|
 |
|
Change We Can ‘Hardly’ Believe … (in)!
 |
Disclaimer:
Bob Pritts is responsible for this content, which is not edited by the Wilson County News or wilsoncountynews.com. |
January 8, 2009 | 8 comments
Over the past several weeks our president-elect has identified those he proposes to submit for promotion to some of the most powerful positions in our nation. To say the least, many are surprising. To say the most, they are purely political and self-promotional toward his liberal views. But, I’ll let you decide if I’m right after perusing the following snapshots of the candidates’ qualifications. It’s impossible to review the hundreds of appointments to be made in one short essay, so we’ll look at the cabinet positions that will most affect the path to our future as a nation.
Mr. Obama’s selection for Secretary of State is Senator Hillary Clinton. While Senator Clinton does have at least a nominal amount of international experience, mostly garnered through tagging along during her husband’s presidency, she will have a tough row to hoe when going out on her own. Many of the leaders with whom she will deal are major contributors to Mr. Clinton’s library and foundation. This will make her decisions among nations very precarious to say the least. For example, India was a large contributor to Mr. Clinton’s foundation and Pakistan gave nothing. They are both nuclear nations and have been fighting over Kashmir for years. It will be extremely difficult for her to side with Pakistan on mostly Muslim Kashmir against India’s objections. There are virtually hundreds of these deals that she will have to overcome in a rather tangled web that has been woven by her husband’s self-aggrandizing money collections.
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D) of South Dakota has been selected as Secretary of Health and Human Services. After losing his re-election bid to John Thune (R) in 2004, Daschle left the Senate. He was restricted from becoming a lobbyist so he entered the D.C. law firm of Alston & Bird as what was termed a ‘special policy adviser’ … translation … health care industry lobbyist. The firm’s health care lobbying clients include CVS Caremark, The National Association for Home Care and Hospice, Abbott Laboratories, and HealthSouth to name but a few. The firm was paid some $5.8M between January and September 2008 to represent companies and associations before Congress and the Executive branch. Mr. Daschle is a far left liberal and believes totally in nationalized, government controlled healthcare. With the associations above, he is well positioned to push forward in that direction. He served on the Obama transition team and according to transition spokesperson Stephanie Cutter “he was not a lobbyist, and he will recuse himself from any work that presents a conflict of interest”. If confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services, I wonder just how he will go about that! Smell something fishy here?
William Gates has been held over as Secretary of Defense. This was a good choice since Mr. Obama knows zilch, personally, about foreign policy. It will give him at least a year to allow the military to review any choice he may make in the future … let them think about it a while and express their support or concerns. Besides, should something go awry militarily in our efforts in the Mideast, Mr. Obama can blame it all on the poor choice the Bush administration made in the first place in selecting Mr. Gates. Isn’t that his normal modus operandi?
Ray LaHood (R) of Illinois has been offered as Mr. Obama’s pick for Transportation Secretary. He is leaving the House after 14 years to make himself available for confirmation. In the 1990’s he was a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee under the chairmanship of Congressman James Oberstar (D). Mr. Oberstar was recently asked to cite an issue LaHood championed during his time on the Transportation Committee in the 1990’s. Oberstar seemingly drew a blank and replied “I can’t point to any specific legislation that he authored. He was a team player all the way through.” He went on to say “LaHood would play a supporting role on tough policy calls as Secretary of Transportation.” In other words he will sign off on almost anything his subordinates bring to the table simply because he has no grasp of the subject and doesn’t have a clue as to what the Department’s role plays in our nation’s future.
U.S. Representative Hilda Solis (D) of California is the choice for Secretary of Labor. She believes all American workers should be unionized and gladly championed the Employee Free Choice Act making open voting a lawful means of establishing a unionized company. She voted against NAFTA, CAFTA, the bi-lateral free trade agreement between Columbia and the U.S., and the Peruvian Free Trade proposal. Her selection earned praise from the AFL/CIO and other labor organizations. She is a close friend of Nancy Pelosi and was sponsored by Barbara Boxer for her run for the U.S. House. Her view of immigration reform proposes amnesty and citizenship for illegal folks already here and working. She holds a lifetime “liberal quotient” rating of 100% from Americans for Democratic Action.
Former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder under Janet Reno has been chosen for consideration as our next Attorney General. He’s the guy who gave President Clinton a ‘neutral but positive’ go ahead to pardoning Marc Rich. If you’ll remember, Marc Rich’s wife gave millions in donations to the Clinton library and other causes. Rich was a common thief and embezzler living in France with the threat of extradition and prison hanging over his head in the U.S. Clinton gave him a full pardon and he returned to the U.S. unscathed. He also urged Clinton to pardon six FALN terrorists, which he did. Other these and a few other questionable legal opinions, Mr. Holder has the qualifications required to effectively fill the position. He’s been a judge in the Superior Court in the District of Columbia. He was later appointed as U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia. He currently works in a prestigious D.C. law firm.
Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack (D) has been placed in nomination as the nation’s next Secretary of Agriculture. He is vehemently opposed by the Organic Consumers Association who outlined, in a November 2008 report, that “Vilsack has repeatedly demonstrated a preference for large industrial farms and genetically modified crops”. He clearly disregards the small family farmers and organic farmers in lieu of supporting the ADM’s and Cargills of the world. In 2005 he originated the seed pre-emption bill that effectively blocked local communities from regulating where genetically engineered crops could be grown. Vilsack founded and chaired the Governor’s Biotechnology Partnership and was named governor of the year by the Biotechnology Industry Organization, an industry lobbying group. So much for the American small farmer!
Senator Ken Salazar (D) of Colorado is placed in contention for the position of Secretary of the Interior. Salazar, a right from center Democrat, is considered a reasonable choice by members of both parties. He’s an advocate of clean air and water as well as national lands set aside for preservation. The only drawback is his stance on coal shale excavation, of which Colorado and several other western states have an abundance. However, he has a rather adversarial relationship with most environmental groups … a real plus for his nomination, in my opinion.
Nobel Prize Winning Physicist Steven Chu (D) has been called upon to become Secretary of Energy. As any good general manager can tell you, the last person in the world you want to pick to run a diversified department is a person who is extremely involved in only his or her own line of expertise. Mr. Chu lives in an entirely different mind set that none of we ordinary people can possibly fathom. Therefore when confronted by engineers and geologists about the benefits of drilling in ANWAR or offshore while alternatives are slowly developed, he will simply have no command of the subject. He ‘lives’ in the world of alternative thoughts. He is brilliant, but only in his own world of expertise. Bill Gates realized this when it came time for MicroSoft to grow in other areas. He selected Steve Ballmer to take over as CEO. Steve knew about sales, marketing, finance, and production that were somewhat foreign to Gates. The same will happen to Mr. Chu. Don’t get me wrong, we need Mr. Chu. But we also need someone who understands what must be done in the meantime while we wait on brilliant and viable solutions to our nation’s (and the world’s) energy needs.
Timothy Geithner, former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, has been called upon to become the next Secretary of the Treasury. Mr. Geithner is perhaps the best choice that has been made out of all the above. He not only has a significant grasp of the intricacies of U.S. financial policy but a world view as well. He spent a considerable portion of his childhood outside of the U.S. in Zimbabwe, India, and Thailand where he completed high school at the International School Bangkok. He went on to earn an A.B. degree from Dartmouth in government and Asian studies, and later an M.A. in international economics and East Asian studies from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. He has done an exemplorary job at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
For Secretary of the Education Department Mr. Obama has chosen the CEO of the Chicago Public School System, Arne Duncan. Mr. Duncan attended the University Laboratory Schools and aspired to a future career coaching basketball or playing the sport professionally. He helped out at his mother’s South Side Chicago Children’s Center for African American Youth tutoring at times and sharpening his basketball skills with the neighborhood children. He later attended college at Harvard University where he graduated in 1987 with a Sociology degree. He played basketball for Harvard. Later on, from 1987-1991 Duncan played professional basketball in Australia with the Eastside Spectres of the National Basketball League. He also played with the Rhode Island Gulls and tried out for the New Jersey Jammers. While in Tasmania he met his future wife. After a short stint as director of the Ariel Education Initiative he joined the Chicago Public Schools as a Deputy Chief of Staff for then CEO Paul Vallas. On June 26, 2001, Mayor Richard M. Daley appointed Mr. Duncan to serve as CEO of Chicago Public Schools replacing Paul Vallas. He has no education degree of any type and he has never taught in a public school classroom! A perfectly qualified individual, don’t you think?
Well, there’s a ‘quick and dirty’ snapshot of 11 of the total 26 cabinet positions to be filled by Mr. Obama. Many of the remaining 15 positions will be filled by many other unqualified but politically correct and expedient nominees that our president-elect will propose for Congressional consent. Many of the folks listed above are most likely very fine people in what they have accomplished thus far in life. However, over half have absolutely no, or very little, background or expertise to adequately perform in the tremendously powerful positions for which they have been chosen.
That’s my opinion. Now, what do you think? |
| |
| « Previous Blog Entry (December 12, 2008) |
| |
| Your Opinions and Comments |
Becky
January 12 at 9:56am
|
|
|
Leo
Sutherland Springs
January 8 at 5:06pm
|
|
|
Venable James
Chicago
January 8 at 3:15pm
|
|
|
Rightwing Cowboy
Yuma. Arizona
January 8 at 2:34pm
|
|
|
Steve
January 8 at 1:13pm
|
|
|
South Texas Conservative
January 8 at 11:16am
|
|
|
Al
Texas
January 8 at 10:54am
|
|
|
Share your comment or opinion on this story!
You must be logged in to post comments:
|
|
|
|
|
|
