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Interesting
Current Events
The
world of appointments in the Executive side of the government is full of
current events which are often less important than they are
interesting. This page points out of the items we see during our
daily research on appointments. If you find items which might be
interesting for this page, please send them to Director@Presidential-Appointments.org
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New: 5-30-10:
Oil Problems in Gulf: The President is in Chicago until tomorrow
on a President's holiday - which in general is never a holiday - the
government and the White House is sitting in his lap no matter where he
is. The Gulf oil problem is extraordinarily unmanageable both from
the viewpoint of oil science and political science. The word is
that the President will take extreme action on the cleanup side with
highly supervised, military sort of approach to the cleanup side.
The military will provide the structure, the government will provide the
gear, and BP will be directed to stop the oil flow - and pay for it all.
The Man has lost his temper and has had it with the nonsense from
everybody in the Gulf. We will see what happens in the next 72
hours to prove this scuttlebutt about the Executive Office is true.
11:30 am MDT - 5-30-10
Confirmation
Confrontations: In the last six weeks the battle between
the Republican Senators and the President has slowed down a bit.
Confirmations are happening faster and the Senate seems to be catching
up on its work. Take a look at the
Pending Confirmations provided by the Senate for details. 5-2-10
Senator Kyle (R-Arizona) Vicious Supporter of Online Gambling
Arizona's conservative Senator has placed a "hold" on four Department of Treasury Presidential nominees to try to leverage the end of attempts to regulate online internet gambling. He'll lose - maybe he needs a gambling prevention treatment program?? 1-28-10
Convolutions of Cranky Politics
Senator David Vitter of Louisiana has placed a Senatorial "hold" to block the President's nominations in Louisiana to force him to keep Bush US Attorney Jim Letten as a GOP Holdover - the President wants a Democrat. Problem: Letten is prosecuting the conservative gangsters who tried to sabotage the telephone system of the Democratic Senator of Louisiana and are headed for prison. In addition, one of those defendant's Daddy is the US Attorney in a neighboring area of Louisiana. Good Luck Guys! 01-28-10
The President Wins on this One
The President has been clear that he prefers the regular confirmation process in the Senate, and by taking on the fuss directly - has made it too politically expensive for those who outrageously hold up appointments for leverage purposes. Surely the struggle is not over - this is politics after all - and the process was created in at the signing of the Constitution to assure some control over Presidential appointments. It is all working better now. 01-12-10
Patent Office Shaken Up: The US Patent Office has a new Obama Director, Gary Locke, from IBM. He has given notice to fix the three year delay in getting new patent applications approved. The former IBM guy on patents laid down the law within days of being sworn into his new office. 10-21-09
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Noisy Chat on Non-confirmation Appointments: Throughout the life of the United States there has been a squabble about which Presidential Appointments are subject to the Senate's Constitutional "Advise and Consent" power. The Constitution is specific - requiring confirmation on some appointments. such as the President's Cabinet. When we remember that the entire Federal Government operated on patronage, the Senate would have done nothing but appointments. The movement now is to limit the capacity of the President to make those appointments that do not requirement confirmation. The squabble was triggered by the so-called "Czar" controversy of the moment. 10-18-09
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Nominations Moving The
Obama White House nominations are now moving along through the Senate after
some political delays. Obama's White House is somewhat ahead
of the experience of recent Presidents. That is probably because of
the level of crisis at the moment, and the strong vote count in the Senate.
Even
so - getting jobs filled earlier is a constructive circumstance which makes
government more efficient.
09-29-09
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Scientists across the country have joined in a letter
(see Letter) to both
Presidential candidates asking for a close in and powerful appointee -
even a cabinet department - to coordinate science advice to the new
Presidential Administration. After eight years of direct conflict
with the Bush Administration and the religious right which intentionally
skewed, even edited out, scientific fact from government reports, the
science world is seeking a a change. A NASA public relations
employee was finally fired for refusing to publish any scientific report
from NASA which referred to data older than the 6000 year "creation
date" which is policy in some churches. An issue is that other
departments try hard to control science appointments internally in a
power struggle with the White House, arguing their control of
appointments is critically to good management.
Science Page
11-03-08
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Military Getting Ready for Transition Trouble:
The US Military has a transition team in place, anticipating trouble
from terrorists - or somebody - during the 2008 Presidential Transition
and the early part of the next Presidency. This planning remembers
the 2001 problems with a bad transition. Details are in a piece in
the Washington Post.
2008 Transition 10-26-08
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Picking
the new White House: The New York Times has an interesting review
and sum up of current transition news from both Presidential campaigns
about who will be early appointments. This is a good background
piece for possible appointment candidates across-the-board - at all
levels. It gives a sense of how decisions are being made.
This is high on the list of "must read" pieces for our readers!
See:
Times Transition Article 10-25-08
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UPDATED:
Today's reports indicate Obama Campaign - as authorized by law - is
moving firmly to be in a position to proceed with the transition if
elected - McCain Campaign is not doing transition work.
See
Social Security News.
Campaigns Prepare for Presidency: The
Presidential Transition is under way in both campaigns as policy
committees and personnel search operations starts up. The Obama
Campaign operations are more in the open, but the McCain organization
would not have to recruit as many new people - they could carry over the
Bush appointees in many situations. The Nation learned from 9-11
that in today's world a long transfer of power in a new administration
is a dangerous exercise. The new President must be ready for
real issues on the day after he is elected.
Presidential Transition 10-21-08
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A Denver Federal Judge
from Denver stepped down from his lifetime appointment the week. Appointed
during the first Bush administration, several charges of misconduct have been
filed against him. This unusual situation is detailed in the
Rocky Mountain News. 10-17-08
Federal Judiciary
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William
Timmons, a lobbyist, was selected by candidate John McCain to head the
Presidential Transition Team required of both major candidates at this time.
There are accusations that he was somehow connected to lobbying for Sadam
Hussein, of all people, in the United States. If true, this puts McCain
into an awkward situation in the last three weeks of the election cycle.
Added to the selection of Governor Palin of Alaska which is costing him
acceptance in the election, it is at least reasonable to consider his staffing
skills for a new administration if elected.
Transition Information 10-15-08
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Federal
Judges have long been one of the most stable and sensible parts of the
United States government. In recent months the number of Judges
under examination for misconduct has grown dramatically - causing
serious alarm across the legal system. A detailed study appears in
the
Houston Chronicle today. 10-13-08
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Today's general economic worldwide is
again bringing the Council of Economic Advisors and the Secretary of the
Treasury appointments of the next President into primary focus.
The Obama campaign is cautiously mentioning the money minds which
influence its candidate, and the McCain organization is trying live down
John's communication with de-regulators. Obama is following the
FDR model of looking forward to January 20th and avoiding trying to
influence current money issues. Not having a long legislative
history of economic issue mistakes is helping him.
10-6-08
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