By Thomas Jefferson Club Blog
September 4, 2009
A couple of weeks ago, we posted this quote:
“The biggest problems that we’re facing right now have to do with George Bush trying to bring more and more power into the executive branch and not go through Congress at all. And that’s what I intend to reverse when I’m president of the United States.” — Sen. Barack Obama, March 31, 2008
And we posted this link to an article by Eric Cantor, House Minority Whip, from Virginia. (This link includes a list of the czars as of July with links to information about them.) Cantor sounded an early alert—an alert that has largely been ignored by the media and others in congress.
As information comes out about Van Jones, we (at least we who don’t rely on CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, etc. for our news, everyone else is blissfully in the dark) see what happens when a president (and not George Bush) tries to bring more and more power into the executive branch and not go through Congress at all. (Sound familiar?) Check out what is being revealed about Van Jones, “green jobs czar,” and some of the others who have entered the administration without oversight. Here and here.
Robert Byrd, 91-year-old Democratic Senator from West Virginia, even sent a letter to President Obama back in February expressing his concern about the many czars. Byrd’s letter says: “The accumulation of power by White House staff can threaten the Constitutional system of checks and balances.”
The press should have been sounding the alarms all along, but only Fox News has covered the czar issue until recently. Jake Tapper, ABC, mentioned Van Jones on his blog, but the rest of the press has been silent.
Congress needs to address this situation—and the press should be reporting on it. Fortunately, someone besides Cantor, and the often-absent Byrd, has taken up the cause.
This article continues at Thomas Jefferson Club Blog
