A
Conversation with an American
...with
a Cuban Accent!
The
Field of Skulls and Bones
When
Aelena
Rodriguez
was
a
small
girl
she chanced upon Cuba's field of
skulls. That's where Fidel Castro's people and before him, the
Battista Regime, machine gunned political prisoners and other
inconvenient souls.
Today
she
loves
America
with
every
breath
of
life.
And
she
is
scared to death at what she sees happening in
Washington DC with a socialist administration and leftist radicals in
control
of the Congress.
A few of you have met her and heard her
stories. In this photo you see her flying as a guest of Brothers
to the Rescue in the Florida Straits dangerously close to the coast of
Cuba searching for people on makeshift rafts trying to reach freedom in
America. Her flight was only days before two Brothers aircraft
were shotdown on a similar rescue flight by Cuban air force jets in
February 1996.
CLICK HERE and listen
to Aelena
Rodriguez
with
talk
journalist
John Sipos.
|
All
need
to
hear
what
she
has
to say and is
available to talk about her life experiences under Communism, and what
she sees as similarities in the current occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue and Castro regime.
Alina is
a member of 912 Pinellas and is ready to take to the streets to reclaim
our Republic. At rallies and other events, she's the one wearing
the stars and stripes jacket and cap and when reciting the pledge of
allegiance, those are real patriot tears streaming from her eyes.
She's the real deal.
Photo is a Cessna
Skymaster, the same type aircraft shotdown, in the gun sights of a
military jet |
|
Obama's
Czars
|
As of
July 20, 2009:
Source: GlennBeck.com
• 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)
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I
wish
I
could
say the
outlook
is
bright, the crisis is subsiding,
we are returning to normalcy, the economy is improving,
the pirates have left. But instead, we are just beginning to
grasp the enormity of the situation, the degree of severity, the
boldness of our opposition, and the momentum they have achieved.
It is breathtaking. We are making
inroads. Obama's approval ratings are plummeting. Support
for Healthcare has dropped, as though they will pay any attention to
what the public says, or how many calls, letters
and faxes they get in opposition.
Last week 50,000 people rushed to DC at
Michele Bachmann's urgent request. I was there. It was
impressive. The crowd was more intent than even at the
September 12 event. They stormed, and I mean stormed the
Congressional office buildings after the speakers concluded and swarmed
the offices of the legislators. It HAD to be unnerving. I
am sure we will have to do it again. Next time...we need war
drums, several sets of war drums to add to our message as we stand in
front of the Capital. In our Chapter....We have
set the goals of attacking the process of the...
From the
babies net,
welcome
to the first edition of...
Who
doesn't
love
good
political
conversation over a
steaming cup of coffee?