What About Those Czars?

One of the most worrisome and expensive features of Barack Obama's administration is his appointment of a long list of czars, accountable to no one except himself. The czars are paid by the U.S. taxpayers but they are not confirmed by the Senate, although they appear to have the authority to override those who are confirmed. Previous U.S. Presidents may have had one or two czars, but Obama has appointed at least 34 czars. Czar is a Russian word and concept, and Obama has appointed more czars than the Russians had in four centuries. Let me read off the awesome list of Barack Obama's czars:


AIDS Czar, Border Czar, Car Czar, Climate Czar, Copyright Czar, Cyberspace Czar, Domestic Violence Czar, Drug Czar, Economic Czar, Education Czar, Energy Czar, Executive Pay Czar, Faith-Based Czar, Food Czar, Great Lakes Czar, Green Jobs Czar, Guantanamo Closure Czar, Health Reform Czar, Infotech Czar, Intelligence Czar, Media Diversity Czar, Middle East Peace Czar, Persian Gulf/SW Asia Czar, Regulatory Czar, Safe Schools Czar, Science Czar, Stimulus Accountability Czar, Sudan Czar, TARP Czar, Terrorism Czar, Urban Czar, War Czar, Water Czar, Weapons Czar, WMD Non-Proliferation Czar.

We had to rely on Glenn Beck to discover that the Green Jobs Czar, named Van Jones, is or was a Communist. Jones has since resigned.

The senior Senate Democrat, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, wrote President Obama saying that these czar appointments are a power grab by the executive branch and violate the constitutional system of checks and balances and the separation of powers. He said they are a clear attempt to evade congressional oversight.

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