the border to an increased border presence designed to stop border crossing in the first place. When Bersin left the position in 1998, border arrests were on pace for an 18-year low of just more than 200,000. Latino groups complained that Operation Gatekeeper was immoral, saying the program monitored the border near San Diego but simply forced illegal immigrants to other, more dangerous areas.
• Has given more than $50,000 to political campaigns since 1999, almost all of it to Democrats.
5. California Water Czar - David J. Hayes
Title: Deputy Interior Secretary Salary: unknown Reports to: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Appointed: June 2009 Confirmed by Senate (as Deputy Interior Security): May 20, 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Interior
• Charged with coordinating federal agencies to ease California's water shortage
• Graduate of Stanford Law School; clerked for U.S. District Court for the D.C., has been a partner at two big D.C. law firms
• Was deputy interior secretary under Bruce Babbitt during Clinton administration
• From 1993 to 1995, was chairman of the board at the Environmental Law Institute, a non-profit research center.
• As a lobbyist, represented the Southern California Metropolitan Water District in 2001
• In August 2008, wrote a policy report while working at the Progressive Policy Institute accusing the Bush administration of leaving a “damaging legacy” in their natural resource management policies
• Donated $2,300 to Clinton during 2008 campaign; after she withdrew, donated $2,300 to Obama
6. Car Czar - Ron Bloom
NOTE: on July 13, 2009, Bloom took over as head of the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, replacing Steven Rattner Title: Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury Salary: unknown Reports to: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council head Larry Summers Appointed: July 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Treasury
• A leader of the White House task force overseeing auto company bailouts; worked on restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler LLC.
• Was special assistant to president of the United Steelworkers union from 1996-Feb 2009
• Has negotiated restructuring deals for more than 50 companies, getting major concessions from unions and companies.
• Was raised in New York in a pro-union family, which included a schoolteacher mother and unionized relatives.
• After working for the Service Employees International Union, got an MBA from Harvard University because he thought unions lacked business smarts, he said in a 1996 interview in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
• From 1985 to 1990, he worked as an investment banker with Lazard Freres & Co., which specializes in mergers, acquisitions and corporate restructuring, before co-founding the investment-banking firm Keilin and Bloom.
7. Central Region Czar - Dennis Ross
Title: Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for the Central Region (encompasses the Middle East, the Gulf, Afghanistan, Pakistan and South Asia) Salary: unknown Reports to: National Security Adviser Gen. James L. Jones Appointed: June 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: State
• Spent 12 years in the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations trying to create a permanent agreement between the governments of Israel and the Palestinian territories
• In 1981, was named to President Ronald Reagan’s national security staff as the director of Near East and South Asian Affairs.
• Was director of the State Department’s Policy Planning office during President George H. W. Bush’s term.
• 1993: appointed to the position of Middle East coordinator, making him the top negotiator for peace between Israel and Palestinian territories
• After he left government in 2000, headed up Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a hawkish think tank with a pro-Israeli bent
8. Climate Czar - Todd Stern
Title: Special Envoy for Climate Change Salary: unknown Reports to: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Appointed: January 2009 Agency or department that might have handled similar issues: Environmental Protection Agency; State
• Responsible for developing international approaches to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.
• Served in the Clinton White House from 1993 to 1999; Was Head of the Initiative on Global Climate Change (1997 to 1999) and Adviser to the Secretary of the Treasury (1999 to 2001)
• As a top aide to President Clinton, helped negotiate the Kyoto and Buenos Aires climate pacts, both of which fell apart partially because of a lack of U.S. support during Bush administration.
• After Bush was elected to office, went to the Wilmer Hale law firm, where he is a partner in the regulatory and government affairs division.
• Was most recently a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, where he focused on climate change and environmental issues.
• Has written extensively on climate change, and has called on the American government and the international community to take a series of steps to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.
• Supports a national cap-and-trade system that would limit carbon emissions and reduce U.S. dependency on foreign oil
• Has law degree from Harvard
9. Domestic Violence Czar - Lynn Rosenthal
Title: White House adviser on Violence Against Women Salary: unknown Reports to: President Obama and Vice President Biden Appointed: June 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Health and Human Services
• Will advise the President and Vice President on domestic violence and sexual assault issues.
• 2000-2006: served as the Executive Director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence
• Was an advocate for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2000 and 2005 and has assisted states and local communities with implementation of this federal legislation
• Was director of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence
10. Drug Czar * - Gil Kerlikowske
Title: Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Salary: unknown Reports to: President Obama Appointed: March 2009 Confirmed by Senate: May 7, 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Justice
• Directs drug-control policy in the U.S.; is expected to shift drug policy to intervention, treatment and a reduction of problem drug use.
• Was police chief for the city of Seattle from 2000-2009
• Was Deputy Director of the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (1998 to 2000); Police Chief for the city of Buffalo (1994 to 1998); Police chief of Fort Pierce, Fla. (N/A to 1994)
• A strong gun-control advocate, urged both the Washington legislature and the U.S. Congress to pass an assault-weapons ban and has worked to close the loophole that doesn't require background checks at gun shows
• 2003: admitted that busting people for personal marijuana possession was not a top priority of the Seattle police department.
• As Seattle police chief, assigned an officer full-time to the drug court, which commuted sentences of drug users who complete medical treatment in lieu of going to jail.
11. Economic Czar * - Paul Volcker
Title: Chairman of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board Salary: Volcker reportedly isn't paid for his advice. Reports to: President Obama Appointed: January 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Treasury
• Charged with offering independent, nonpartisan information, analysis, and advice to the President as he formulates and implements his plans for economic recovery.
• Some reports say he's been marginalized by Larry Summers.
• Former Federal Reserve chairman (1979-1987)
• Was Undersecretary for Monetary Affairs, Department of the Treasury (1969 to 1974); Deputy Undersecretary for Monetary Affairs, Department of the Treasury (1963 to 1965)
• Gave Obama campaign $2,300 in 2008.
12. Energy and Environment Czar - Carol Browner
Title: Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Salary: $172,200 Reports to: President Obama Appointed: January 2009 Agency that might have handled similar issues: EPA
• Coordinates energy and climate policy, emphasizing regulation and conservation.
• Was Environmental Protection Agency administrator in the Clinton administration (1993-2000) • Was Florida Secretary of the Environment (1991 to 1993)
• Founded and continues to serve as a principal of The Albright Group LLC, a global strategy firm led by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Also a principal of Albright Capital Management, an investment advisory firm that concentrates on emerging markets.
• Worked on the Socialist International's Commission for a Sustainable World Society, which argues that the global community must work collectively to address environmental policies
• Described Bush administration as the "worst environmental administration ever"
• While orchestrating private discussions between the White House and auto industry officials on vehicle fuel efficiency standards, kept the talks as quiet as possible. Mary Nichols, the head of the California Air Resources Board, said, "We put nothing in writing, ever."
• 2003: A federal judge held the Environmental Protection Agency in contempt for destroying computer files during the Clinton administration that had been sought by a conservative legal foundation. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth also ordered the EPA to pay the Landmark Legal Foundation's legal fees and costs because the agency disobeyed his order to preserve the electronic records of Browner, the former EPA chief.
13. Faith-Based Czar * - Joshua DuBois
Title: Director of the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Salary: $98,000 Reports to: President Obama Appointed: February 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Health and Human Services
• Acts as a liaison between faith and secular community groups and the White House, often partnering with them to tackle social issues. Helps these groups apply for federal grants available to them. •
Is 26 years old
• Has master’s in public affairs from Princeton University; served as associate pastor
• Worked for Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) as an intern and then as a fellow for Rep. Charles B. Rangel (DN. Y.).
• Hired as a legislative correspondent in Obama’s Senate office in May 2005
• In 2008, at the age of 25, was appointed director of religious affairs for the Obama campaign.
14. Government Performance Czar - Jeffrey Zients
Title: Chief Performance Officer Salary: unknown Reports to: Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orzag Appointed: April 2009 Confirmed by the Senate (as deputy director for management for the OMB): June 19, 2009 Agency that might have handled similar issues: OMB
• Charged with cutting costs and finding best practices throughout government.
• Has never worked in government before
• Was a chief executive and former management consultant
• Was founder of Portfolio Logic (2004 to present); Partner of the Washington Baseball Club (2004 to 2006); CEO of the Advisory Board (1998 to 2004)
• Has donated just over $90,000 to political campaigns since 1999, almost all of which went to Democratic candidates
15. Great Lakes Czar - Cameron Davis
Title: Special advisor to the U.S. EPA overseeing its Great Lakes restoration plan Salary: unknown Reports to: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson Appointed: June 2009 Agency that might have handled similar issues: Environmental Protection Agency
• Oversees the administration's initiative to restore the Great Lakes' environment.
• President of the Chicago-based environmentalist group Alliance for the Great Lakes
• Was a litigating attorney and served as an adjunct clinical assistant professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School.
• Served with the United Nations Environment Program in Nairobi, Kenya, where he worked on the Montreal Protocol to protect the Earth’s ozone layer, and U.S. EPA’s Office of Regional Counsel in Chicago.
16. Green Jobs Czar - Van Jones
Title: Special Adviser for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality Salary: unknown Reports to: Head of Council on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley Appointed: March 2009 Agency or department that might have handled similar issues: Environmental Protection Agency; Labor
• Will focus on environmentally-friendly employment within the administration and boost support for the idea nationwide
• Rose from near obscurity in the Oakland, Calif., grassroots organizing scene to the leader of a national movement to spur the green economy.
• Founded Green For All, an organization focused on creating green jobs in impoverished areas
• Also co-founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Color of Change, which includes Bay Area PoliceWatch, a group devoted to "protect[ing] the community from police misconduct"
• Published New York Times best-seller The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems, in October 2008
• Started career as a prison-reform advocate in Oakland, Calif., lobbying for reform of the juvenile justice system and youth-violence prevention programs
• Has law degree from Yale
• 2007: worked on the Green Jobs Act with then-Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.), who co-sponsored the bill in the House
• 1993: was arrested at the Los Angeles riots that followed the acquittal of cops in the Rodney King beating. "I was arrested simply for being a police observer," says Jones, who had just graduated from Yale Law School and was working with the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco.
• 1999: was arrested in the 1999 Seattle protests against the World Trade Organization
• Excerpt from a Nov. 2005 interview in the East Bay Express: Jones had planned to move to Washington, DC, and had already landed a job and an apartment there. But in jail, he said, "I met all these young radical people of color -- I mean really radical, communists and anarchists. And it was, like, 'This is what I need to be a part of.'" Although he already had a plane ticket, he decided to stay in San Francisco. "I spent the next ten years of my life working with a lot of those people I met in jail, trying to be a revolutionary." In the months that followed, he let go of any lingering thoughts that he might fit in with the status quo. "I was a rowdy nationalist on April 28th, and then the verdicts came down on April 29th," he said. "By August, I was a communist." In 1994, the young activists formed a socialist collective, Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement, or STORM, which held study groups on the theories of Marx and Lenin and dreamed of a multiracial socialist utopia. They protested police brutality and got arrested for crashing through police barricades. In 1996, Jones decided to launch his own operation, which he named the Ella Baker Center after an unsung hero of the civil-rights movement.
17. Guantanamo Closure Czar - Daniel Fried
Title: Special envoy to oversee the closure of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay Salary: unknown Reports to: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Appointed: March 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Justice; State
• Works to get help of foreign governments in moving toward closure of Guantanamo Bay, in fulfillment of Obama's promise to close the prison within a year of taking office.
• Was Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasian Affairs, State Department (2005 to 2009); Director for European and Eurasian Affairs, State Department (2001 to 2005); U.S. Ambassador to Poland (1997 to 2001)
18. Health Czar * - Nancy-Ann DeParle
Title: Counselor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Health Reform Salary: $158,500 Reports to: President Obama Appointed: March 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Health and Human Services (HHS)
• Coordinates the development of the Administration's healthcare policy agenda.
• Experience: Managing Director, CCMP Capital (since 2001); Adjunct professor (focusing on healthcare policy), Wharton School of Business (since 2001); Commissioner, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (since 2001); Fellow, Harvard Institue of Politics (2000 to 2001); Director, Healthcare Financing Administration (1997 to 2000)
• Has law degree from Harvard
• Served as the OMB’s representative on health-care reform during Bill Clinton’s first term
• As head of the HHS Health Care Financing Administration under Clinton, ran the largest health insurance provider in America, overseeing $600 billion in payments annually to 74 million recipients of Medicare and Medicaid
• 2001: left government to take a year-long fellowship at Harvard’s Institute of Politics, where she was part of Harvard’s Health Care Policy Forum and led a weekly study group on reforming Medicare.
• During Bush administration, sat on the boards of many health companies, from medical treatment producers to hospital systems
• In September 2008, donated $2,300 each to Clinton and Barack Obama.
19. Information Czar - Vivek Kundra
Title: Federal Chief Information Officer Salary: unknown Reports to: Director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orszag Appointed: March 2009 Agencies that might have handled similar issues: other federal agency CIOs
• Basically in charge of overseeing other federal agency CIOs and for setting technology policy across the government.
• Head of a federal technology budget that amounts to $71 billion annually
• Operation is housed in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and will likely have authority to question how money in departmental technology budgets is used
• Formerly head of the District of Columbia's technology operations
• Shortly after he joined the OMB, federal authorities raided his old District government office. They arrested two technology office managers and a subcontractor, charging them with a bribery scheme that allegedly defrauded the city out of at least $500,000. Kundra was not a suspect in the case, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
• Has a masters from Maryland in information technology.
• Experience: Washington, D.C. Chief Technology Officer (2007 to 2009); State of Virginia's Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Trade (2006 to 2007); CEO of computer security firm Creostar
20. Intelligence Czar * - Dennis Blair Title: Director of National Intelligence Salary: $197,700 Reports to: President Obama Appointed: January 2009 Confirmed by Senate: January 28, 2009 Agency that might have handled similar issues: CIA
• Nation’s top intelligence official.
• Retired four-star admiral.
• Graduate of the United States Naval Academy, 1968; sixth-generation naval officer
• Lacks professional roots in the world of intelligence
• Held a number of prestigious Washington posts, including the Pentagon’s top liaison to the CIA and director of the Joint Staff.
• Ran the non-profit Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), which focuses primarily on issues related to national security, and does a lot of work for the Defense Department. Left IDA under a cloud of controversy in mid-2006.
21. Mideast Peace Czar - George Mitchell
Title: Special Envoy for Middle East Peace Salary: unknown Reports to: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Appointed: January 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: State
• Works to maintain the shaky peace between Israel and Hamas after recent hostilities •
Senate majority leader from 1989 to 1994
• Was special envoy to Northern Ireland during the Clinton administration and lead investigator into steroid use in Major League Baseball.
• 2000: led a fact-finding committee to study violence in the Middle East; 2001's Mitchell Report formed the basis for the road map for Middle East peace
22. Pay Czar - Kenneth R. Feinberg
Title: Special Master on executive pay Salary: reportedly receiving no compensation for his work. Reports to: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Appointed: June 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Treasury
• Named to examine compensation practices at companies that have been bailed out more than once by the federal government
• Oversaw the payouts to the families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks
• Was the chief administrator to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, which commemorates the students who died in the April 2007 shooting rampage at Virginia Tech
• Founder and managing partner of Feinberg Rozen LLP (1992 to present), law firm specializing in mediation
• Was Chief of staff for Sen. Edward Kennedy (1978 to 1980)
• While working with the Feinberg Group, donated over $150,000, nearly all of which has gone to Democratic candidates and political action committees. In 2007, donated $2,300 to 2008 presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani (R).
23. Regulatory Czar - Cass R. Sunstein *
Title: Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Salary: unknown Reports to: Office of Management and Budget head Peter Orszag Appointed: January 2009 Nomination was sent to Senate on April 20, 2009 - no action yet taken Agency that might have handled similar issues: OMB
• Will be responsible for reviewing draft regulations and assessing their costs and benefits
• Is a Harvard Law School professor; prior to that, was a professor at the Univ. of Chicago Law School (1981-2008)
• Academic specialties: constitutional law, administrative law, and regulatory policy
• Obama: "Cass is not only a valued advisor, he is a dear friend"
• Known for advancing a field called "law and behavioral economics" that seeks to shape law and policy around the way research shows people actually behave; though embraced by conservatives, critics say it fails to account for the sometimes less-than-rational aspects of human behavior.
• In his 2002 book, Republic.com, discussed the drawbacks of limitless choices on the Internet that allow people to seek out only like-minded people and opinions that merely fortify their own views; he talked about the idea of the government requiring sites to link to opposing views. He later came to realize it was a "bad idea."
• In his 2004 book, Animal Rights, suggested that animals ought to be able to bring suit, with private citizens acting as their representatives, to ensure that animals are not treated in a way that violates current law.
• In a 2007 speech at Harvard he called for banning hunting in the U.S.
• The American Conservative Union started a website, Stop Sunstein, in an effort to keep him out of the White House.
24. Science Czar - John Holdren
Title: Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology Salary: unknown Reports to: President Obama Appointed: December 2008 Confirmed by Senate: March 19, 2009 Agency or department that might have handled similar issues: Energy
• Top adviser to Obama on science and technology, issues that are increasingly relevant to other issues such as homeland security, energy and environmentalism
• Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy and Director, Program in Science, Technology, and Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government (1996-2009); Harvard University Professor of Environmental Science and Public Policy (1996-2009); University of California, Berkeley Professor of Energy and Resources Emeritus (1996 to present)
• Studied aerospace engineering and plasma physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — where he earned his BS and MS — and Stanford University, where he received his doctorate in 1970
• Is an outspoken advocate of the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and believes the United States should sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty.
• In a 2008 New York Times op-ed, Holdren called climate change skeptics “dangerous” members of a “denier fringe.”
• In 1971, co-authored a paper in Global Ecology suggesting "some form of ecocatastrophe, if not thermonuclear war, seems almost certain to overtake us before the end of the century."
• Some conservative media outlets have called attention to a book Holdren co-authored in 1977 titled Ecoscience: Population, Resources, and Environment. The book reportedly includes this statement: "population-control laws, even including laws requiring compulsory abortion, could be sustained under the existing Constitution." Holdren's office says he "does not now and never has been an advocate of compulsory abortions or other repressive measures to limit fertility."
25. Stimulus Accountability Czar - Earl Devaney
Title: Chair of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board Salary: unknown Reports to: Vice President Biden Appointed: February 2009 Agency that might have handled similar issues: OMB
• Leads oversight board that monitors money spent by the stimulus package
• Experience: Inspector General at the Interior Department (1999 to present); Director of criminal enforcement at the Environmental Protection Agency (1991 to 1999); Special Agent at the Secret Service (1970 to 1991)
• During his tenure at Interior, uncovered the shady dealings of disgraced ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, an investigation that eventually led to Abramoff's imprisonment and the resignation of Interior's no. 2, J. Steven Griles, for lying under oath about his own role in the scandal.
• On July 8, 2009, the U.S. General Services Administration issued a press release announcing an $18 million contract for a new recovery.gov web site, which quoted Devaney as saying, “We are pleased that another major milestone has been achieved."
26. Sudan Czar - J. Scott Gration
Title: Special Envoy to Sudan Salary: unknown Reports to: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Appointed: March 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: State
• Will coordinate U.S. role in the aftermath of the genocide in Darfur
• Experience: Supreme Allied Command, NATO (2004 to 2005); Air Force assistant deputy undersecretary for international affairs (2003 to 2004)
• Commanded all air operations during the Iraq war in 2003
• 2006: left Air Force position to join Obama’s staff after traveling to Africa with the then-Senator from Illinois, even though he was a Republican
• Has won a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, a Defense Superior Service Medal and 16 other awards
• Is a fluent Swahili speaker who grew up in the Congo
• Has called on the Obama administration to incentivize participation by the Sudanese government in peace talks by lifting sanctions, a position that is controversial. Also worked to position himself as the principal negotiator between the Sudanese government and its adversaries in Darfur, and is planning an international conference for September 2009
• Has M.A. in security studies from Georgetown
27. TARP Czar - Herb Allison
Title: Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability Salary: unknown Reports to: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Appointed: June 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Treasury
• Leads the government's $700 billion financial rescue program in the office of financial stability
• Veteran Wall Street banker and interim head of the mortgage-finance company Fannie Mae
• Worked at Merrill Lynch for 28 years, reaching position of president and COO
• Was CEO of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association College Retirement Equities Fund (2002 to 2008); CEO of the Alliance for Lifelong Learning (2000 to 2002)
• Has undergraduate degree from Yale and MBA from Stanford
• 2000: was John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign finance chairman
• In 2008, donated $2,300 to Obama's presidential campaign
28. Technology Czar - Aneesh Chopra
Title: Chief Technology Officer Salary: unknown Reports to: President Obama Appointed: April 2009 Confirmed by Senate: May 21, 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Commerce
• Will lead in the effort to eliminate wasteful government programs
• Will probably work to increase broadband access nationwide and computerize medical records
• Was Virginia’s secretary of technology (2005-2009)
• Has degree in public health from Johns Hopkins, Master's from Harvard in public policy
• Worked at Morgan Stanley as investment banker; also worked at Advisory Board, a health-care research and consultancy firm
• Has donated more than $24,000 since 1997 to various campaigns. With the exception of a $1,000 donation to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) in 2004, all of Chopra’s contributions have gone to Democrats. From 2007 to 2008, Chopra donated $2,750 to Obama’s presidential campaign.
29. Terrorism Czar - John Brennan
Title: Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Salary: $172,200 Reports to: National Security Adviser James L. Jones Appointed: January 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Homeland Security
• Under Obama's plan the homeland security adviser’s office would be eliminated, and the National Security Council would take over those duties. Brennan would be responsible for guarding against natural disasters and terrorism.
• Has called for increased integration between the Departments of Commerce, State and Defense
• Graduated from Fordham University in 1977 after a year of intensive Arabic and Middle Eastern studies in Cairo. Earned his J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin before joining the CIA as an intelligence director in 1980.
• Is a CIA veteran and fluent Arabic speaker
• Was CIA deputy executive director (2001 to 2003) and National Counter-Terrorism Center, Chair (2004 to 2005) • Worked at Analysis Corp, (2005 to 2008);
• Staunch supporter of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Program; defended the use of extraordinary rendition, saying it is “an absolutely vital tool.”
30. Urban Affairs Czar - Adolfo Carrion Jr.
Title: White House Director of Urban Affairs Salary: $158,500 Reports to: President Obama Appointed: February 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Housing and Urban Development
• Job entails coordinating transportation and housing initiatives, as well as serving as a conduit for federal aid to economically hard-hit cities.
• Has undergraduate degree in world religions from Kings College; became an associate pastor at a Bronx church; earned his master’s degree in urban planning from Hunter College
• Was Bronx Borough President (2001-2009); President of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (since 2007); City Council member (1998 to 2000)
• Many reporters say he has higher ambitions and will probably run for New York City mayor in the next ten years.
• Was an active campaigner for Obama, travelling across the country to speak on his behalf. He focused particularly on states with large Hispanic populations.
• The NY Daily News reported numerous developers made tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations to Carrión around the same time he was considering approving their projects in the Bronx.
31. Weapons Czar - Ashton Carter Title: Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Salary: unknown Reports to: Defense Secretary Robert Gates Appointed: April 2009 Confirmed by Senate: April 23, 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Defense
• Will coordinate the Pentagon's acquisitions, technology and logistics for weapons.
• Will oversee a weapons-buying system that Obama has placed at the top of his list of federal programs he wants to fix and will be asked to quickly weigh in on difficult decisions concerning at least 10 major defense programs, while also instantly dissecting the procurement system’s ailments so he can advise the administration on its Pentagon acquisition reform agenda
• Is a physicist and Harvard academic whose only previous Pentagon stint was in a mid-level policy post from 1993 until 1996 under the Clinton administration
• Graduated from Yale summa cum laude; studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar and earned a doctorate in theoretical physics.
• Chair of Harvard’s International Relations, Science & Security Area International Security Program within the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy (1993 to 1996); Director of the Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School (early 1990s)
• Has donated primarily to Democratic politicians since 2000. He donated $6,900 to then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in 2007 and 2008. He gave the same amount to then Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) during that same span.
32. WMD Policy Czar - Gary Samore Title: White House Coordinator for Weapons of Mass Destruction, Security and Arms Control Salary: unknown Reports to: National Security Advisor Gen. James L. Jones Appointed: January 2009 Department or agency that might have handled similar issues: NSC; Defense; State
• Will coordinate issues related to weapons of mass destruction across the government. His portfolio includes proliferation, nuclear and conventional arms control, threat reduction, and terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction.
• Position sits within the National Security Council.
• Is a veteran arms control negotiator.
• B.A. in sociology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and his PhD in government from Harvard University in 1984.
• After brief stints with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the RAND Corporation, joined the State Department during the Reagan administration in 1987. Held several positions there, including director of the Office of Regional Non-proliferation Affairs; special assistant to the Ambassador-at-Large for Non-proliferation and Nuclear Energy Policy; and deputy to Ambassador-at-Large for Korean Affairs Robert Gallucci. Helped to negotiate the 1994 U.S.-North Korea Framework Treaty
• Joined the Clinton administration’s National Security Council in 1995 as an adviser on nonproliferation. Coordinated U.S. policy on nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
• Was Director, Council on Foreign Relations (2006 to 2009); Vice President for Global Security and Sustainability, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (2005); Researcher, International Institute of Strategic Studies (2001 to 2005)
List of Obama's Czars
As of July 20, 2009:
• The Brainroom counts 32 czars in the Obama administration, based on media reports from reputable sources that have identified the official in question as a czar.
• In addition, President Obama has said that he will create the position of cyber czar, and there have been media reports that there could be a health insurance czar and a copyright czar. When and if those positions are filled, that would bring the total to 35.
• Since czar isn't an official job title, the number is somewhat in the eye of the beholder.
NOTE: positions that also existed under previous administrations are indicated with an *.
1. Afghanistan Czar - Richard Holbrooke
Title: Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Salary: unknown Reports to: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Appointed: January 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: State
• Will work with CENTCOM head Gen. David Petraeus to integrate U.S. civilian and military efforts in the region.
• 45 years of experience have made him a fixture of the Democrats' foreign policy establishment.
• Was U.S. ambassador to U.N., 1999-2001
• Brokered the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords in Bosnia
• Also served as Assistant secretary of state, East Asia and the Pacific (1976 to 1980); worked in foreign service (1962 to 1976)
• From 1972 through 1976, was the editor of Foreign Policy magazine.
2. AIDS Czar * - Jeffrey Crowley
Title: Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy Salary: $102,000 Reports to: President Obama (as part of the Executive Office of the President’s Domestic Policy Council) Appointed: February 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Health and Human Services
• Coordinates HIV/AIDS policy domestically and internationally.
• Senior Research Scholar at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute and a Senior Scholar at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center.
• Was Deputy Executive Director for Programs at the National Association of People with AIDS
• Has Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health
3. Auto Recovery Czar - Ed Montgomery
Title: Director of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers Salary: unknown Reports to: Larry Summers, the president's top economic adviser, and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis Appointed: March 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Labor
• Will work to leverage government resources to support the workers, communities and regions that rely on the American auto industry.
• Was Deputy Secretary and Chief Economist at the Labor Department (1997 to 1998)
• Is Dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Maryland (2003 to present)
• Has PhD in economics from Harvard
• In 2008, made $1,200 in political donations, all of which went to Obama’s presidential campaign.
• Wife is the granddaughter of a General Motors worker from Portland, Mich. • Drives a 2000 Lincoln
4. Border Czar * - Alan Bersin
Title: Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs Salary: unknown Reports to: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano Appointed: April 2009 Agencies that might have handled similar issues: Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
• Will coordinate all of the department's border security and law-enforcement efforts.
• Essentially had the same job under President Clinton; served as Attorney General Janet Reno's special representative on border issues, a job that he held while retaining the position of U.S. attorney for San Diego.
• This time, boss will be Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who will expect him to handle illegal immigration and drug violence issues along the Mexican-American border
• Previous experience: Chairman of the San Diego Regional Airport Authority (2006 to 2009); Secretary of Education for California (2005 to 2006); Superintendent of San Diego Public Schools (1998 to 2005); U.S. Attorney for San Diego (1993 to 1998)
• Graduate of Harvard and Yale Law School
• Talking about border security shortly before he was named Clinton border czar in 1995, said he wanted to focus on suspected smugglers of both drugs and people and was not interested in prosecuting “economic migrants.”
• Often tied to the 1994 border policy called “Operation Gatekeeper.” The policy shifted the U.S. focus from the arresting of immigrants who actually crossed the border to an increased border presence designed to stop border crossing in the first place. When Bersin left the position in 1998, border arrests were on pace for an 18-year low of just more than 200,000. Latino groups complained that Operation Gatekeeper was immoral, saying the program monitored the border near San Diego but simply forced illegal immigrants to other, more dangerous areas.
• Has given more than $50,000 to political campaigns since 1999, almost all of it to Democrats.
5. California Water Czar - David J. Hayes
Title: Deputy Interior Secretary Salary: unknown Reports to: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Appointed: June 2009 Confirmed by Senate (as Deputy Interior Security): May 20, 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Interior
• Charged with coordinating federal agencies to ease California's water shortage
• Graduate of Stanford Law School; clerked for U.S. District Court for the D.C., has been a partner at two big D.C. law firms
• Was deputy interior secretary under Bruce Babbitt during Clinton administration
• From 1993 to 1995, was chairman of the board at the Environmental Law Institute, a non-profit research center.
• As a lobbyist, represented the Southern California Metropolitan Water District in 2001
• In August 2008, wrote a policy report while working at the Progressive Policy Institute accusing the Bush administration of leaving a “damaging legacy” in their natural resource management policies
• Donated $2,300 to Clinton during 2008 campaign; after she withdrew, donated $2,300 to Obama
6. Car Czar - Ron Bloom
NOTE: on July 13, 2009, Bloom took over as head of the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, replacing Steven Rattner Title: Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury Salary: unknown Reports to: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council head Larry Summers Appointed: July 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Treasury
• A leader of the White House task force overseeing auto company bailouts; worked on restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler LLC.
• Was special assistant to president of the United Steelworkers union from 1996-Feb 2009
• Has negotiated restructuring deals for more than 50 companies, getting major concessions from unions and companies.
• Was raised in New York in a pro-union family, which included a schoolteacher mother and unionized relatives.
• After working for the Service Employees International Union, got an MBA from Harvard University because he thought unions lacked business smarts, he said in a 1996 interview in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
• From 1985 to 1990, he worked as an investment banker with Lazard Freres & Co., which specializes in mergers, acquisitions and corporate restructuring, before co-founding the investment-banking firm Keilin and Bloom.
7. Central Region Czar - Dennis Ross
Title: Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for the Central Region (encompasses the Middle East, the Gulf, Afghanistan, Pakistan and South Asia) Salary: unknown Reports to: National Security Adviser Gen. James L. Jones Appointed: June 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: State
• Spent 12 years in the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations trying to create a permanent agreement between the governments of Israel and the Palestinian territories
• In 1981, was named to President Ronald Reagan’s national security staff as the director of Near East and South Asian Affairs.
• Was director of the State Department’s Policy Planning office during President George H. W. Bush’s term.
• 1993: appointed to the position of Middle East coordinator, making him the top negotiator for peace between Israel and Palestinian territories
• After he left government in 2000, headed up Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a hawkish think tank with a pro-Israeli bent
8. Climate Czar - Todd Stern
Title: Special Envoy for Climate Change Salary: unknown Reports to: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Appointed: January 2009 Agency or department that might have handled similar issues: Environmental Protection Agency; State
• Responsible for developing international approaches to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.
• Served in the Clinton White House from 1993 to 1999; Was Head of the Initiative on Global Climate Change (1997 to 1999) and Adviser to the Secretary of the Treasury (1999 to 2001)
• As a top aide to President Clinton, helped negotiate the Kyoto and Buenos Aires climate pacts, both of which fell apart partially because of a lack of U.S. support during Bush administration.
• After Bush was elected to office, went to the Wilmer Hale law firm, where he is a partner in the regulatory and government affairs division.
• Was most recently a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, where he focused on climate change and environmental issues.
• Has written extensively on climate change, and has called on the American government and the international community to take a series of steps to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.
• Supports a national cap-and-trade system that would limit carbon emissions and reduce U.S. dependency on foreign oil
• Has law degree from Harvard
9. Domestic Violence Czar - Lynn Rosenthal
Title: White House adviser on Violence Against Women Salary: unknown Reports to: President Obama and Vice President Biden Appointed: June 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Health and Human Services
• Will advise the President and Vice President on domestic violence and sexual assault issues.
• 2000-2006: served as the Executive Director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence
• Was an advocate for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2000 and 2005 and has assisted states and local communities with implementation of this federal legislation
• Was director of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence
10. Drug Czar * - Gil Kerlikowske
Title: Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Salary: unknown Reports to: President Obama Appointed: March 2009 Confirmed by Senate: May 7, 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Justice
• Directs drug-control policy in the U.S.; is expected to shift drug policy to intervention, treatment and a reduction of problem drug use.
• Was police chief for the city of Seattle from 2000-2009
• Was Deputy Director of the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (1998 to 2000); Police Chief for the city of Buffalo (1994 to 1998); Police chief of Fort Pierce, Fla. (N/A to 1994)
• A strong gun-control advocate, urged both the Washington legislature and the U.S. Congress to pass an assault-weapons ban and has worked to close the loophole that doesn't require background checks at gun shows
• 2003: admitted that busting people for personal marijuana possession was not a top priority of the Seattle police department.
• As Seattle police chief, assigned an officer full-time to the drug court, which commuted sentences of drug users who complete medical treatment in lieu of going to jail.
11. Economic Czar * - Paul Volcker
Title: Chairman of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board Salary: Volcker reportedly isn't paid for his advice. Reports to: President Obama Appointed: January 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Treasury
• Charged with offering independent, nonpartisan information, analysis, and advice to the President as he formulates and implements his plans for economic recovery.
• Some reports say he's been marginalized by Larry Summers.
• Former Federal Reserve chairman (1979-1987)
• Was Undersecretary for Monetary Affairs, Department of the Treasury (1969 to 1974); Deputy Undersecretary for Monetary Affairs, Department of the Treasury (1963 to 1965)
• Gave Obama campaign $2,300 in 2008.
12. Energy and Environment Czar - Carol Browner
Title: Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Salary: $172,200 Reports to: President Obama Appointed: January 2009 Agency that might have handled similar issues: EPA
• Coordinates energy and climate policy, emphasizing regulation and conservation.
• Was Environmental Protection Agency administrator in the Clinton administration (1993-2000) • Was Florida Secretary of the Environment (1991 to 1993)
• Founded and continues to serve as a principal of The Albright Group LLC, a global strategy firm led by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Also a principal of Albright Capital Management, an investment advisory firm that concentrates on emerging markets.
• Worked on the Socialist International's Commission for a Sustainable World Society, which argues that the global community must work collectively to address environmental policies
• Described Bush administration as the "worst environmental administration ever"
• While orchestrating private discussions between the White House and auto industry officials on vehicle fuel efficiency standards, kept the talks as quiet as possible. Mary Nichols, the head of the California Air Resources Board, said, "We put nothing in writing, ever."
• 2003: A federal judge held the Environmental Protection Agency in contempt for destroying computer files during the Clinton administration that had been sought by a conservative legal foundation. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth also ordered the EPA to pay the Landmark Legal Foundation's legal fees and costs because the agency disobeyed his order to preserve the electronic records of Browner, the former EPA chief.
13. Faith-Based Czar * - Joshua DuBois
Title: Director of the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Salary: $98,000 Reports to: President Obama Appointed: February 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Health and Human Services
• Acts as a liaison between faith and secular community groups and the White House, often partnering with them to tackle social issues. Helps these groups apply for federal grants available to them. •
Is 26 years old
• Has master’s in public affairs from Princeton University; served as associate pastor
• Worked for Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) as an intern and then as a fellow for Rep. Charles B. Rangel (DN. Y.).
• Hired as a legislative correspondent in Obama’s Senate office in May 2005
• In 2008, at the age of 25, was appointed director of religious affairs for the Obama campaign.
14. Government Performance Czar - Jeffrey Zients
Title: Chief Performance Officer Salary: unknown Reports to: Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orzag Appointed: April 2009 Confirmed by the Senate (as deputy director for management for the OMB): June 19, 2009 Agency that might have handled similar issues: OMB
• Charged with cutting costs and finding best practices throughout government.
• Has never worked in government before
• Was a chief executive and former management consultant
• Was founder of Portfolio Logic (2004 to present); Partner of the Washington Baseball Club (2004 to 2006); CEO of the Advisory Board (1998 to 2004)
• Has donated just over $90,000 to political campaigns since 1999, almost all of which went to Democratic candidates
15. Great Lakes Czar - Cameron Davis
Title: Special advisor to the U.S. EPA overseeing its Great Lakes restoration plan Salary: unknown Reports to: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson Appointed: June 2009 Agency that might have handled similar issues: Environmental Protection Agency
• Oversees the administration's initiative to restore the Great Lakes' environment.
• President of the Chicago-based environmentalist group Alliance for the Great Lakes
• Was a litigating attorney and served as an adjunct clinical assistant professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School.
• Served with the United Nations Environment Program in Nairobi, Kenya, where he worked on the Montreal Protocol to protect the Earth’s ozone layer, and U.S. EPA’s Office of Regional Counsel in Chicago.
16. Green Jobs Czar - Van Jones
Title: Special Adviser for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality Salary: unknown Reports to: Head of Council on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley Appointed: March 2009 Agency or department that might have handled similar issues: Environmental Protection Agency; Labor
• Will focus on environmentally-friendly employment within the administration and boost support for the idea nationwide
• Rose from near obscurity in the Oakland, Calif., grassroots organizing scene to the leader of a national movement to spur the green economy.
• Founded Green For All, an organization focused on creating green jobs in impoverished areas
• Also co-founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Color of Change, which includes Bay Area PoliceWatch, a group devoted to "protect[ing] the community from police misconduct"
• Published New York Times best-seller The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems, in October 2008
• Started career as a prison-reform advocate in Oakland, Calif., lobbying for reform of the juvenile justice system and youth-violence prevention programs
• Has law degree from Yale
• 2007: worked on the Green Jobs Act with then-Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.), who co-sponsored the bill in the House
• 1993: was arrested at the Los Angeles riots that followed the acquittal of cops in the Rodney King beating. "I was arrested simply for being a police observer," says Jones, who had just graduated from Yale Law School and was working with the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco.
• 1999: was arrested in the 1999 Seattle protests against the World Trade Organization
• Excerpt from a Nov. 2005 interview in the East Bay Express: Jones had planned to move to Washington, DC, and had already landed a job and an apartment there. But in jail, he said, "I met all these young radical people of color -- I mean really radical, communists and anarchists. And it was, like, 'This is what I need to be a part of.'" Although he already had a plane ticket, he decided to stay in San Francisco. "I spent the next ten years of my life working with a lot of those people I met in jail, trying to be a revolutionary." In the months that followed, he let go of any lingering thoughts that he might fit in with the status quo. "I was a rowdy nationalist on April 28th, and then the verdicts came down on April 29th," he said. "By August, I was a communist." In 1994, the young activists formed a socialist collective, Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement, or STORM, which held study groups on the theories of Marx and Lenin and dreamed of a multiracial socialist utopia. They protested police brutality and got arrested for crashing through police barricades. In 1996, Jones decided to launch his own operation, which he named the Ella Baker Center after an unsung hero of the civil-rights movement.
17. Guantanamo Closure Czar - Daniel Fried
Title: Special envoy to oversee the closure of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay Salary: unknown Reports to: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Appointed: March 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Justice; State
• Works to get help of foreign governments in moving toward closure of Guantanamo Bay, in fulfillment of Obama's promise to close the prison within a year of taking office.
• Was Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasian Affairs, State Department (2005 to 2009); Director for European and Eurasian Affairs, State Department (2001 to 2005); U.S. Ambassador to Poland (1997 to 2001)
18. Health Czar * - Nancy-Ann DeParle
Title: Counselor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Health Reform Salary: $158,500 Reports to: President Obama Appointed: March 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Health and Human Services (HHS)
• Coordinates the development of the Administration's healthcare policy agenda.
• Experience: Managing Director, CCMP Capital (since 2001); Adjunct professor (focusing on healthcare policy), Wharton School of Business (since 2001); Commissioner, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (since 2001); Fellow, Harvard Institue of Politics (2000 to 2001); Director, Healthcare Financing Administration (1997 to 2000)
• Has law degree from Harvard
• Served as the OMB’s representative on health-care reform during Bill Clinton’s first term
• As head of the HHS Health Care Financing Administration under Clinton, ran the largest health insurance provider in America, overseeing $600 billion in payments annually to 74 million recipients of Medicare and Medicaid
• 2001: left government to take a year-long fellowship at Harvard’s Institute of Politics, where she was part of Harvard’s Health Care Policy Forum and led a weekly study group on reforming Medicare.
• During Bush administration, sat on the boards of many health companies, from medical treatment producers to hospital systems
• In September 2008, donated $2,300 each to Clinton and Barack Obama.
19. Information Czar - Vivek Kundra
Title: Federal Chief Information Officer Salary: unknown Reports to: Director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orszag Appointed: March 2009 Agencies that might have handled similar issues: other federal agency CIOs
• Basically in charge of overseeing other federal agency CIOs and for setting technology policy across the government.
• Head of a federal technology budget that amounts to $71 billion annually
• Operation is housed in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and will likely have authority to question how money in departmental technology budgets is used
• Formerly head of the District of Columbia's technology operations
• Shortly after he joined the OMB, federal authorities raided his old District government office. They arrested two technology office managers and a subcontractor, charging them with a bribery scheme that allegedly defrauded the city out of at least $500,000. Kundra was not a suspect in the case, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
• Has a masters from Maryland in information technology.
• Experience: Washington, D.C. Chief Technology Officer (2007 to 2009); State of Virginia's Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Trade (2006 to 2007); CEO of computer security firm Creostar
20. Intelligence Czar * - Dennis Blair Title: Director of National Intelligence Salary: $197,700 Reports to: President Obama Appointed: January 2009 Confirmed by Senate: January 28, 2009 Agency that might have handled similar issues: CIA
• Nation’s top intelligence official.
• Retired four-star admiral.
• Graduate of the United States Naval Academy, 1968; sixth-generation naval officer
• Lacks professional roots in the world of intelligence
• Held a number of prestigious Washington posts, including the Pentagon’s top liaison to the CIA and director of the Joint Staff.
• Ran the non-profit Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), which focuses primarily on issues related to national security, and does a lot of work for the Defense Department. Left IDA under a cloud of controversy in mid-2006.
21. Mideast Peace Czar - George Mitchell
Title: Special Envoy for Middle East Peace Salary: unknown Reports to: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Appointed: January 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: State
• Works to maintain the shaky peace between Israel and Hamas after recent hostilities •
Senate majority leader from 1989 to 1994
• Was special envoy to Northern Ireland during the Clinton administration and lead investigator into steroid use in Major League Baseball.
• 2000: led a fact-finding committee to study violence in the Middle East; 2001's Mitchell Report formed the basis for the road map for Middle East peace
22. Pay Czar - Kenneth R. Feinberg
Title: Special Master on executive pay Salary: reportedly receiving no compensation for his work. Reports to: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Appointed: June 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Treasury
• Named to examine compensation practices at companies that have been bailed out more than once by the federal government
• Oversaw the payouts to the families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks
• Was the chief administrator to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, which commemorates the students who died in the April 2007 shooting rampage at Virginia Tech
• Founder and managing partner of Feinberg Rozen LLP (1992 to present), law firm specializing in mediation
• Was Chief of staff for Sen. Edward Kennedy (1978 to 1980)
• While working with the Feinberg Group, donated over $150,000, nearly all of which has gone to Democratic candidates and political action committees. In 2007, donated $2,300 to 2008 presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani (R).
23. Regulatory Czar - Cass R. Sunstein *
Title: Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Salary: unknown Reports to: Office of Management and Budget head Peter Orszag Appointed: January 2009 Nomination was sent to Senate on April 20, 2009 - no action yet taken Agency that might have handled similar issues: OMB
• Will be responsible for reviewing draft regulations and assessing their costs and benefits
• Is a Harvard Law School professor; prior to that, was a professor at the Univ. of Chicago Law School (1981-2008)
• Academic specialties: constitutional law, administrative law, and regulatory policy
• Obama: "Cass is not only a valued advisor, he is a dear friend"
• Known for advancing a field called "law and behavioral economics" that seeks to shape law and policy around the way research shows people actually behave; though embraced by conservatives, critics say it fails to account for the sometimes less-than-rational aspects of human behavior.
• In his 2002 book, Republic.com, discussed the drawbacks of limitless choices on the Internet that allow people to seek out only like-minded people and opinions that merely fortify their own views; he talked about the idea of the government requiring sites to link to opposing views. He later came to realize it was a "bad idea."
• In his 2004 book, Animal Rights, suggested that animals ought to be able to bring suit, with private citizens acting as their representatives, to ensure that animals are not treated in a way that violates current law.
• In a 2007 speech at Harvard he called for banning hunting in the U.S.
• The American Conservative Union started a website, Stop Sunstein, in an effort to keep him out of the White House.
24. Science Czar - John Holdren
Title: Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology Salary: unknown Reports to: President Obama Appointed: December 2008 Confirmed by Senate: March 19, 2009 Agency or department that might have handled similar issues: Energy
• Top adviser to Obama on science and technology, issues that are increasingly relevant to other issues such as homeland security, energy and environmentalism
• Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy and Director, Program in Science, Technology, and Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government (1996-2009); Harvard University Professor of Environmental Science and Public Policy (1996-2009); University of California, Berkeley Professor of Energy and Resources Emeritus (1996 to present)
• Studied aerospace engineering and plasma physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — where he earned his BS and MS — and Stanford University, where he received his doctorate in 1970
• Is an outspoken advocate of the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and believes the United States should sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty.
• In a 2008 New York Times op-ed, Holdren called climate change skeptics “dangerous” members of a “denier fringe.”
• In 1971, co-authored a paper in Global Ecology suggesting "some form of ecocatastrophe, if not thermonuclear war, seems almost certain to overtake us before the end of the century."
• Some conservative media outlets have called attention to a book Holdren co-authored in 1977 titled Ecoscience: Population, Resources, and Environment. The book reportedly includes this statement: "population-control laws, even including laws requiring compulsory abortion, could be sustained under the existing Constitution." Holdren's office says he "does not now and never has been an advocate of compulsory abortions or other repressive measures to limit fertility."
25. Stimulus Accountability Czar - Earl Devaney
Title: Chair of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board Salary: unknown Reports to: Vice President Biden Appointed: February 2009 Agency that might have handled similar issues: OMB
• Leads oversight board that monitors money spent by the stimulus package
• Experience: Inspector General at the Interior Department (1999 to present); Director of criminal enforcement at the Environmental Protection Agency (1991 to 1999); Special Agent at the Secret Service (1970 to 1991)
• During his tenure at Interior, uncovered the shady dealings of disgraced ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, an investigation that eventually led to Abramoff's imprisonment and the resignation of Interior's no. 2, J. Steven Griles, for lying under oath about his own role in the scandal.
• On July 8, 2009, the U.S. General Services Administration issued a press release announcing an $18 million contract for a new recovery.gov web site, which quoted Devaney as saying, “We are pleased that another major milestone has been achieved."
26. Sudan Czar - J. Scott Gration
Title: Special Envoy to Sudan Salary: unknown Reports to: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Appointed: March 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: State
• Will coordinate U.S. role in the aftermath of the genocide in Darfur
• Experience: Supreme Allied Command, NATO (2004 to 2005); Air Force assistant deputy undersecretary for international affairs (2003 to 2004)
• Commanded all air operations during the Iraq war in 2003
• 2006: left Air Force position to join Obama’s staff after traveling to Africa with the then-Senator from Illinois, even though he was a Republican
• Has won a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, a Defense Superior Service Medal and 16 other awards
• Is a fluent Swahili speaker who grew up in the Congo
• Has called on the Obama administration to incentivize participation by the Sudanese government in peace talks by lifting sanctions, a position that is controversial. Also worked to position himself as the principal negotiator between the Sudanese government and its adversaries in Darfur, and is planning an international conference for September 2009
• Has M.A. in security studies from Georgetown
27. TARP Czar - Herb Allison
Title: Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability Salary: unknown Reports to: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Appointed: June 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Treasury
• Leads the government's $700 billion financial rescue program in the office of financial stability
• Veteran Wall Street banker and interim head of the mortgage-finance company Fannie Mae
• Worked at Merrill Lynch for 28 years, reaching position of president and COO
• Was CEO of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association College Retirement Equities Fund (2002 to 2008); CEO of the Alliance for Lifelong Learning (2000 to 2002)
• Has undergraduate degree from Yale and MBA from Stanford
• 2000: was John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign finance chairman
• In 2008, donated $2,300 to Obama's presidential campaign
28. Technology Czar - Aneesh Chopra
Title: Chief Technology Officer Salary: unknown Reports to: President Obama Appointed: April 2009 Confirmed by Senate: May 21, 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Commerce
• Will lead in the effort to eliminate wasteful government programs
• Will probably work to increase broadband access nationwide and computerize medical records
• Was Virginia’s secretary of technology (2005-2009)
• Has degree in public health from Johns Hopkins, Master's from Harvard in public policy
• Worked at Morgan Stanley as investment banker; also worked at Advisory Board, a health-care research and consultancy firm
• Has donated more than $24,000 since 1997 to various campaigns. With the exception of a $1,000 donation to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) in 2004, all of Chopra’s contributions have gone to Democrats. From 2007 to 2008, Chopra donated $2,750 to Obama’s presidential campaign.
29. Terrorism Czar - John Brennan
Title: Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Salary: $172,200 Reports to: National Security Adviser James L. Jones Appointed: January 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Homeland Security
• Under Obama's plan the homeland security adviser’s office would be eliminated, and the National Security Council would take over those duties. Brennan would be responsible for guarding against natural disasters and terrorism.
• Has called for increased integration between the Departments of Commerce, State and Defense
• Graduated from Fordham University in 1977 after a year of intensive Arabic and Middle Eastern studies in Cairo. Earned his J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin before joining the CIA as an intelligence director in 1980.
• Is a CIA veteran and fluent Arabic speaker
• Was CIA deputy executive director (2001 to 2003) and National Counter-Terrorism Center, Chair (2004 to 2005) • Worked at Analysis Corp, (2005 to 2008);
• Staunch supporter of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Program; defended the use of extraordinary rendition, saying it is “an absolutely vital tool.”
30. Urban Affairs Czar - Adolfo Carrion Jr.
Title: White House Director of Urban Affairs Salary: $158,500 Reports to: President Obama Appointed: February 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Housing and Urban Development
• Job entails coordinating transportation and housing initiatives, as well as serving as a conduit for federal aid to economically hard-hit cities.
• Has undergraduate degree in world religions from Kings College; became an associate pastor at a Bronx church; earned his master’s degree in urban planning from Hunter College
• Was Bronx Borough President (2001-2009); President of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (since 2007); City Council member (1998 to 2000)
• Many reporters say he has higher ambitions and will probably run for New York City mayor in the next ten years.
• Was an active campaigner for Obama, travelling across the country to speak on his behalf. He focused particularly on states with large Hispanic populations.
• The NY Daily News reported numerous developers made tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations to Carrión around the same time he was considering approving their projects in the Bronx.
31. Weapons Czar - Ashton Carter Title: Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Salary: unknown Reports to: Defense Secretary Robert Gates Appointed: April 2009 Confirmed by Senate: April 23, 2009 Department that might have handled similar issues: Defense
• Will coordinate the Pentagon's acquisitions, technology and logistics for weapons.
• Will oversee a weapons-buying system that Obama has placed at the top of his list of federal programs he wants to fix and will be asked to quickly weigh in on difficult decisions concerning at least 10 major defense programs, while also instantly dissecting the procurement system’s ailments so he can advise the administration on its Pentagon acquisition reform agenda
• Is a physicist and Harvard academic whose only previous Pentagon stint was in a mid-level policy post from 1993 until 1996 under the Clinton administration
• Graduated from Yale summa cum laude; studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar and earned a doctorate in theoretical physics.
• Chair of Harvard’s International Relations, Science & Security Area International Security Program within the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy (1993 to 1996); Director of the Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School (early 1990s)
• Has donated primarily to Democratic politicians since 2000. He donated $6,900 to then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in 2007 and 2008. He gave the same amount to then Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) during that same span.
32. WMD Policy Czar - Gary Samore Title: White House Coordinator for Weapons of Mass Destruction, Security and Arms Control Salary: unknown Reports to: National Security Advisor Gen. James L. Jones Appointed: January 2009 Department or agency that might have handled similar issues: NSC; Defense; State
• Will coordinate issues related to weapons of mass destruction across the government. His portfolio includes proliferation, nuclear and conventional arms control, threat reduction, and terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction.
• Position sits within the National Security Council.
• Is a veteran arms control negotiator.
• B.A. in sociology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and his PhD in government from Harvard University in 1984.
• After brief stints with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the RAND Corporation, joined the State Department during the Reagan administration in 1987. Held several positions there, including director of the Office of Regional Non-proliferation Affairs; special assistant to the Ambassador-at-Large for Non-proliferation and Nuclear Energy Policy; and deputy to Ambassador-at-Large for Korean Affairs Robert Gallucci. Helped to negotiate the 1994 U.S.-North Korea Framework Treaty
• Joined the Clinton administration’s National Security Council in 1995 as an adviser on nonproliferation. Coordinated U.S. policy on nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
• Was Director, Council on Foreign Relations (2006 to 2009); Vice President for Global Security and Sustainability, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (2005); Researcher, International Institute of Strategic Studies (2001 to 2005)
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Boycott Backlash Bites the Biter
The below article is from http://www.newsmax.com/
Backlash Against Boycott of Glenn Beck
Sunday, August 23, 2009 5:32 PM
By: David A. Patten
A left-wing group’s effort to intimidate corporate advertisers on Fox News’ Glenn Beck show appears to be backfiring as it triggers a wave of support from grass-roots fans rushing to defend the popular TV personality from the attacks.
Even before the liberal boycott of Glenn Beck began this summer, the best-selling author and TV host had became a ratings superstar, with his 5 p.m. cable news program pulling mega prime-time viewership numbers. Beck also had become a lightning rod for liberal groups who didn’t like his anti-Obama message and his staggeringly large audience.
But now Beck’s fame seems to be growing even more as a spontaneous, nationwide effort has sprung up among fans to defend their hero, including Web sites, Facebook groups, homegrown e-mail blasts, and individual telephone campaigns.
The reaction in support of Beck comes in the wake of the advertiser-boycott campaign launched by Color of Change, an African-American advocacy organization with close ties to the Obama White House.
Although the group garnered some success initially, it appears that it is making claims that don’t match reality, with several major companies claiming they never joined any boycott of Beck’s show.
Major advertisers such as Wal-Mart, CVS, ConAgra, and Sargento have directed Fox News not to air their ads during the Glenn Beck Program, according to Color of Change.
The group probably would have been dismissed as a gadfly were it not for its high-level connections to the Obama White House. Color of Change co-founder Van Jones now works in the Obama administration as the president's "green jobs czar."
Beck has been a fearless critic of both President Obama and Jones, whose association with Color of Change was said to have ended in December 2007.
Color of Change Executive Director James Rucker tells Newsmax that his organization wants Beck silenced for his July remark on Fox & Friends that Obama is "racist" — an opinion Beck voiced in the context of the president’s chastising of the Cambridge Police Department and Sgt. James Crowley for acting "stupidly" in arresting Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates.
"It's preposterous and absurd," Rucker tells Newsmax of Beck's utterance. "It's insulting to black Americans, and it corrupts honest debate. Anyone who uses such a platform to spew such vitriol, whether Glenn Beck or anyone else, has no place on the air, and we at Color Of Change would use every resource available to us to remove corporate sponsorship from their platform."
Conservative Backlash
Beck's enemies on the left, however, have awakened a sleeping giant in their campaign to destroy Beck.
Like the town hall protesters, Beck's supporters are rising up to declare they're fed up and not going to take it anymore. And joining in their counterattack are some of the most respected voices in conservative media.
"Glenn Beck is to be congratulated," New York Times best-selling author Peter Schweizer tells Newsmax. "They only go after you when you are being effective — he must really be causing them problems."
And Rich Noyes, research director for the conservative Media Research Council watchdog organization, says, "I think it tells us a lot about the style of politics coming from the organized left and this White House. They want to be so strenuous in going after their adversaries that they have a take-no-prisoners approach. I think it would be unthinkable if conservatives, particularly those affiliated with the Bush White House, had gone after a media figure associated with one of the other networks."
Conservative icon and direct-marketing expert Richard Viguerie tells Newsmax: "That's Chicago politics. We're seeing the Chicago-ization of politics. We hear how dangerous it is for some of these people to come in the vicinity of the president with a weapon. Then we see the chairman of a powerful committee, Henry Waxman, issuing subpoenas to 50 insurance executives for their corporate records. That's how they play the game. They will use any method they can to attain power and then hold onto that power. They tried to do the same with Rush Limbaugh, but Rush Limbaugh is too big for them to handle. This is how Democrats operate."
On Thursday, DC Examiner editorial page editor Mark Tapscott wrote: "Funny, I don't recall that the First Amendment guarantees freedom of expression to everybody except those whose opinions the four members of ColorofChange.org find ‘repulsive and divisive.’"
Tapscott called on readers to conduct a reverse boycott against the companies bowing to left-wing pressure, who are pulling their ads from Beck's program. Those companies, Tapscott says, "are aiding and abetting a vicious, political campaign to slander him by an outfit apparently created for just such a purpose."
A reverse boycott is precisely what's taking place.
On Aug. 16, Beck supporter John Hill launched a Web site, DefendGlenn.com. Five days later, the site had recorded 1.9 million visits, racked up 1,033 Twitter followers, and garnered 5,800 user comments on its "Support Wall," Hill says.
"Let your voice be heard! Fight back against the lies and the extremist boycott of Glenn Beck," the site declares.
DefendGlenn.com provides contact information for companies that have pulled their advertising. It also lists and encourages the companies who have stuck with the Beck program.
"We launched DefendGlenn basically just to counter a lot of the distortions and lies that were put out by this group Color of Change, which we saw weren't being countered at all," Hill tells Newsmax.
Among the messages fans left on the DefendGlenn "Support Wall" to show their support for Beck:
"Freedom of speech applies to all speech, even those from the right," wrote Matt Elmore of Woodbridge, Va.
"You are not alone, but like Gen. Washington, out in front of the troops," wrote Michael Lyon of Estero, Fla.
"Never give up,” Leonor Godwin of Stephenville, Texas, wrote him. “They are trying to break you. You are our inspiration and our rock."
Hill also tells Newsmax he has received 5,000 e-mails from people who tell him they are canceling their Geico insurance policy because the company has joined the boycott against Beck, and about 6,500 e-mails from consumers who say they never will buy a Sargento product again.
"I don't want to do that," Hill tells Newsmax. "I think boycotts are stupid. But if they're going to join the boycott, boycotts work two ways. Earlier in the week, the companies were saying, 'Yeah we're dropping the ads.’ But as soon as people started getting in touch with them, they started denying they were dropping anything.'"
Other Beck supporters also are getting into the act. They include an upstate New York stay-at-home mom who became alarmed when she saw the orchestrated campaign to make one of the most independent voices in American media a pariah. Already a member of the 912 organization Beck initiated to recapture the nonpartisan spirit of unity the nation experienced after the 9/11 terror attacks, she created SupportGlennBeck.com.
The site includes a petition that states: “Through his radio and television show, he promotes God, family, and country — which resonates with a majority of Americans.
“There are some people who have an ideological problem with Glenn Beck. These people will not be satisfied until voices such as Glenn’s are silenced. For the millions of us who share Glenn’s values, there is nothing more frightening than losing our forum,” the petition states.
The growing pro-Beck movement has also reached social networking sites. One example: Beck supporter Doug Edelman of St. Louis has established a new Facebook group, “Defend Glenn Beck Against Thug Inspired Boycott.” During its first week, more than 790 members joined the group, which includes a statement of support for Beck and lists contact information for companies that are said to be boycotting his show.
Exaggerated Boycotts
The anti-Beck activists claim that more than 20 advertisers have dropped the Beck program. Hill and others on the pro-Beck side dispute say Color of Change has greatly exaggerated the effect of its boycott.
Many of the companies the organization lists now deny they have anything to do with the boycott. Newsmax contacted Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance, SC Johnson, and Radio Shack, all of which said they have not directed Fox News to pull their ads from the Glenn Beck Program, as Color of Change has stated.
In fact, these companies’ representatives tell Newsmax that, as a matter of corporate policy, they never did advertise on the Glenn Beck Program and ask how they could boycott a program they never placed an ad on in the first place.
Another company, State Farm, tells Newsmax that its ad was never supposed to air on the Glenn Beck Program. State Farm has a longstanding company policy against advertising on any "political or opinion programming," its spokesman says.
Having discovered the error, State Farm says, it will not be advertising on any cable talk show. And it is careful to emphasize it is not singling out Beck in this regard.
As State Farm’s response suggests, the net effect of the anti-Beck crusade probably will be fewer advertisers willing to advertise on the talk shows of any cable network.
Consider, for example, the corporate response from Clorox. On Thursday, company executives wrote Hill stating: “After a comprehensive review of political talk shows across the spectrum, at this time we have made a decision not to advertise on political talk shows.”
Assuming the pro-Beck backlash continues, that probably means the activist campaign intended to hurt Beck will, ironically, damage Beck’s progressive competitors more than it hurts him.
Lost ads will impact smaller networks such as MSNBC far more than it will affect ratings juggernaut Fox News, industry sources say.
Nearly 2.5 million viewers tuned in to Beck’s show in its 5 p.m. Eastern time slot last week, according to Mediabistro’s TV Newser. Beck’s ratings on Fox exceeded those of CNN, MSNBC, and Headline News combined.
All of which calls into question whether advertiser boycotts work anyway.
“It’s funny because I think their calculation is that by going after advertisers they are going to affect his bottom line,” Schweizer says. “But this is a common misperception of liberals. Beck isn’t in this for the money. So even if they could succeed, they won’t silence him.”
Michael Harrison has seen plenty of media campaigns come and go as publisher of Talkers Magazine. “My guess,” he says, “is he will weather this storm.”
“Beck expected to get hostile feedback, and a whole bunch of publicity, and he succeeded on both counts,” Harrison says. “People have the right to be offended and businesses have the right to spend their advertising dollars however they choose. Free speech guarantees the right of having an opinion without government censorship. It doesn’t guarantee that people won’t be angry and withhold their support. The free marketplace of ideas is not for the faint hearted!”
And for ratings giant Fox, Beck’s remarkable connection with viewers has made the free market a profitable one indeed. “The advertisers referenced have all moved their spots from Beck to other programs on the network,” a Fox spokesman recently told Ad Age, “so there is no revenue lost.”
Below are companies listed on the DefendGlenn site as having joined the Color of Change boycott against Glenn Beck:
Ally Bank
President and CEO Mark B. Hales
(877) 247-2559
6985 Union Park Center
Midvale, Utah 84047
-------------------
Broadview Security (Brinks)
Robert B. Allen
(800) 445-0872
8880 Esters Blvd,
Irving, Texas 75063
-------------------
CVS Caremark Corp.
Thomas M. Ryan
(401) 765-1500
One CVS Drive
Woonsocket, R.I. 02895
------------------
Geico
Chairman and CEO Tony Nicely
(800) 861-8380
5260 Western Ave.
Chevy Chase, Md. 20815
-------------------
Healthy Choice Foods
A subsidiary of
ConAgra Foods Inc.
President and CEO Gary M. Rodkin
(402) 595-4000
1 ConAgra Drive
Omaha, Neb. 68102-5001
-------------------
Lawyers.com
A subsidiary of
LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell
CEO Andrew Prozes
(800) 526-4902
121 Chanlon Road
New Providence, N.J. 07974
-------------------
Men's Wearhouse
Chairman and CEO George Zimmer
(281) 776-7200
6380 Rogerdale Road
Houston, Texas 77072
-------------------
Sanofi-Aventis U.S.
President and CEO Gregory Irace
(800) 981-2491
55 Corporate Drive
Bridgewater, N.J. 08807
-------------------
Sargento Foods Inc.
Chairman and CEO Louis Gentine
(800) 243-3737
One Persnickety Place
Plymouth, Wis. 53073
-------------------
State Farm
Chairman and CEO Edward B. Rust Jr.
(877) 734-2265 (Ask for a “Representative”)
1 State Farm Plaza
Bloomington, Ill. 61710-0001
© 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
Backlash Against Boycott of Glenn Beck
Sunday, August 23, 2009 5:32 PM
By: David A. Patten
A left-wing group’s effort to intimidate corporate advertisers on Fox News’ Glenn Beck show appears to be backfiring as it triggers a wave of support from grass-roots fans rushing to defend the popular TV personality from the attacks.
Even before the liberal boycott of Glenn Beck began this summer, the best-selling author and TV host had became a ratings superstar, with his 5 p.m. cable news program pulling mega prime-time viewership numbers. Beck also had become a lightning rod for liberal groups who didn’t like his anti-Obama message and his staggeringly large audience.
But now Beck’s fame seems to be growing even more as a spontaneous, nationwide effort has sprung up among fans to defend their hero, including Web sites, Facebook groups, homegrown e-mail blasts, and individual telephone campaigns.
The reaction in support of Beck comes in the wake of the advertiser-boycott campaign launched by Color of Change, an African-American advocacy organization with close ties to the Obama White House.
Although the group garnered some success initially, it appears that it is making claims that don’t match reality, with several major companies claiming they never joined any boycott of Beck’s show.
Major advertisers such as Wal-Mart, CVS, ConAgra, and Sargento have directed Fox News not to air their ads during the Glenn Beck Program, according to Color of Change.
The group probably would have been dismissed as a gadfly were it not for its high-level connections to the Obama White House. Color of Change co-founder Van Jones now works in the Obama administration as the president's "green jobs czar."
Beck has been a fearless critic of both President Obama and Jones, whose association with Color of Change was said to have ended in December 2007.
Color of Change Executive Director James Rucker tells Newsmax that his organization wants Beck silenced for his July remark on Fox & Friends that Obama is "racist" — an opinion Beck voiced in the context of the president’s chastising of the Cambridge Police Department and Sgt. James Crowley for acting "stupidly" in arresting Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates.
"It's preposterous and absurd," Rucker tells Newsmax of Beck's utterance. "It's insulting to black Americans, and it corrupts honest debate. Anyone who uses such a platform to spew such vitriol, whether Glenn Beck or anyone else, has no place on the air, and we at Color Of Change would use every resource available to us to remove corporate sponsorship from their platform."
Conservative Backlash
Beck's enemies on the left, however, have awakened a sleeping giant in their campaign to destroy Beck.
Like the town hall protesters, Beck's supporters are rising up to declare they're fed up and not going to take it anymore. And joining in their counterattack are some of the most respected voices in conservative media.
"Glenn Beck is to be congratulated," New York Times best-selling author Peter Schweizer tells Newsmax. "They only go after you when you are being effective — he must really be causing them problems."
And Rich Noyes, research director for the conservative Media Research Council watchdog organization, says, "I think it tells us a lot about the style of politics coming from the organized left and this White House. They want to be so strenuous in going after their adversaries that they have a take-no-prisoners approach. I think it would be unthinkable if conservatives, particularly those affiliated with the Bush White House, had gone after a media figure associated with one of the other networks."
Conservative icon and direct-marketing expert Richard Viguerie tells Newsmax: "That's Chicago politics. We're seeing the Chicago-ization of politics. We hear how dangerous it is for some of these people to come in the vicinity of the president with a weapon. Then we see the chairman of a powerful committee, Henry Waxman, issuing subpoenas to 50 insurance executives for their corporate records. That's how they play the game. They will use any method they can to attain power and then hold onto that power. They tried to do the same with Rush Limbaugh, but Rush Limbaugh is too big for them to handle. This is how Democrats operate."
On Thursday, DC Examiner editorial page editor Mark Tapscott wrote: "Funny, I don't recall that the First Amendment guarantees freedom of expression to everybody except those whose opinions the four members of ColorofChange.org find ‘repulsive and divisive.’"
Tapscott called on readers to conduct a reverse boycott against the companies bowing to left-wing pressure, who are pulling their ads from Beck's program. Those companies, Tapscott says, "are aiding and abetting a vicious, political campaign to slander him by an outfit apparently created for just such a purpose."
A reverse boycott is precisely what's taking place.
On Aug. 16, Beck supporter John Hill launched a Web site, DefendGlenn.com. Five days later, the site had recorded 1.9 million visits, racked up 1,033 Twitter followers, and garnered 5,800 user comments on its "Support Wall," Hill says.
"Let your voice be heard! Fight back against the lies and the extremist boycott of Glenn Beck," the site declares.
DefendGlenn.com provides contact information for companies that have pulled their advertising. It also lists and encourages the companies who have stuck with the Beck program.
"We launched DefendGlenn basically just to counter a lot of the distortions and lies that were put out by this group Color of Change, which we saw weren't being countered at all," Hill tells Newsmax.
Among the messages fans left on the DefendGlenn "Support Wall" to show their support for Beck:
"Freedom of speech applies to all speech, even those from the right," wrote Matt Elmore of Woodbridge, Va.
"You are not alone, but like Gen. Washington, out in front of the troops," wrote Michael Lyon of Estero, Fla.
"Never give up,” Leonor Godwin of Stephenville, Texas, wrote him. “They are trying to break you. You are our inspiration and our rock."
Hill also tells Newsmax he has received 5,000 e-mails from people who tell him they are canceling their Geico insurance policy because the company has joined the boycott against Beck, and about 6,500 e-mails from consumers who say they never will buy a Sargento product again.
"I don't want to do that," Hill tells Newsmax. "I think boycotts are stupid. But if they're going to join the boycott, boycotts work two ways. Earlier in the week, the companies were saying, 'Yeah we're dropping the ads.’ But as soon as people started getting in touch with them, they started denying they were dropping anything.'"
Other Beck supporters also are getting into the act. They include an upstate New York stay-at-home mom who became alarmed when she saw the orchestrated campaign to make one of the most independent voices in American media a pariah. Already a member of the 912 organization Beck initiated to recapture the nonpartisan spirit of unity the nation experienced after the 9/11 terror attacks, she created SupportGlennBeck.com.
The site includes a petition that states: “Through his radio and television show, he promotes God, family, and country — which resonates with a majority of Americans.
“There are some people who have an ideological problem with Glenn Beck. These people will not be satisfied until voices such as Glenn’s are silenced. For the millions of us who share Glenn’s values, there is nothing more frightening than losing our forum,” the petition states.
The growing pro-Beck movement has also reached social networking sites. One example: Beck supporter Doug Edelman of St. Louis has established a new Facebook group, “Defend Glenn Beck Against Thug Inspired Boycott.” During its first week, more than 790 members joined the group, which includes a statement of support for Beck and lists contact information for companies that are said to be boycotting his show.
Exaggerated Boycotts
The anti-Beck activists claim that more than 20 advertisers have dropped the Beck program. Hill and others on the pro-Beck side dispute say Color of Change has greatly exaggerated the effect of its boycott.
Many of the companies the organization lists now deny they have anything to do with the boycott. Newsmax contacted Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance, SC Johnson, and Radio Shack, all of which said they have not directed Fox News to pull their ads from the Glenn Beck Program, as Color of Change has stated.
In fact, these companies’ representatives tell Newsmax that, as a matter of corporate policy, they never did advertise on the Glenn Beck Program and ask how they could boycott a program they never placed an ad on in the first place.
Another company, State Farm, tells Newsmax that its ad was never supposed to air on the Glenn Beck Program. State Farm has a longstanding company policy against advertising on any "political or opinion programming," its spokesman says.
Having discovered the error, State Farm says, it will not be advertising on any cable talk show. And it is careful to emphasize it is not singling out Beck in this regard.
As State Farm’s response suggests, the net effect of the anti-Beck crusade probably will be fewer advertisers willing to advertise on the talk shows of any cable network.
Consider, for example, the corporate response from Clorox. On Thursday, company executives wrote Hill stating: “After a comprehensive review of political talk shows across the spectrum, at this time we have made a decision not to advertise on political talk shows.”
Assuming the pro-Beck backlash continues, that probably means the activist campaign intended to hurt Beck will, ironically, damage Beck’s progressive competitors more than it hurts him.
Lost ads will impact smaller networks such as MSNBC far more than it will affect ratings juggernaut Fox News, industry sources say.
Nearly 2.5 million viewers tuned in to Beck’s show in its 5 p.m. Eastern time slot last week, according to Mediabistro’s TV Newser. Beck’s ratings on Fox exceeded those of CNN, MSNBC, and Headline News combined.
All of which calls into question whether advertiser boycotts work anyway.
“It’s funny because I think their calculation is that by going after advertisers they are going to affect his bottom line,” Schweizer says. “But this is a common misperception of liberals. Beck isn’t in this for the money. So even if they could succeed, they won’t silence him.”
Michael Harrison has seen plenty of media campaigns come and go as publisher of Talkers Magazine. “My guess,” he says, “is he will weather this storm.”
“Beck expected to get hostile feedback, and a whole bunch of publicity, and he succeeded on both counts,” Harrison says. “People have the right to be offended and businesses have the right to spend their advertising dollars however they choose. Free speech guarantees the right of having an opinion without government censorship. It doesn’t guarantee that people won’t be angry and withhold their support. The free marketplace of ideas is not for the faint hearted!”
And for ratings giant Fox, Beck’s remarkable connection with viewers has made the free market a profitable one indeed. “The advertisers referenced have all moved their spots from Beck to other programs on the network,” a Fox spokesman recently told Ad Age, “so there is no revenue lost.”
Below are companies listed on the DefendGlenn site as having joined the Color of Change boycott against Glenn Beck:
Ally Bank
President and CEO Mark B. Hales
(877) 247-2559
6985 Union Park Center
Midvale, Utah 84047
-------------------
Broadview Security (Brinks)
Robert B. Allen
(800) 445-0872
8880 Esters Blvd,
Irving, Texas 75063
-------------------
CVS Caremark Corp.
Thomas M. Ryan
(401) 765-1500
One CVS Drive
Woonsocket, R.I. 02895
------------------
Geico
Chairman and CEO Tony Nicely
(800) 861-8380
5260 Western Ave.
Chevy Chase, Md. 20815
-------------------
Healthy Choice Foods
A subsidiary of
ConAgra Foods Inc.
President and CEO Gary M. Rodkin
(402) 595-4000
1 ConAgra Drive
Omaha, Neb. 68102-5001
-------------------
Lawyers.com
A subsidiary of
LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell
CEO Andrew Prozes
(800) 526-4902
121 Chanlon Road
New Providence, N.J. 07974
-------------------
Men's Wearhouse
Chairman and CEO George Zimmer
(281) 776-7200
6380 Rogerdale Road
Houston, Texas 77072
-------------------
Sanofi-Aventis U.S.
President and CEO Gregory Irace
(800) 981-2491
55 Corporate Drive
Bridgewater, N.J. 08807
-------------------
Sargento Foods Inc.
Chairman and CEO Louis Gentine
(800) 243-3737
One Persnickety Place
Plymouth, Wis. 53073
-------------------
State Farm
Chairman and CEO Edward B. Rust Jr.
(877) 734-2265 (Ask for a “Representative”)
1 State Farm Plaza
Bloomington, Ill. 61710-0001
© 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
Monday, August 24, 2009
It's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Reid Trails GOP Challenger By Double Digits in New Poll
The Mason-Dixon Polling and Research survey, reported Sunday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, showed GOP candidate Danny Tarkanian leading Sen. Harry Reid by 49 percent to 38 percent.
FOXNews.com
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trailing a top Republican challenger by 11 points ahead of next year's election, according to a new poll.
The Mason-Dixon Polling and Research survey, reported Sunday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, showed GOP candidate Danny Tarkanian leading Reid by 49 percent to 38 percent in Nevada.
Tarkanian is a former basketball player for the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and recently announced his candidacy.
The new poll also showed Sue Lowden, chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party and a possible candidate, leading Reid by 45 percent to 40 percent.
The sagging numbers come at a time when congressional Democrats are facing tough questions from constituents on their health care reform proposals.
Reid has a lot of time to make up the difference in the polls. But of the top Democrats in Congress, he is perhaps the most vulnerable.
While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is from a solidly liberal district in California, Nevada is not so dependable for Democrats.
Nevada's other senator, John Ensign, is a Republican. But he's got his own set of problems, after admitting an affair with a former staff member.
The new poll showed 37 percent of voters would vote against him, while 30 percent would re-elect Ensign. Twenty-three percent said they'd consider a challenger.
Ensign does not face the voters' verdict until 2012.
The poll of 400 registered Nevada voters was taken Monday and Tuesday. It had a margin of error of 5 points.
The Mason-Dixon Polling and Research survey, reported Sunday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, showed GOP candidate Danny Tarkanian leading Sen. Harry Reid by 49 percent to 38 percent.
FOXNews.com
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trailing a top Republican challenger by 11 points ahead of next year's election, according to a new poll.
The Mason-Dixon Polling and Research survey, reported Sunday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, showed GOP candidate Danny Tarkanian leading Reid by 49 percent to 38 percent in Nevada.
Tarkanian is a former basketball player for the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and recently announced his candidacy.
The new poll also showed Sue Lowden, chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party and a possible candidate, leading Reid by 45 percent to 40 percent.
The sagging numbers come at a time when congressional Democrats are facing tough questions from constituents on their health care reform proposals.
Reid has a lot of time to make up the difference in the polls. But of the top Democrats in Congress, he is perhaps the most vulnerable.
While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is from a solidly liberal district in California, Nevada is not so dependable for Democrats.
Nevada's other senator, John Ensign, is a Republican. But he's got his own set of problems, after admitting an affair with a former staff member.
The new poll showed 37 percent of voters would vote against him, while 30 percent would re-elect Ensign. Twenty-three percent said they'd consider a challenger.
Ensign does not face the voters' verdict until 2012.
The poll of 400 registered Nevada voters was taken Monday and Tuesday. It had a margin of error of 5 points.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Glenn Beck Boycott Update
The below article comes from http://www.hotair.com/
Is there really a boycott of Glenn Beck? Update: Law of unintended consequences?
posted at 8:46 am on August 19, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
We’ve heard about the boycott of the Glenn Beck Show on Fox News Channel, one where as many as 20 advertisers have dropped their spots, thanks to pressure from left-wing groups angry at … well, their latest anger du jour. The boycott made big news when reports that major retailers Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and CVS had joined the effort. The Left celebrated, but did these three actually pull ads from Beck? I decided to check, and found that only one of the three agreed to stop advertising on Beck.
First, I contacted Best Buy, whose corporate headquarters are in the Twin Cities. The website Defend Glenn Beck posted an e-mail from their spokesperson saying that they had never advertised on Beck in the first place. I also received an e-mail from the same spokesperson confirming this:
Hi Ed~
The facts are that Best Buy has not advertised during or adjacent to the Glenn Beck show, and has no plans to do so. We do advertise on FOX, but during the morning hours of 6-9 a.m. I hope this helps your understanding.
Thanks a ton, Lisa
Lisa Svac Hawks
Director, Public Relations
Best Buy
7601 Penn Ave. S.
Richfield, MN 55423
Next, I contacted CVS, and found that they had never requested time on Beck in the first place. They did, however, ask to have their Fox spots appear elsewhere, although they apparently haven’t reduced them:
Dear Ed:
Thanks for your note.
While advertising on Fox is part of our communication plan, we had not requested time on Glenn Beck’s show specifically. We have instructed our advertising agency to inform Fox to ensure Glenn Beck’s program is not part of our advertising plan.
Our position is simple. We support vigorous debate, especially around policy issues that affect millions of Americans, but we expect it to be informed, inclusive and respectful, in keeping with our company’s core values and commitment to diversity.
Carolyn
Finally, I contacted Wal-Mart, and discovered that they alone of this Big 3 pulled ad spots from Beck:
Edward,
Walmart has confirmed the retailer pulled ads from the Glenn Beck show on August 3rd
Thanks,
Ashley
Ashley Hardie Wal-Mart Spokeswoman
Media Relations Hotline: 1.800.331.0085
In other words, the claim here was about half true. It was completely false regarding Best Buy, and CVS didn’t request ads for Beck before requesting to avoid him. Only Wal-Mart actually pulled ads from the show, and even at that may still be redirecting its ad money to other shows. Allahpundit predicted that would be the case when he wrote about this a few days ago, and Mediaite appears to have confirmed it:
It was big news yesterday – given major play on HuffPost and discussed on MSNBC – and while it signals some success for the ColorofChange.org campaign, the fact that Beck’s network, Fox News, isn’t hurt at all continues to be ignored.
As a Fox News spokesperson told Mediaite yesterday, “The advertisers referenced have all moved their spots from Beck to other programs on the network so there has been no revenue lost.”
That is a point that has been reiterated since advertisers first started exiting the individual show, and it proves the advertisers are more concerned with appeasing a section of their base than actually taking a stand.
Fox News continues to pick up the check from each of these companies, and continues to benefit from Beck and whatever he says on his program. Meanwhile, until Beck’s commercial blocks are filled with ads for the Wall St. Journal, Fox Business Network and Fox Searchlight Pictures, which they aren’t, his show isn’t ultimately hurt either.
Most boycotts flop. This one has a rather large quotient of cowflop to it as well.
Addendum: I have to say I’m puzzled by Wal-Mart’s acquiescence in this boycott. It’s not Beck fans who picket their stores, demanding unionization and demonizing them for their employee compensation policies. They’re appeasing the same people who want to drive them out of business.
Update: Another reader got a better explanation from Wal-Mart:
I am sorry to hear your concern. We continuously review our media plans. In keeping with our internal guidelines to avoid content that is highly polarizing, we’ve instructed our agencies, as of August 3rd, not to run Wal-Mart advertising in news commentary shows on national cable networks. This would include the Glenn Beck Show.
Thank you so much for your patience and understanding. Should you need to call us, we are more than happy to further assist you at 1-800-966-6546.
In other words, Wal-Mart’s decision was not so much to boycott Beck, but to remove its advertising from all commentary shows to avoid controversy.
Update: P&G seems to be falling off the list, too. And it’s not just Wal-Mart pulling ads from all commentary shows, including some of the Left’s favorites over at MSNBC:
DefendGlenn.com has also spoken to officials from Procter and Gamble, and Sargentos. P&G said they have NOT pulled ads because they never advertised on Glenn Beck to begin with. In addition P&G said they would be “restricting our advertising to daytime lineups” in an attempt to “avoid controversy”. While Sargentos, whose brand-destruction at the hands of angry consumers has been well-documented here, has now said they will also be yanking ads from MSNBC and CNN “talk personalities” as soon as it can be “arranged”.
Great work, Color of Change, you are killing the struggling shows like Hardball, Ed Show, Anderson Cooper 180, and Maddow, in addition to the once-strong brands such as Olbermann, which is now hemorrhaging viewers, by yanking their few high-paying advertisers away from them.
I don’t see this turning out well for the low-rated programs. How much can unions afford to advertise on MSNBC’s lineup, anyway? The law of unintended consequences appears to apply here.
Here is the link to the article:
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/08/19/is-there-really-a-boycott-of-glenn-beck/
Is there really a boycott of Glenn Beck? Update: Law of unintended consequences?
posted at 8:46 am on August 19, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
We’ve heard about the boycott of the Glenn Beck Show on Fox News Channel, one where as many as 20 advertisers have dropped their spots, thanks to pressure from left-wing groups angry at … well, their latest anger du jour. The boycott made big news when reports that major retailers Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and CVS had joined the effort. The Left celebrated, but did these three actually pull ads from Beck? I decided to check, and found that only one of the three agreed to stop advertising on Beck.
First, I contacted Best Buy, whose corporate headquarters are in the Twin Cities. The website Defend Glenn Beck posted an e-mail from their spokesperson saying that they had never advertised on Beck in the first place. I also received an e-mail from the same spokesperson confirming this:
Hi Ed~
The facts are that Best Buy has not advertised during or adjacent to the Glenn Beck show, and has no plans to do so. We do advertise on FOX, but during the morning hours of 6-9 a.m. I hope this helps your understanding.
Thanks a ton, Lisa
Lisa Svac Hawks
Director, Public Relations
Best Buy
7601 Penn Ave. S.
Richfield, MN 55423
Next, I contacted CVS, and found that they had never requested time on Beck in the first place. They did, however, ask to have their Fox spots appear elsewhere, although they apparently haven’t reduced them:
Dear Ed:
Thanks for your note.
While advertising on Fox is part of our communication plan, we had not requested time on Glenn Beck’s show specifically. We have instructed our advertising agency to inform Fox to ensure Glenn Beck’s program is not part of our advertising plan.
Our position is simple. We support vigorous debate, especially around policy issues that affect millions of Americans, but we expect it to be informed, inclusive and respectful, in keeping with our company’s core values and commitment to diversity.
Carolyn
Finally, I contacted Wal-Mart, and discovered that they alone of this Big 3 pulled ad spots from Beck:
Edward,
Walmart has confirmed the retailer pulled ads from the Glenn Beck show on August 3rd
Thanks,
Ashley
Ashley Hardie Wal-Mart Spokeswoman
Media Relations Hotline: 1.800.331.0085
In other words, the claim here was about half true. It was completely false regarding Best Buy, and CVS didn’t request ads for Beck before requesting to avoid him. Only Wal-Mart actually pulled ads from the show, and even at that may still be redirecting its ad money to other shows. Allahpundit predicted that would be the case when he wrote about this a few days ago, and Mediaite appears to have confirmed it:
It was big news yesterday – given major play on HuffPost and discussed on MSNBC – and while it signals some success for the ColorofChange.org campaign, the fact that Beck’s network, Fox News, isn’t hurt at all continues to be ignored.
As a Fox News spokesperson told Mediaite yesterday, “The advertisers referenced have all moved their spots from Beck to other programs on the network so there has been no revenue lost.”
That is a point that has been reiterated since advertisers first started exiting the individual show, and it proves the advertisers are more concerned with appeasing a section of their base than actually taking a stand.
Fox News continues to pick up the check from each of these companies, and continues to benefit from Beck and whatever he says on his program. Meanwhile, until Beck’s commercial blocks are filled with ads for the Wall St. Journal, Fox Business Network and Fox Searchlight Pictures, which they aren’t, his show isn’t ultimately hurt either.
Most boycotts flop. This one has a rather large quotient of cowflop to it as well.
Addendum: I have to say I’m puzzled by Wal-Mart’s acquiescence in this boycott. It’s not Beck fans who picket their stores, demanding unionization and demonizing them for their employee compensation policies. They’re appeasing the same people who want to drive them out of business.
Update: Another reader got a better explanation from Wal-Mart:
I am sorry to hear your concern. We continuously review our media plans. In keeping with our internal guidelines to avoid content that is highly polarizing, we’ve instructed our agencies, as of August 3rd, not to run Wal-Mart advertising in news commentary shows on national cable networks. This would include the Glenn Beck Show.
Thank you so much for your patience and understanding. Should you need to call us, we are more than happy to further assist you at 1-800-966-6546.
In other words, Wal-Mart’s decision was not so much to boycott Beck, but to remove its advertising from all commentary shows to avoid controversy.
Update: P&G seems to be falling off the list, too. And it’s not just Wal-Mart pulling ads from all commentary shows, including some of the Left’s favorites over at MSNBC:
DefendGlenn.com has also spoken to officials from Procter and Gamble, and Sargentos. P&G said they have NOT pulled ads because they never advertised on Glenn Beck to begin with. In addition P&G said they would be “restricting our advertising to daytime lineups” in an attempt to “avoid controversy”. While Sargentos, whose brand-destruction at the hands of angry consumers has been well-documented here, has now said they will also be yanking ads from MSNBC and CNN “talk personalities” as soon as it can be “arranged”.
Great work, Color of Change, you are killing the struggling shows like Hardball, Ed Show, Anderson Cooper 180, and Maddow, in addition to the once-strong brands such as Olbermann, which is now hemorrhaging viewers, by yanking their few high-paying advertisers away from them.
I don’t see this turning out well for the low-rated programs. How much can unions afford to advertise on MSNBC’s lineup, anyway? The law of unintended consequences appears to apply here.
Here is the link to the article:
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/08/19/is-there-really-a-boycott-of-glenn-beck/
Monday, August 17, 2009
Let Us All Press On
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse (generous gifts) from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship."
"The average age of the world's greatest civilization has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependence back again into bondage."
Penned by Professor Alexander Tyler, a Scottish historian, who in 1787 wrote about the fall of the Athenian republic over 2000 years earlier.
A website defending Glenn Beck (see August 14 post) is now available at www.defendglenn.com. They give the names of companies who are dropping Glenn as advertisers and also the names of companies who are supporting Glenn. According to postings on defendglenn.com, consumers are dropping the advertisers who are dropping Glenn. Obviously, Glenn must be hitting a nerve with some powerful people or he wouldn't be a target right now. We support Glenn Beck and have written to those sponsors who have dropped him.
"The average age of the world's greatest civilization has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependence back again into bondage."
Penned by Professor Alexander Tyler, a Scottish historian, who in 1787 wrote about the fall of the Athenian republic over 2000 years earlier.
A website defending Glenn Beck (see August 14 post) is now available at www.defendglenn.com. They give the names of companies who are dropping Glenn as advertisers and also the names of companies who are supporting Glenn. According to postings on defendglenn.com, consumers are dropping the advertisers who are dropping Glenn. Obviously, Glenn must be hitting a nerve with some powerful people or he wouldn't be a target right now. We support Glenn Beck and have written to those sponsors who have dropped him.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Choosing Sides
Is a left-wing attempt to scare off advertisers from Fox News host Glenn Beck’s highly rated cable news show being orchestrated with some high level help from the Obama White House?
Perhaps.
Newsmax.com is reporting that the co-founder of the African-American political organization Color of Change, which is calling for Beck's ouster, is civil rights attorney Van Jones. In March, President Obama appointed Jones to serve as his so-called "green-jobs czar," responsible for stimulating job growth in the environmental sector.
Click on the link below to read the entire article.
http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/beck_obama_boycott_fox/2009/08/13/247700.html
Color of Change claims that it has pressured a growing roster of companies into pulling their ads from Beck's program: Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, RadioShack, GEICO, Progressive Insurance, Men's Wearhouse, State Farm, Sargento, Lawyers.com, and Procter & Gamble.
One company — SC Johnson of Racine, Wis. — is disputing statements that it has pulled its ads from the Beck show.
We too know how to boycott, and we're good at it. Edie sent the following e-mail to Progressive Insurance, and we will both send e-mails to the other sponsors who have pulled their ads from the Glenn Beck show.
Dear Ms. Harris:
It has come to my attention that Progressive may be part of boycotting Glenn Beck's Fox TV show by not allowing Progressive advertising to be aired during Mr. Beck's show time. I am asking that you confirm or deny in an email reply to me that Progressive is pulling its advertising from the Glenn Beck show. If you are, in fact, boycotting the Glenn Beck program because of pressure from the group Color of Change, my family will then choose to boycott Progressive.
I await your reply.
Yesterday while watching the Glenn Beck show, we actually paid attention to the commercials. Below are the companies that advertise on Glenn's show. Hopefully these advertisers will hear from a vast amount of people thanking them for their advertising support of Fox News and the Glenn Beck program.
Johnson Law Group
Cinergy Health
Restasis
Wall Street Journal
Psoriasin
Rosland Capital
United States Post Office
Liberty Medical
Lear Capital
Pulaski & Middleman, Attorneys
Randolph Goldberg, Attorney
Henderson Hyundai
Energy Star
Lanacane
Health Mart Pharmacy
UPS
Direct TV
Accu Chek
Binder & Binder, Disability Advocates
Regions (financial institution)
Zero Water
Cox Cable
Easy Water
Viagra
Merit Financial
Pertussis Vaccine
It's almost 2:00. Off we go to watch Glenn!
Perhaps.
Newsmax.com is reporting that the co-founder of the African-American political organization Color of Change, which is calling for Beck's ouster, is civil rights attorney Van Jones. In March, President Obama appointed Jones to serve as his so-called "green-jobs czar," responsible for stimulating job growth in the environmental sector.
Click on the link below to read the entire article.
http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/beck_obama_boycott_fox/2009/08/13/247700.html
Color of Change claims that it has pressured a growing roster of companies into pulling their ads from Beck's program: Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, RadioShack, GEICO, Progressive Insurance, Men's Wearhouse, State Farm, Sargento, Lawyers.com, and Procter & Gamble.
One company — SC Johnson of Racine, Wis. — is disputing statements that it has pulled its ads from the Beck show.
We too know how to boycott, and we're good at it. Edie sent the following e-mail to Progressive Insurance, and we will both send e-mails to the other sponsors who have pulled their ads from the Glenn Beck show.
Dear Ms. Harris:
It has come to my attention that Progressive may be part of boycotting Glenn Beck's Fox TV show by not allowing Progressive advertising to be aired during Mr. Beck's show time. I am asking that you confirm or deny in an email reply to me that Progressive is pulling its advertising from the Glenn Beck show. If you are, in fact, boycotting the Glenn Beck program because of pressure from the group Color of Change, my family will then choose to boycott Progressive.
I await your reply.
Yesterday while watching the Glenn Beck show, we actually paid attention to the commercials. Below are the companies that advertise on Glenn's show. Hopefully these advertisers will hear from a vast amount of people thanking them for their advertising support of Fox News and the Glenn Beck program.
Johnson Law Group
Cinergy Health
Restasis
Wall Street Journal
Psoriasin
Rosland Capital
United States Post Office
Liberty Medical
Lear Capital
Pulaski & Middleman, Attorneys
Randolph Goldberg, Attorney
Henderson Hyundai
Energy Star
Lanacane
Health Mart Pharmacy
UPS
Direct TV
Accu Chek
Binder & Binder, Disability Advocates
Regions (financial institution)
Zero Water
Cox Cable
Easy Water
Viagra
Merit Financial
Pertussis Vaccine
It's almost 2:00. Off we go to watch Glenn!
*
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Harry Has To Go
Harry Reid was interviewed by Jill Lawrence of www.politicsdaily.com. Below are comments from the article that highlight some of the many reasons that Harry has to be voted out of office in 2010. Our comments are in red.
"I interviewed Reid Tuesday between stops on a tour of clean energy projects in and around Las Vegas. That morning, a new Republican poll of the 2010 Senate contest here showed state GOP Chairwoman Sue Lowden, a potential rival, six points ahead of him. But Reid also had good news – GOP Rep. Dean Heller said he would stay in the House rather than challenge Reid. Biggest threat? 'Yup,' Reid said. Now gone? 'Gone,' he said happily."
Harry obviously doesn't visit Nevada much if he thinks that his biggest threat to re-election was Dean Heller. It's doubtful that most Nevadans even knew that Dean Heller was considering a run for the Senate; we certainly didn't. Harry, here's a tip: your biggest threat to re-election is Nevadans. The majority of us don't like the way you do business. We're tired of your partisan politics. And we're really tired of not having our concerns seriously considered.
Reid left no doubt he intends to get a health reform bill passed in the Senate, no matter what erupts at town hall meetings and whether any Republicans support the end result. "We can't let the insurance industry win another round. We're going to win this round," he said.
So, regardless of the fact that support for health care reform is dwindling across the country, Harry is going to make sure that health care reform is shoved down our throats. Unbelievable! How about letting the American people win a round?
Reid's phone rang. It was Jackie Dodd reporting on her husband, Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut. His surgery for prostate cancer was over and went well. Reid tells her his bond with Dodd is a "joy to my soul and I so appreciate your call."
Obviously, Harry can be friends with anyone he chooses, and nobody wishes Chris Dodd ill. However, a person's character can be judged by the company he/she keeps; Chris Dodd is one huge ethics violation all by himself. Not to mention that he will readily abandon the truth if it will save his own skin.
Reid said his own low ratings have to do with Nevada's mushrooming population – 600,000 newcomers in the last dozen years. "Most people don't know me," he said. "All they see is me fighting (former president George W.) Bush on the war, privatization of Social Security. They see me as a real partisan. My career in Nevada has been made on my being a moderate. People don't know where I was born, how I was raised, what I had to do to get where I am now, and we're going to tell that story."
Harry is either out-of-touch with Nevadans or he's lying to himself. The problem isn't that people don't know him; the problem is that we know him too well. And we don't like what we know of him, or, at least, what we know of his politics. Oh, and Harry, please don't tell your story again. We've all heard it; in fact, you wrote a book about it and no one was interested in your story enough to buy your book.
The phone rang again. "Hi Rahm," Reid said. It was White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, calling about Heller's decision not to run for the Senate.
Okay, is anyone else creeped out by the fact that Obama's little troll, Rahm Emanuel, is keeping such a close eye on political races that are more than a year away? Makes you wonder what lengths these people will go to in order to keep their puppets in place.
Given the mood among Nevadans right now, we can't imagine Harry being voted back into office. But stranger things have happened.
"I interviewed Reid Tuesday between stops on a tour of clean energy projects in and around Las Vegas. That morning, a new Republican poll of the 2010 Senate contest here showed state GOP Chairwoman Sue Lowden, a potential rival, six points ahead of him. But Reid also had good news – GOP Rep. Dean Heller said he would stay in the House rather than challenge Reid. Biggest threat? 'Yup,' Reid said. Now gone? 'Gone,' he said happily."
Harry obviously doesn't visit Nevada much if he thinks that his biggest threat to re-election was Dean Heller. It's doubtful that most Nevadans even knew that Dean Heller was considering a run for the Senate; we certainly didn't. Harry, here's a tip: your biggest threat to re-election is Nevadans. The majority of us don't like the way you do business. We're tired of your partisan politics. And we're really tired of not having our concerns seriously considered.
Reid left no doubt he intends to get a health reform bill passed in the Senate, no matter what erupts at town hall meetings and whether any Republicans support the end result. "We can't let the insurance industry win another round. We're going to win this round," he said.
So, regardless of the fact that support for health care reform is dwindling across the country, Harry is going to make sure that health care reform is shoved down our throats. Unbelievable! How about letting the American people win a round?
Reid's phone rang. It was Jackie Dodd reporting on her husband, Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut. His surgery for prostate cancer was over and went well. Reid tells her his bond with Dodd is a "joy to my soul and I so appreciate your call."
Obviously, Harry can be friends with anyone he chooses, and nobody wishes Chris Dodd ill. However, a person's character can be judged by the company he/she keeps; Chris Dodd is one huge ethics violation all by himself. Not to mention that he will readily abandon the truth if it will save his own skin.
Reid said his own low ratings have to do with Nevada's mushrooming population – 600,000 newcomers in the last dozen years. "Most people don't know me," he said. "All they see is me fighting (former president George W.) Bush on the war, privatization of Social Security. They see me as a real partisan. My career in Nevada has been made on my being a moderate. People don't know where I was born, how I was raised, what I had to do to get where I am now, and we're going to tell that story."
Harry is either out-of-touch with Nevadans or he's lying to himself. The problem isn't that people don't know him; the problem is that we know him too well. And we don't like what we know of him, or, at least, what we know of his politics. Oh, and Harry, please don't tell your story again. We've all heard it; in fact, you wrote a book about it and no one was interested in your story enough to buy your book.
The phone rang again. "Hi Rahm," Reid said. It was White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, calling about Heller's decision not to run for the Senate.
Okay, is anyone else creeped out by the fact that Obama's little troll, Rahm Emanuel, is keeping such a close eye on political races that are more than a year away? Makes you wonder what lengths these people will go to in order to keep their puppets in place.
Given the mood among Nevadans right now, we can't imagine Harry being voted back into office. But stranger things have happened.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Ten Questions Politicians Won’t Answer
The following is an excerpt from an article written for the National Review by Senator Tom Coburn.
Ten Questions Politicians Won’t Answer
Evasive politicians, not concerned citizens, are dividing America over health-care reform .
By Tom Coburn
Individual Americans should view the month of August as their best, and perhaps final, opportunity to alter the health-care bills before Congress reconvenes in September. Citizens should ask hard questions without having their motives questioned. I expect such questions at my town-hall meetings. After all, the greater threat to freedom and liberty is not an informed citizenry but an irresponsible, elitist, and evasive political class that refuses to answer hard questions and make tough choices.
While I have confidence n the American people to come up with their own probing questions, let me suggest a few questions that my own colleagues have been loath to answer:
1. Why do we need to increase spending on health care by at least $1.6 trillion and steal prosperity from our children and grandchildren when we spend nearly twice per person what other industrialized nations spend on health care?
In my view, any bill that increases spending is a failure and not serious reform. The problem is not that we don’t spend enough on health care, but that we don’t allocate resources efficiently and get value for what we pay.
2. What programs will you cut and whose taxes will you raise to pay for health-care reform ?
Any politician — Republican or Democrat — who refuses to answer this question or avoids the topic by deferring to the committees of jurisdiction doesn’t deserve to be in office.
3. What earmarks or pet projects that you have sponsored will you sacrifice to help finance the cost of health-care reform?
It is immoral, in my view, to ask taxpayers to make more sacrifices while politicians practice business-as-usual pork-barrel politics.
4. Will you vote for a public option that requires taxpayer-funded abortion?
The current version of the so-called reform bill requires taxpayer-funded abortion. In the House, this fact prompted 19 pro-life Democrats to send a letter of protest to Speaker Pelosi. In the Senate, an amendment by Barbara Mikulski (D., Md.) that would require taxpayer-funded abortion passed in committee. Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) objected and voted no, saying, “The way it [the Mikulski amendment] is written could be interpreted down the road to include something like abortion.” Are these Democrats also part of the right-wing scare-tactic conspiracy?
5. If the public option is so wonderful, will you lead by example and vote for a plan to enroll you and your family in the public option?
I offered an amendment in committee to force members of Congress to enroll in the public option. Nine out of eleven Democrats on the health committee who back the public option refused. If the politicians creating the public option don’t have confidence in it, neither should the American people.
6. Will you vote for a plan that will allow a board of politicians and bureaucrats to override decisions made by you and your doctor?
Both the Senate and House bills set up a government-run “comparative effectiveness” board that will make final decisions about treatment and care. In committee, I gave senators several opportunities to accept language that would forbid this board from denying care. All of my amendments were rejected, which suggests that the intent is to set up a board that will ration care, as is done in the United Kingdom.
7. If you support a “comparative effectiveness” board, what qualifies you, as a politician, to practice medicine?
Have you delivered health care to a single person, much less entire classes of people you claim to represent, such as the poor, the uninsured, or children?I’m one of two physicians in the Senate, along with John Barrasso of Wyoming. I know for a fact that very few leaders in this debate have any firsthand experience or knowledge of health care, which is disturbing.
8. How will a government-run public option perform better than other failing government programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Indian Health Care?
Forty percent of doctors refuse to accept Medicaid patients because the program is broken. Access to a government program — such as the public option — does not guarantee access to health care.
9. If increasing spending on health care was the solution, why hasn’t it worked yet?
The public-option “reform” is not new at all but an extension of 1960s-era public policies that say a little more government spending and intervention is always the answer.
10. Are you more committed to doing reform right or quickly? Would you consider backing a thoughtful alternative to the public option? If so, which one?
I’ve introduced a bill along with Sen. Richard Burr (R., N.C.) and Reps. Paul Ryan (R., Wisc.) and Devin Nunes (R., Calif.) called the Patient’s Choice Act that guarantees coverage and choice for every American without raising taxes or increasing spending. In fact, our bill will save taxpayers at least $70 billion. Many other members of Congress , both Republicans and Democrats, are working on alternatives that don’t herd the American people into a government-run program.
The choice is not between the public option and nothing. The choice is between the public option and an option that can win the support of the public. The future of health care truly is up to you.
Dr. Tom Coburn (R.) is a United States senator from Oklahoma.
Ten Questions Politicians Won’t Answer
Evasive politicians, not concerned citizens, are dividing America over health-care reform .
By Tom Coburn
Individual Americans should view the month of August as their best, and perhaps final, opportunity to alter the health-care bills before Congress reconvenes in September. Citizens should ask hard questions without having their motives questioned. I expect such questions at my town-hall meetings. After all, the greater threat to freedom and liberty is not an informed citizenry but an irresponsible, elitist, and evasive political class that refuses to answer hard questions and make tough choices.
While I have confidence n the American people to come up with their own probing questions, let me suggest a few questions that my own colleagues have been loath to answer:
1. Why do we need to increase spending on health care by at least $1.6 trillion and steal prosperity from our children and grandchildren when we spend nearly twice per person what other industrialized nations spend on health care?
In my view, any bill that increases spending is a failure and not serious reform. The problem is not that we don’t spend enough on health care, but that we don’t allocate resources efficiently and get value for what we pay.
2. What programs will you cut and whose taxes will you raise to pay for health-care reform ?
Any politician — Republican or Democrat — who refuses to answer this question or avoids the topic by deferring to the committees of jurisdiction doesn’t deserve to be in office.
3. What earmarks or pet projects that you have sponsored will you sacrifice to help finance the cost of health-care reform?
It is immoral, in my view, to ask taxpayers to make more sacrifices while politicians practice business-as-usual pork-barrel politics.
4. Will you vote for a public option that requires taxpayer-funded abortion?
The current version of the so-called reform bill requires taxpayer-funded abortion. In the House, this fact prompted 19 pro-life Democrats to send a letter of protest to Speaker Pelosi. In the Senate, an amendment by Barbara Mikulski (D., Md.) that would require taxpayer-funded abortion passed in committee. Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) objected and voted no, saying, “The way it [the Mikulski amendment] is written could be interpreted down the road to include something like abortion.” Are these Democrats also part of the right-wing scare-tactic conspiracy?
5. If the public option is so wonderful, will you lead by example and vote for a plan to enroll you and your family in the public option?
I offered an amendment in committee to force members of Congress to enroll in the public option. Nine out of eleven Democrats on the health committee who back the public option refused. If the politicians creating the public option don’t have confidence in it, neither should the American people.
6. Will you vote for a plan that will allow a board of politicians and bureaucrats to override decisions made by you and your doctor?
Both the Senate and House bills set up a government-run “comparative effectiveness” board that will make final decisions about treatment and care. In committee, I gave senators several opportunities to accept language that would forbid this board from denying care. All of my amendments were rejected, which suggests that the intent is to set up a board that will ration care, as is done in the United Kingdom.
7. If you support a “comparative effectiveness” board, what qualifies you, as a politician, to practice medicine?
Have you delivered health care to a single person, much less entire classes of people you claim to represent, such as the poor, the uninsured, or children?I’m one of two physicians in the Senate, along with John Barrasso of Wyoming. I know for a fact that very few leaders in this debate have any firsthand experience or knowledge of health care, which is disturbing.
8. How will a government-run public option perform better than other failing government programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Indian Health Care?
Forty percent of doctors refuse to accept Medicaid patients because the program is broken. Access to a government program — such as the public option — does not guarantee access to health care.
9. If increasing spending on health care was the solution, why hasn’t it worked yet?
The public-option “reform” is not new at all but an extension of 1960s-era public policies that say a little more government spending and intervention is always the answer.
10. Are you more committed to doing reform right or quickly? Would you consider backing a thoughtful alternative to the public option? If so, which one?
I’ve introduced a bill along with Sen. Richard Burr (R., N.C.) and Reps. Paul Ryan (R., Wisc.) and Devin Nunes (R., Calif.) called the Patient’s Choice Act that guarantees coverage and choice for every American without raising taxes or increasing spending. In fact, our bill will save taxpayers at least $70 billion. Many other members of Congress , both Republicans and Democrats, are working on alternatives that don’t herd the American people into a government-run program.
The choice is not between the public option and nothing. The choice is between the public option and an option that can win the support of the public. The future of health care truly is up to you.
Dr. Tom Coburn (R.) is a United States senator from Oklahoma.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Harry Reid Has Competition
Harry Reid now has a Republican opponent for the 2010 senatorial race, depending on the primaries, of course. Danny Tarkanian announced his candidacy today. It's been obvious for some time to the entire country that Harry is no longer interested in representing the American people and that his number one goal is to do President Obama's bidding, which is weird since Harry doesn't answer to the president. Danny Tarkanian is still new to us so we need to study his beliefs and get to know his views, but, quite frankly, a farm animal would be a better representative than Harry Reid so, for right now, we're behind Danny -- we reserve the right to change our minds if a better candidate comes along.
Regardless of who we vote for in Nevada to represent us in the next election, let's just make sure that we choose the person who will actually represent us and not vote away more of our freedoms. And that person isn't Harry Reid.
To register for Danny's emails and read more about his views, go to his website here: http://204.119.249.46/danny/innerpage.php
Regardless of who we vote for in Nevada to represent us in the next election, let's just make sure that we choose the person who will actually represent us and not vote away more of our freedoms. And that person isn't Harry Reid.
To register for Danny's emails and read more about his views, go to his website here: http://204.119.249.46/danny/innerpage.php
Here Come the Mobs!
According to Democrats, organized angry mobs are gathering at townhall meetings across the country. Click on the below link to see pictures of these mobs. In the meantime, not to be outdown by their own hypocrisy, the Democrats are organizing unions (AFL-CIO specifically) and paying people to go to the townhalls and get in the faces of protesters. Wait... isn't that the same thing that they are accusing the protesters of doing?
http://thedanashow.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/meet-the-mob/
A fight broke out at a Russ Carnahan, representative from Missouri, townhall event. It's hard to tell how the fight started, but it appears that it was between a conservative black gentleman handing out flags and a couple of members of the liberal SEIU union.
http://thedanashow.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/meet-the-mob/
A fight broke out at a Russ Carnahan, representative from Missouri, townhall event. It's hard to tell how the fight started, but it appears that it was between a conservative black gentleman handing out flags and a couple of members of the liberal SEIU union.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
This is Hope We Can Believe In
A 68-year old statement still relevant today...
"...the Church has not found it possible to follow along the lines of the present general tendency in the matter of property rights, taxes, the curtailment of rights and liberties of the people, nor in general the economic policies of what is termed the "New Deal"....unless the people of America forsake the sins and the errors, political and otherwise, of which they are now guilty and return to the practice of the great fundamental principles of Christianity, and of Constitutional government, there will be no exaltation for them spiritually, and politically we shall lose our liberty and free institutions....We believe that our real threat comes from within and not from without, and it comes from the underlying spirit common to Naziism, Fascism, and Communism, namely the spirit which would array class against class, which would set up a socialistic state of some sort, which would rob the people of the liberties which we possess under the Constitution, and would set up such a reign of terror as exists now in many parts of Europe....We confess to you that it has not been possible for us to unify our own people even upon the necessity of such a turning about, and therefore we cannot unfortunately, and we say it regretfully, make any practical suggestion to you as to how the nation can be turned about." (Heber J. Grant, also J. Reuben Clark, Jr. and David O. McKay signed as the First Presidency, written during World War II Letter to the U.S. Treasury, September 30, 1941.)
Here's change that we can believe in...
"Roughly one month ago Delaware State Senator (Senator President Pro Tem as well) Thurman Adams (D) died at the age of 80 from a bout with pancreatic cancer. There was a special election yesterday and the two front runners were Joe Booth (R) and Polly Adams Mervine (D and daughter of the late Senator Thurman Adams).
"Legacy politics is the political way of life in Delaware. Beau Biden won the AG's spot because of his last name... nothing else.
"Nevertheless Joe Booth won, taking a seat that was held by the Democratic Party for roughly 40 years in a state where the Democrats rule the House, Senate, and the Governor's office.
What is most remarkable about the win was the margin. Joe garnered over 60% of the vote in a heavy Democrat area and trounced Adams Mervine by 30 points.
"Joe Booth won with over 60% of the vote. That happened despite Polly Adams Mervine raising over 2 times the money. Joe raised about $20,000 while Polly raised over $52,000."
This article appeared on AmericanThinker.com. Here is the full article: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/08/gop_upset_victory_in_delaware.html
Let's hope that this change sweeps the country.
"...the Church has not found it possible to follow along the lines of the present general tendency in the matter of property rights, taxes, the curtailment of rights and liberties of the people, nor in general the economic policies of what is termed the "New Deal"....unless the people of America forsake the sins and the errors, political and otherwise, of which they are now guilty and return to the practice of the great fundamental principles of Christianity, and of Constitutional government, there will be no exaltation for them spiritually, and politically we shall lose our liberty and free institutions....We believe that our real threat comes from within and not from without, and it comes from the underlying spirit common to Naziism, Fascism, and Communism, namely the spirit which would array class against class, which would set up a socialistic state of some sort, which would rob the people of the liberties which we possess under the Constitution, and would set up such a reign of terror as exists now in many parts of Europe....We confess to you that it has not been possible for us to unify our own people even upon the necessity of such a turning about, and therefore we cannot unfortunately, and we say it regretfully, make any practical suggestion to you as to how the nation can be turned about." (Heber J. Grant, also J. Reuben Clark, Jr. and David O. McKay signed as the First Presidency, written during World War II Letter to the U.S. Treasury, September 30, 1941.)
Here's change that we can believe in...
"Roughly one month ago Delaware State Senator (Senator President Pro Tem as well) Thurman Adams (D) died at the age of 80 from a bout with pancreatic cancer. There was a special election yesterday and the two front runners were Joe Booth (R) and Polly Adams Mervine (D and daughter of the late Senator Thurman Adams).
"Legacy politics is the political way of life in Delaware. Beau Biden won the AG's spot because of his last name... nothing else.
"Nevertheless Joe Booth won, taking a seat that was held by the Democratic Party for roughly 40 years in a state where the Democrats rule the House, Senate, and the Governor's office.
What is most remarkable about the win was the margin. Joe garnered over 60% of the vote in a heavy Democrat area and trounced Adams Mervine by 30 points.
"Joe Booth won with over 60% of the vote. That happened despite Polly Adams Mervine raising over 2 times the money. Joe raised about $20,000 while Polly raised over $52,000."
This article appeared on AmericanThinker.com. Here is the full article: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/08/gop_upset_victory_in_delaware.html
Let's hope that this change sweeps the country.
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