A silent killer of many Presidential Administrations is the interminable process of filling key appointments in Executive Branch departments and agencies. As key positions below Cabinet Secretary remain unfilled, critical work of the executive branch is either ignored, delayed, or dumped on the lap of already overworked appointees in place (and/or the always overworked White House staff).
This problem impedes the work of government and increases the already high likelihood of burnout amongst those staffers already in place, coping with the issue of excessive vacancies.
A scope of the problem from a recent story on Education Secretary Arne Duncan:
The positions of deputy secretary, under secretary and chief of staff and dozens of other senior posts at the Education Department remain unfilled, so Mr. Duncan is relying on help from career officers and consultants.
What that means is there are gaping holes in the levels of senior leadership between each Secretary and the thousands of career employees in the federal government.
Many of those unfilled positions are Schedule C political appointments, requiring approval by the respective Departments and the White House. A notable number, however, especially senior posts such as Deputy Secretary, General Counsel, etc. require the more rigorous process of Senate confirmation. That's where the most recent hiccup comes in:
The White House has dramatically tightened its vetting process following embarrassing revelations of past tax problems by several nominees, according to two officials familiar with the process.
All of which contributes to this:
One of the sources involved in the process said the administration still has more than 1,500 vacancies to fill - a process that will now "take the better part of the year" to complete.
The Obama Administration has already learned that the task of governing can be much more difficult than the task of campaigning. It's even harder when you're persistently short-handed.
Posted by Eric Earling at February 21, 2009 05:50 PM | Email This* Manifest destiny = genocide against Native Americans
* slavery of blacks until 1865
* Jim Crow until 1960s
* Women not given the franchise until around 1920
* Imperialism against the Philippines in the turn of the 20th century
* Internment of Japanese during WW2
* Firebombing of Tokyo/Dresden
* Atomic bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki
* Carpet bombing in Vietnam
* atrocities in Vietnam, including napalm, Agent Orange, Mai Lai massacre, other massacres
* Reagan firing the air traffic controllers in 1981
* Bush's illegal war against Iraq
* Bush's lies about WMDs
Native Americans never held people as slaves.
The Japanese didn't murder people at large in China (my mother-in-law witnessed it).
The Nazis didn't exterminate Jewish people by the thousands.
Muslims don't enslave their women to this day, not allowing them to drive, not allowing them to choose who they marry.
Hey "Crush the GOP" you might want to wake up and face reality some day, instead of living your smirky little leftist world. You aren't as smart as you think you are...not by a long shot.
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on February 21, 2009 06:52 PM* Manifest destiny = genocide against Native Americans
Andrew Jackson, the Democrat!
* slavery of blacks until 1865
Thank you Democrats - or actually, Slavery Party!
* Jim Crow until 1960s
Democrats again...
* Women not given the franchise until around 1920
Hello, Democrats!
* Imperialism against the Philippines in the turn of the 20th century
* Internment of Japanese during WW2
Democrat FDR...
* Firebombing of Tokyo/Dresden
FDR again...
* Atomic bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki
FDR again...
* Carpet bombing in Vietnam
Johnson, Democrat!
* atrocities in Vietnam, including napalm, Agent Orange, Mai Lai massacre, other massacres
Johnson again...
* Reagan firing the air traffic controllers in 1981
Yes, just as bad as atomic bombs and slavery! But we have to put something on the list that is somehow related to the GOP
* Bush's illegal war against Iraq
Voted for by the Congress which made the action legal...
* Bush's lies about WMDs
Confirmed by Albright, Clinton (both of them), Kerry, and dozens of others who had access to the intelligence even before Bush was President, and came to the same conclusion...
So we have a complete list of Democrat - Slavery Party - atrocities and you want the GOP crushed?
Talk about projection!
Posted by: Shanghai Dan on February 21, 2009 07:10 PM"gopmustdie"
Ahhh... the tolerant left...
Posted by: Mike H on February 21, 2009 08:24 PMI remember her actually saying during the campaign that she was willing to sign a bill from the legislature that would ban undocumented aliens from obtaining a Washingtons State drivers license, but nobody has brought a bill forward for her to sign. Right..... nobody in the Democratic controlled legislature will bring forward a bill the Governor "really wants". Next thing you know she will be saying we don't have a deficit!
Posted by: Smokie on February 21, 2009 09:07 PMThat's one. Where are the next 5 to match my statement? And she wasn't appointed. Unlike the admitted TAX CHEAT Geithner. Or Tom Daschle. Or Kellifer. Or Solis. Or Rahm Emanuel...
Posted by: Shanghai Dan on February 21, 2009 09:31 PMPosted by: Saltherring on February 22, 2009 07:49 AM
Change you can believe in?
• The Dow at a 10-year low.
• A tax cheat running the IRS.
• Another tax cheat as the Chief of Staff.
• A trillion-dollar plus federal deficit.
• Over one-half of voters relieved of any federal tax liability.
• Government mandated limits on executive compensation.
• Three failed attempts and still no Commerce Secretary.
• Tom Daschle rides his free limo into the sunset - after paying taxes he evaded.
• The White House performance czar turns out to be a tax cheat also.
• Lobbyists hired to work for the Obama Administration.
• The census gets politicized.
• Double government spending in one year.
• The word "freedom" fades into obscurity.
• Increasing home loan mortgage rates across the board.
• Millions of Americans made dependent on government.
• Moving unionization-by-intimidation forward.
• Welfare checks become "tax cuts."
• Illegal aliens free to work on taxpayer-funded "stimulus" projects.
• Welfare reform reversed, states ordered to increase welfare roles.
• Move to silence critical talk radio shows.
• Selling Senate seats.
• Obama books in religious sections of book stores.
• More government workers, not private sector jobs.
• A government bureaucracy to intrude on doctor/patient relationships.
• Stage set for medical services rationing.
• Annual welfare checks for middle income families.
And just think, he's only been in office for two months.
if it's so bad here, try enlightened saudi arabia or anywhere in progressive Africa; how about Mexico City? North Korea? Cuba?
Posted by: jimmie-howya-doin on February 22, 2009 10:17 AMThe list doesn't include the fear-mongering. Obama has mounted a relentless campaign of fear. He tells us we are heading towards armegeddon if we don't pass his "stimulus" bill. It passed and he's telling us not to expect economic recovery.
This is our worst nightmare, but I think our side has a lot of reason for "hope". Duped by the media and a culture that brainwashes young Americans into lockstep liberal-think we elected a far left President during an economic downturn. Look at what the left is doing. Employing fear and intimidation as a way to enact programs they've been having wet dreams about since the 1960's.
Here in Washington we now have a state income tax proposed. And tax increases across the board.
Nationally we will have socialized medicine and the liberals will have another big reason to regulate how we eat, drink, and live our lives.
"Hope and Change" was merely a slogan. Maybe they really meant, "we Hope to scare the daylights out of every single American". That's what Obama has been doing since day 1 of his Presidency.
None of this surprises me in the least. It probably is surprising the heck out of a lot of traditional Democratic voters who are now wondering what just happened.
The far left is throwing their entire agenda at us at once. It's really fun in a way. Their lunacy, their hypocrisy, their phoniness is out for all to see. They appointed a tax cheat to head the Treasury Department. They simply have no shame. Geez, have you looked at that guy? I wouldn't buy a used car from someone that looked that slimy.
Many conservatives have said it. When the left ultimately reveals itself as they are doing in the most amazing fashion, (including trying to ban conservatives from the radio), they will seal their doom.
I thought it might them take longer. Maybe not.
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on February 22, 2009 10:19 AMYou never hear liberals screech about Muslim beliefs the way they relentlessly hammer Christianity.
It strikes me as particularly at odds with their liberal beliefs. Muslims don't favor abortion. Muslims believe in arranged marriages. In some countries Muslims do not allow women to drive.
You'd think, wouldn't you that the liberals would be "outaged" and "offended". You'd think they would take to the streets compaining about thousand of years of oppression against women.
No, that outrage is reserved for white males, who are the only bad guys in the goofy, deluded world of liberalism. When liberals talk about "opression" it is always about white people. Blacks never had slaves, Native Americans never made war against another tribe...a generation of brainwashed people learn this junk in school.
To be clear, I do not believe Muslims should be barred in any way from practicing their beliefs. What I find fascinating is that liberals expose their hypocrisy by not challenging Muslim beliefs in the same way they challenge Christians, and conservative beliefs in general.
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on February 22, 2009 10:46 AMYou won't ever see a single class offered that deals with the topic of how Muslim women are treated in the modern world. Or how Native Americans treated their women. Those topics would be so inconvenient to the message liberals shove down the throats of our young people.
I just don't understand why I call liberals mean spirited, nasty, cowardly hypocrites. Perhaps it is because that is exactly who they are.
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on February 22, 2009 12:58 PMActually, only ONE.... it just feels like an eternity.
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on February 22, 2009 01:15 PM