Barack Obama has headed home from his vacation. That means, according to his promise, Obama will have a jobs-bill proposal to publish and send to Congress. The nation cant wait to see it.
Except that, er weve been waiting a year. In August 2010, Obama told NBCs Brian Williams that hed have a plan just as soon as he got back to work:
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Lets talk about another topic thats part of the firmament here and everywhere. And thats the economy. The New York Times said this weekend, President Obama has another new plan on the economy. Now would be a good time to find out about it. Do you have anything new on the economy? And while youve been away, we had a horrible GDP number last month.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, look, we we anticipated that the recovery was slowing. The economy is still growing, but its not growing as fast as it needs to. Ive got things right now in before Congress that we should move immediately. And Ive said so before I went on vacation, and Ill keep on saying when I now that Im back. We should be passing legislation that helps small businesses get credit, that eliminates capitalgains taxes so that they have more incentive to invest right now.
There are a whole host of measures we could take, no single element of which is a magic bullet but cumulatively can start continuing to build momentum for the recovery. But look, the this was the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and the worst recession since the Great Depression. And so, what we know is that we are going to have to slowly, steadily build confidence. Push more investment out there. Target areas like clean energy that we know are going to be be growth areas in the future.
Look at how were doing our infrastructure, so that we can maximize the amount of jobs that are created. So, there there are a range of steps that I hope we can get bipartisan support for. But right now, were still were in the season, political season, which means that for the next two months theres going to be be constantly a contest in the minds of Members of Congress. And my Republican friends in Congress, between doing what the country needs and what they think may be advantageous in the in terms of short term politics.
Wow a summer with a horrible GDP number, reminders of the Great Depression, and more vacuous talk about infrastructure. This really is deja vu!
#8
We COULD call it an "endless summer of shame", but "President" O'Bumble has no shame.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/30/2011 20:13 Comments ||
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#9
500,000 - 1.0milyuhn new jobs the Bammer says, which is good because, as per CNN + FOX, Irene knocked out power to up to 2.0Milyuhn Amers during her weather jihad this week, "from PENNSYLVANIA to MAINE"???
Ken Melson may be out of a job as the acting head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. CBS News reports that Melson will get "moved out" of ATF to a desk in the Department of Justice, just weeks after he defied the DoJ and testified to Congress (via Dave Workman and Mad Saint Jack on Twitter):
Sources say ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson is being moved out of the top job at the Bureau. It's not yet publicly known where he would go, but sources inside the Justice Department believe one option is a transfer to a position at Department of Justice headquarters. The Justice Department had no immediate comment, and did not confirm the move.
Melson's move would be another in a number of high-level personnel shifts, as the Inspector General continues investigating the so-called gunwalker scandal at the Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The LA Times reported that Melson would resign, an act he specifically rejected in July:
Kenneth E. Melson, under fire in connection with the controversial Fast and Furious gun-trafficking investigation, will announce today that he is stepping down as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Sources tell The Times that Melson was to share the news in a conference call at 11:30 a.m. EDT with supervisors at the bureau's field offices.
But there may be a reason that Melson changed his mind:
An investigation by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), uncovered emails that showed Melson was regularly briefed on the botched operation.
From the CBS News report, however, it sounds as if the action isn't coming from Melson's own volition. And that raises a question about whether the administration is retaliating against Melson for his Congressional testimony. Tina Korbe noted four potential takeaways from Melson's secret testimony as suggested in a letter from Darrell Issa and Charles Grassley to Eric Holder immediately afterward:
The ATF isn't the only agency to bear some responsibility for the botched operation that sent guns to Mexico. The Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Agency seem to have possessed information that could have had a material impact on Fast and Furious (i.e. info that could have eliminated or reduced the ostensible 'need' for the operation in the first place). Or, as the letter puts it, "We have very real indications from several sources that some of the gun trafficking 'higher-ups' that the ATF sought to identify were already known to other agencies and may even have been paid as informants."
Taxpayer money was likely used to finance the gunrunning. "The evidence we have gathered raises the disturbing possibility that the Justice Department not only allowed criminals to smuggle weapons but that taxpayer dollars from other agencies may have financed those engaging in such activities."
Senior ATF officials would have preferred to cooperate with Congressional inquiries -- but "Department of Justice officials directed them not to respond and took full control of replying to briefing and document requests from Congress."
Melson was at no point asked to resign.
If the "resignation" follows this quickly after Melson spilled the beans, then the Inspector General may have a new issue to investigate.
Update: Reuters correspondent Jeremy Polofsky reports that Melson will be replaced by B. Todd Jones, US Attorney for Minnesota. Jones created little controversy in his second term in that position. This MPR profile is one of the few news reports about Jones I could find.
Added info
U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke, one of the officials closely tied to Fast and Furious, is also a casualty in a shakeup tied to the botched gun-running program. Burke was on the hot seat last week with congressional investigators and, according to several sources, got physically sick during questioning and could not finish his session.
The purge of those responsible for the firearms trafficking scandal continued as new documents reveal a deeper involvement of federal agencies beyond ATF.
In Phoenix, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley, who oversaw Fast and Furious on a day-to-day basis, was reassigned from the criminal to civil division. Also in Phoenix, three out of the four whistleblowers involved in the case have been reassigned to new positions outside Arizona. Two are headed to Florida, one to South Carolina.
Rumor: One source speaking on condition of confidentiality informed this reporter that Melson was called to Attorney General Eric Holder's office on Friday and that his office was cleared out over the weekend.
#1
This sounds like one of the Lethal Weapons sequels. Except, of course, the bad guys in that were evil right wing Republican type ex military dudes who didn't "mean well".
#4
It's not yet publicly known where he would go, but sources inside the Justice Department believe one option is a transfer to a position.
So Melson and Hurley don't get the hook but are reassigned. Good way for DoJ to keep the muzzle on. Burke seems like the only true casualty - sort of. You can bet Lanny pulled some strings and he'll be working at a plum Think Tank job by this time next year.
While the reckless disregard for safety that took place in Operation Fast and Furious certainly merits changes within the Department of Justice, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee will continue its investigation to ensure that blame isnt offloaded on just a few individuals for a matter that involved much higher levels of the Justice Department. There are still many questions to be answered about what happened in Operation Fast and Furious and who else bears responsibility, but these changes are warranted and offer an opportunity for the Justice Department to explain the role other officials and offices played in the infamous efforts to allow weapons to flow to Mexican drug cartels. I also remain very concerned by Acting Director Melsons statement that the Department of Justice is managing its response in a manner intended to protect its political appointees. Senator Grassley and I will continue to press the Department of Justice for answers in order to ensure that a reckless effort like Fast and Furious does not take place again.
#3
If you play this game, they'll fight just as hard to change as to remove the agency. If you're going to put that much into the fight, make it for the whole thing. When you 'negotiate' reforms, you're only going to get a partial of what you're looking for. If you start from nothing after eliminating the creature, then the other guy will only get a partial of what he's seeking afterwards in any future negotiations.
#4
2013 - a housecleaning of Obama/Donk apparatchiks needs to be done at all agencies: DOJ, DOS, NHS, EPA,...
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/30/2011 8:19 Comments ||
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#5
If only a housecleaning would do it, Frank. This garbage has such deep cultural roots (primary schools, universities, textbooks, media, etc.) it'd be more like trying to kill the cancer without killing the patient.
#6
Restrictions of "the big six" are good. Lead for instance is really nasty stuff. However, plant food" is not pollution, and hasn't caused any problem to date*. AGW zealots are the problem.
* and the science is in, although it's not well publicized: The sun causes the earth to warm. 60+ scientists from 17 worldwide institutes agree and working at CERN have published their results in Nature magazine. It's technical and and involves solar wind, cosmic rays and clouds, not direct solar heating effects. The problem is, will anybody read it?
Don't abolish the EPA though. I remember back when the air was so bad that I had to it chew first.
Posted by: My two cents ||
08/30/2011 8:47 Comments ||
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#7
Nobody would argue against clean air and clean water, but those goals were accopmplish years ago.
#9
#4 2013 - a housecleaning of Obama/Donk apparatchiks needs to be done at all agencies: DOJ, DOS, NHS, EPA,...
Posted by Frank G
With your permission Frank, may I also add FBI, DARPA, ATF, DHS, The Department of Education, and any involvement with the UN, Pakistan, Russia, and China to your list?
#10
Cleaning the air and water has very little to do with the EPA of today - which has been taken over by Environmental extreamists more interested in destroying American industry in favor of socialism than actually improving the environment.
The EPA is now composed of watermelons - green on the outside - red on the inside.
A housecleaning wouldn't do it. It's like a cancer turning good 'cells' into bad ones and some cancers simply have to be cut out. And not just the EPA but every other agency on Besoeker's list.
#12
The real problem is that Congress has abdicated its responsibility to unaccountable third parties by deliberately passing vague statutes. Only clearly written laws with specifics will alleviate barriers to growth. The problem with totally out of control bureaucracies is that it mirrors that of out control federal judges. I do not wish to trade one for the other.
Address the cause of the problem and the rest will follow.
And that's already more than my two cents worth. Thanks for the bandwidth Fred.
Posted by: My two cents ||
08/30/2011 10:38 Comments ||
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#13
Yup. Barney Frank did an interview recently where he was chortling about the Dodd-Frank bill -- about how he and Dodd deliberately made it vague so that the regulators would have more 'room' to make new regulations.
That's a law that should be repealed right after ObamaCare.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/30/2011 10:44 Comments ||
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#14
Can we add the Dept of Labor to the list, too? - Signed, a concerned HR professional
America Gives China A Mineral Monopoly Rather than run the risk of buying any minerals that might have been smuggled from the Congo, many major mining companies are simply refusing to buy minerals from central Africa. The result is a de facto embargo. There are few buyers for Congos valuable minerals, especially tantalum and tungsten which have many hi-tech uses. This has damaged the Congos economy, because the nation relies on mineral exports. According to some sources, China, which does not have to meet Dodd-Frank standards, is snapping up many minerals at very cheap prices.
#16
Private companies can do what is needed for the environment. I do not know where people believe the government is more trustworthy than private organizations. Private organizations (people) started these movements in the first place. And yes, the other agencies are just as useless and wasteful.
Dept of Education has never risen standards - nix it.
Dept of Energy never got our Country self sufficient on energy - nix it.
I have no idea what the DOT was supposed to do but it's .. useless.
on and on down the line. We need to erase half of this federal government.
#17
Isn't the DOT responsible for the Interstate highway system? One might content that it (or rather the Interstates) really are authorized by the commerce clause.
Of course other parts of it are not authorized - for example regulations.
#19
Isn't the DOT responsible for the Interstate highway system?
The federal construction of 'highways' predate the Big 'I' system or the existence of the DOT. The modern I system was justified as a 'national defense' project during the Eisenhower administration, having seen the utility of the Autobahn in Germany at the end of the war. However, that was the justification back when people actually believed in the letter and intent of the Constitution and sought ways to rationalize the appropriations which were intended really as a jobs program. At least back then the public got something 'concrete' for the money spent.
#20
This I remember, Procopius2k. I looked it up and it seems to regulate a punchbag of agencies - Oversees federal highway, air, railroad, and maritime and other transportation administration functions; components include the FAA, FHA, FRA, NHTSA, Alphabet, etc.
#21
The modern I system was justified as a 'national defense' project during the Eisenhower administration, having seen the utility of the Autobahn in Germany at the end of the war.
That, and Eisenhower's experiences in moving troops across the U.S in the 1919 U.S. Armys Cross-Country Motor Transport Train from NYC to San Francisco. It took 62 days.
#22
shut down Department of Agriculture (USDA)
shut down Department of Commerce (DOC)
keep Department of Defense (DOD)
shut down Department of Education (ED)
shut down Department of Energy (DOE)
keep CDC only Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
shut down Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
shut down Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
keep Department of Justice (DOJ)
shut down Department of Labor (DOL)
keep Department of State (DOS)
dunno Department of the Interior (DOI)
keep Department of the Treasury
keep Department of Transportation (DOT)
back to dod Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Shut all these down with a few exceptions
Independent Agencies and Government Corporations
A
drop Administrative Conference of the United States
drop Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
drop African Development Foundation
sell AMTRAK (National Railroad Passenger Corporation)
C
KEEP Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
drop Commission on Civil Rights
keep Commodity Futures Trading Commission
drop Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
drop Corporation for National and Community Service
keep Court Services and Offender Supervision drop Agency for the District of Columbia
D
keep Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
drop Director of National Intelligence
E
drop Election Assistance Commission
States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
drop Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
sell Export-Import Bank of the United States
F
drop Farm Credit Administration
sell Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
keep Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
drop Federal Election Commission (FEC)
drop Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
drop Federal Housing Finance Board
drop Federal Labor Relations Authority
keep Federal Maritime Commission
drop Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
States Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
keep Federal Reserve System
drop Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
keep Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
G
keep General Services Administration (GSA)
I
drop Institute of Museum and Library Services
drop Inter-American Foundation
drop International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB)
M
drop Merit Systems Protection Board
drop Millennium Challenge Corporation
N
sell National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
keep National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
drop National Capital Planning Commission
drop National Council on Disability
drop National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
drop National Endowment for the Arts
drop National Endowment for the Humanities
drop National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
drop National Mediation Board
drop National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK)
keep National Science Foundation (NSF)
drop National Transportation Safety Board
keep Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
O
drop Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
drop Office of Compliance
drop Office of Government Ethics
drop Office of Personnel Management
drop Office of Special Counsel
drop Office of the Director of National Intelligence
drop Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive
drop Overseas Private Investment Corporation
P
drop Panama Canal Commission
drop Peace Corps
drop Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
drop Postal Regulatory Commission
R
drop Railroad Retirement Board
S
keep Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
drop Selective Service System
drop Small Business Administration (SBA)
keep Social Security Administration (SSA)
T
sell Tennessee Valley Authority
U
drop U.S. Trade and Development Agency
drop United States Agency for International Development
drop United States International Trade Commission
sell United States Postal Service (USPS)
#23
Shorter list, rammer: Shut down every agency/department that is not expressly permitted by the enumerated powers of the federal gummint in our Constitution.
Not a "penumbra"; not a "this would be a good idea."
What's permitted? Off the top of my head, the Department of Defense (War), an Interstate Commerce Department (truly interstate, not the crap they have now), and a State Department.
Notice I don't say the Commerce Dept. or the State Dept. we have now.
Since federal courts are authorized, guess we would need some kind of small Justice Dept. (not the out-of-control Chicago politics one we have now). A Treasury Dept. Probably there are others, but I'm in a hurry.
Posted by: Barbara ||
08/30/2011 15:46 Comments ||
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#24
Nice detailed list, rammer. With your permission, I may like to repost it elsewhere with modification at an appropriate time (for effect)
#25
But Yes, Barbara, These departments are merely Congress abdicating their elected responsibility to un-elected bureaucrats. Maybe we should make Congress do their job.
#26
Good list. But some of those should be moved to the states and not absolutely abolished.
Others would need a lot of inter-state corrodination.
I can see a Federal role in facilitating (and only facilitating - no regulating and no control over) those functions. For example the FAA is needed to manage and corrodinate our avaition systems and someone should manage Food and Drug standards and requirements ( yes we need someone who insures that someone doesn't put dangerous drugs or medical devices on the market) - but the Federal Government should have no control over it - NONE!
#27
Yes, feel free to use the list, it comes from some dot gov site anyway.
As for bad medical products we already have a full time private police force looking out for the public on those. They are called malpractice attorneys.
#28
"As for bad medical products we already have a full time private police force looking out for the public on those." And do not forget the professional private organizations that join companies together for professional excellence.
And yes crazyfool - most should be handled at the state level. There is already plenty of redundancy.
#29
Alright, who let the secret out about the "Vast Right Wing Conspiracy " having its own source of clean air & pure water? It was supposed to be a secret, remember. Sheesh!!
Posted by: Steven ||
08/30/2011 17:51 Comments ||
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#30
I thought they said they were gonna kill Obamacare first.
UNITED NATIONS The United States is demanding that a nearly 3 percent cost-of-living salary hike for approximately 4,800 UN. staff members serving in New York be rescinded. Joseph Torsella, the US ambassador in charge of management issues, said in a letter obtained Monday by The Associated Press that such a raise is inappropriate at this time of global fiscal austerity when member state governments everywhere are implementing drastic austerity measures.
While we have the highest regard for the many dedicated professionals in the UN system, in these difficult times we must at a minimum forgo salary increases, he said. Failure to do so could well lead to more draconian approaches to budget-balancing in the future.
Torsella addressed the letter to the chairman of the International Civil Service Commission, an independent expert body established by the UN General Assembly, which authorized the increase effective Aug. 1.
There was no immediate response to a request to the UN spokesmans office for comment on Torsellas
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/30/2011 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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#1
There was no immediate response to a request to the UN spokesman's office for comment on Torsella's
But laughter and muffled "FOD" in numerous native tongues was heard at the UN lounge during happy hour (0900 - 1500).
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Barack Obama has headed home from his vacation. That means, according to his promise, Obama will have a jobs-bill proposal to publish and send to Congress. The nation cant wait to see it.
