Recently I submitted the following to the CDT Letter to the Editor. Don't know if it will be published but thought you all might be interested in some of the facts. Thanks to one of our members who posted one of the sites on the net that I got some of my info from.
All the latest talk about President Obama"s czars has heightened my curiosity recently with
the departure of Van Jones, the Green Czar. I turned to my trusted friend on the web
“Google” to get a few facts. According to the Metro Atlanta/State News article on
7/15/2009, “Obama has appointed nearly three dozen “czars” - an unofficial name for
special aide - to oversee policy areas. Their salaries are apparently paid by the White
House, and funded by taxes.” Their budgets are not subject to congressional oversight.
The latest figures show Obama has appointed 32 czars compared to 1 by Gerald Ford, 1 by
Dwight Eisenhower and 1 by Ronald Regan. George W. Bush appointed 35 also. These
White House staffers don’t undergo Senate confirmation nor are they a accountable for
their actions to the Congress, to cabinet officials, and to virtually anyone but the president.
According to a list compiled by US Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) salaries range from
$172,200 for energy czar Carol Browner, terrorism czar, John Brennan and regulatory czar
Cass Sunstein to $98,000 for czar Joshua DuBois. According to ireport.com , “the word
czar comes from the Russian “tsar” which in turn was derived from the Latin Caesar. It
means an emperor or autocrat. When used in relation to American government it is used
sardonically to suggest that someone is given authority inconsistent with a democracy”
What’s wrong with democracy?
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