CBS News: Obama Signs "Monsanto Protection Act" into Law, GMO Opponents Furious

The "Act" is actually the Section 735 of H.R. 933 "Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013" which enables the US government to fund itself without passing any budget until the end of the fiscal year (September 30, 2013):

Sec. 735. In the event that a determination of non-regulated status made pursuant to section 411 of the Plant Protection Act is or has been invalidated or vacated, the Secretary of Agriculture shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon request by a farmer, grower, farm operator, or producer, immediately grant temporary permit(s) or temporary deregulation in part, subject to necessary and appropriate conditions consistent with section 411(a) or 412(c) of the Plant Protection Act, which interim conditions shall authorize the movement, introduction, continued cultivation, commercialization and other specifically enumerated activities and requirements, including measures designed to mitigate or minimize potential adverse environmental effects, if any, relevant to the Secretary’s evaluation of the petition for non-regulated status, while ensuring that growers or other users are able to move, plant, cultivate, introduce into commerce and carry out other authorized activities in a timely manner: Provided, That all such conditions shall be applicable only for the interim period necessary for the Secretary to complete any required analyses or consultations related to the petition for non-regulated status: Provided further, That nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting the Secretary’s authority under section 411, 412 and 414 of the Plant Protection Act.

As CBS News (3/28/2013) puts it:

Critics slam Obama for "protecting" Monsanto

There's no love lost between Washington and the American public, it seems, five days after Congress for the first time in years managed to handle a budget-related issue without reaching the brink of crisis.

Protesters have descended on Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House this week, enraged at a potentially health-hazardous provision they allege lawmakers inserted surreptitiously into a continuing resolution (CR) that will fund the government through the remainder of the fiscal year. The bill sailed through the Capitol on Friday; President Obama signed it into law on Tuesday.

Opponents have termed the language in question the "Monsanto Protection Act," a nod to the major agricultural biotech corporation and other like firms geared at producing genetically modified organisms (GMO) and genetically engineered (GE) seeds and crops. The provision protects genetically modified seeds from litigation suits over health risks posed by the crops' consumption.

Food safety advocacy groups like Food Democracy Now, which collected more than 250,000 signatures on a petition calling for the president to veto the CR, argue not enough studies have been conducted into the possible health risks of GMO and GE seeds. Eliminating judicial power to halt the selling or planting of them essentially cuts off their course to ensuring consumer safety should health risks emerge.

Seeking a "balance" to the newly minted law, Food Democracy Now has shifted its tactics to encouraging supporters to sign and send letters to Mr. Obama, chiding him for signing the legislation despite that refusal to do so would have expired the federal budget and triggered a government-wide shutdown this week.

Part of the template for the letter reads: "In an effort to balance this violation of our basic rights, I am urging you as President to issue an Executive Order to require the mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods, something that you promised farmers while on the campaign trail in 2007. It is urgent that the U.S. government rectify the 20 year old politically engineered loophole and allow for open and transparent labeling of genetically engineered foods," the letter continues, "a basic right that citizens in 62 others countries already enjoy."

Other groups have aimed their ire toward the more worthy target, criticizing Congress for slipping the language into a must-pass bill without review by the Agricultural or Judiciary Committees. The International Business Times reports that the Center for Food Safety is putting in the hot seat Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., chairwoman for the Senate Appropriations Committee, for not giving the amendment a proper hearing. According to Salon, many members of Congress who voted to approve the bill were unaware the language existed.

(Full article at the link)

Seeking a "balance"? It's amusing that Food Democracy Now is urging the president to use an Executive Order to mandate GMO labeling. As if campaign promise is something that any candidate should fulfill once in office. As if the president cares, when his food safety czar is a former vice president of Monsanto. And an Executive Order?

I'd love to know who put this section into the bill, though.

CBS says "refusal to do so [sign the bill] would have expired the federal budget and triggered a government-wide shutdown this week", as if it is a really bad thing. Very funny.

The proposition that would have required GMO labeling in California was soundly defeated in the November 2012 election by an extremely well-funded, out-of-state industrial lobby headed by Monsanto.

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"Life Form" or "It" from Affecting Monsanto's GM Crops, Scientist Claims

Taking a break from Japan's earthquake/tsunami/nuke crisis... to tell you you don't need to read about Fukushima I Nuke Plant to get freaked out.

You can dismiss it as "quackery". I'm just linking.

From LA Times (emphasis added; 4/2/11):

Bouncing down a dirt road a couple of summers ago, past a gentle patchwork of barnyards and soybean fields in central Iowa, farmer Kent Friedrichsen strained over the steering wheel of his van and stared through the windshield in dismay.

His soybean fields, where he'd used seeds developed by Monsanto Co. and sprayed with its popular glyphosate weed killer Roundup Ready, were littered with yellowed leaves and dead plants. Four days earlier, the plants had been waist high and emerald green.

Nearby, in fields where he had planted seeds that weren't genetically engineered and didn't use glyphosates, the soybean plants were still healthy and lush.

Farmers call this "sudden death syndrome," a plant disease that has plagued the country's heartland and the nation's estimated $36.8-billion soybean industry. Scientists, who first spotted the disease in Arkansas in 1971 — more than 20 years before Monsanto introduced its Roundup Ready soybeans in the U.S. — blame damp weather and a fungus that rots the plant roots.

But, Friedrichsen said, "for years, I've wondered whether there wasn't something else."

Now, despite mountains of research to the contrary, one soil scientist is roiling the agricultural world with claims that there might be some truth to the farmer's unease.

Don M. Huber, an emeritus professor at Purdue University who has done research for Monsanto on chemical herbicides, alleges that he has found a link between genetically modified crops and crop diseases and infertility in livestock: an "unknown organism" he and other researchers claim to have discovered last summer in Midwestern fields like Friedrichsen's.

"This organism appears NEW to science!" Huber wrote in a letter in January to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack about the matter. He added, "I believe the threat we are facing from this pathogen is unique and of a high-risk status. In layman's terms, it should be treated as an emergency."

.....
In an interview, he called his finding "it." Huber said this is all he knows: "It's a life form."

It could be innocuous, Huber said. It may have been around for a long time, even if scientists never knew it.

....."

Obama's Food Safety Czar, Michael Taylor, used to be the vice president at Monsanto.

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Richard Holbrooke Dead; Obama Czars Now 35

US diplomat Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, aka Obama's Af-Pak czar who had collapsed in Hillary Clinton's office on Friday, died tonight from torn aorta. He was 69.

From ABC News:

Holbrooke, who served in the Obama administration as the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, was putting the finishing touches on a major report on American military and diplomatic efforts in Afghanistan, due to be released on Thursday.

... Holbrooke had been in Clinton's office on Friday when he collapsed. He was rushed to George Washington University Hospital, where he went through 20 hours of surgery. His wife, along with their children and other family, were in the hospital room when he died. Just an hour before, they had had a private meeting with Obama at the State Department. The president praised him as "a tough son of a gun."

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New 'Czar' Coming Out of Ink Cartridge "Bomb"?

This last-minute "terror" to scare the gullible mass on the eve of the US mid-term election should warrant a new czar quickly appointed by the US President so that America is "secure", shouldn't it?

Let's see...

Obama already has the counterterrorism czar in John Brennan. But that hasn't stopped Obama from securing the US by having the Af-Pak czar, the Middle East czar, the Iran czar, etc.

The names I would suggest for the new czar are:

Yemen czar (that's boring...)
Cargo Shipping Security czar (that's more like it, I think.)
Used Ink Cartridge czar (my choice)

On the other hand, we already have the CIA (the link goes to Washington Post article from August 2010) who's been active already in Yemen...

False-Flag czar, anyone?

And remember, Yemeni officials say there's no UPS or FedEx flight into and out of Yemen.

Also remember that Washington Post has a content partnership with 36,760-member-strong GovLoop, a social networking site for the federal government workers that promotes a wonderful idea that "Government Doesn't Suck" because it is staffed with "cool cats" who watch Jon Stewart's show.

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Elizabeth Warren to Be Obama's New Czar

That's the last person whom I expected to join Obama's cadre of czars, but there she is, quite happily, it sounds like.

Elizabeth Warren gets the job of shaping the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau she first proposed (9/17/2010 Cleveland.com)

But her capacity is not that of the bureau director, which requires the formal nomination and the Senate confirmation. Instead, she has become one of Obama's czars:

"the White House is naming Warren an assistant to the President and special advisor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner"

Assistant to the Prez? Special advisor to Timmy?

The Obama White House didn't even try to formally nominate her or make a recess appointment. Instead, Obama has named her as his assistant, personally responsible to him only, to shape this agency which is supposed to protect consumer (hahahahaha).

I am not sure if this nebulous, sprawling financial reform law (Dodd-Frank bill) even allows the White House to shape the agency like this. (By the way, this agency is to be housed within the Federal Reserve, a private entity which is now known for wrecking havoc by causing boom and bust throughout its existence. Isn't that comforting.)

Ms. Warren, welcome to my list of Obama Czars. I am disappointed, but not surprised. After all, a Harvard Law professor who believes in the power and authority of the government to "do the right thing" is expected to happily work with the government. When this agency fails to "protect", she and her cohorts have this timeless excuse to make: "Oh we meant well.... Who could have known?"

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Presidential Czars Updated (Yet Again and Again and Again)

Latest: David Blumenthal, as Electronic Health Record Czar.

We now have 35 Presidential Czars and Czarinas, I think.

On my list, I do not include people who were appointed by the President but needed the Senate confirmation and/or are under Senate oversight. (Or I try to...)

Latest Addition (7/21/2010)

David Blumenthal as Electronic Health Record Czar, aka National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

(Did you know that a huge chunk of health care "reform" was passed already when the Congress passed $800 billion stimulus back in February 2009? You would have known if you had read my post way back when. I would link it if only I could find that post...)

Latest addition (7/16/2010)

Health Food Czar Sam Kass, who continues to be the White House chef. Mr. Kass, who was Obama's personal chef back in Chicago (a mere Senator could afford a personal chef??), has been quietly appointed as "Senior Policy Adviser for Healthy Food Initiatives".

Other Czars and senior staff are paid $172,200, but there is no information about Mr. Kass's salary.

Latest addition (6/15/2010)

Oil Drilling Czar Michael Bromwich, in the wake of continuing disaster in the Gulf.

Latest addition (10/19/09)

Food Safety Czar Michael Taylor, ex-Monsanto executive and lobbyist
Manufacturing Czar Ron Bloom (double duty as Car Czar)

Latest subtraction (10/19/09)

Green Czar Van Jones resigned on September 5, 2009

Latest additions (8/31/09):

AIDS Czar Jefferey Crowley
Counterterrorism Czar (or Homeland Security Czar) John Brennan
Religion Czar Joshua DuBois (a 26-year old pastor who worked in Obama campaigns)
Trade Czar Ron Kirk
Safe School Czar Kevin Jennings (He is a founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).)

Latest addition (8/25/09):

Green Czar Van Jones has been added. He was a co-founder of Color of Change, an African American political advocacy group which is now actively campaigning for the boycott of advertisers to Glenn Beck's program on Fox News. Green Czar's formal title is "special advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality".

Latest addition (8/21/09):

Science Czar John P. Holdren has been added. He advises President Obama on climate change and other science matters. According to the Senate Commerce Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV, Dr. Holdren is so miraculous that he can walk on water. Dr. Holdren has other rather unique ideas and philosophies on wide-ranging subjects (wealth, health, life), which will warrant a separate post.

Update - correction (8/17/09):

Vivek Kundra, previously listed as Technology Czar, turns out to be Information Czar. Technology Czar is actually his buddy, Aneesh Chopra, who got the job despite the fact that he doesn't appear to have any technology training (BA from Johns Hopkins University, Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University).

Already appointed: 34

1. AIDS Czar (Jefferey Crowley)
2. Af-Pak Czar (Richard Holbrooke)
3. Automotive Communities and Workers Czar (Ed Montgomery)
4. Bailout Czar (Herb Allison)
5. Car Czar (Ron Bloom)
6. Climate Czar (Todd Stern)
7. Counterterrorism Czar (or Homeland Security Czar John Brennan)
8. Drug Czar (Gil Kerlikowske )
9. Economic Czar (Lawrence Summers. Or is it Paul Volcker?)
10. Education Czar (Arne Duncan)
11. Electronic Health Records Czar (David Blumenthal)
    
12. Energy Czar (Carol Browner)
13. Food Safety Czar (Michael Taylor)
14. Great Lakes Czar (Cameron Davis)
15. Guantanamo Closure Czar (Daniel Fried)
16. Healthcare Czar (Nancy-Ann DeParle)
17. Health Food Czar (Sam Kass)
    
18. Information Czar (Vivek Kundra)
19. Iran/Middle East Czar (Dennis Ross)
20. Manufacturing Czar (Ron Bloom)
21. Middle East Czar (George Mitchell)
22. Oil Drilling Czar (Michael Bromwich)
23. Pay Czar (Kenneth Feinberg)
24. Performance Czar (Jeffrey Zients. She had to withdraw because of some tax problem...)
25. Regulatory Czar (Cas Sunstein)
26. Religion Czar (Joshua DuBois)
27. Safe School Czar (Kevin Jennings)
28. Science Czar (John P. Holdren)
29. Stimulus Accountability Czar (Earl Devaney)
30. Technology Czar (Aneesh Chopra)
31. Trade Czar (Ron Kirk)
32. U.S. Border Czar (Alan Bersin)
33. Urban & Housing Czar (Adolfo Carrion Jr.)
34. Violence Against Women Czar (Lynn Rosenthal)
35. WMD Czar (Gary Samore)

Yet to be appointed:

Financial Regulation Czar (With the passage of so-called financial "regulation" bill, this is all but inevitable; or it may just mean the double duty for Chairman Bernanke.)
Cyberspace Czar
Copyright Czar (I have no idea if anyone got appointed. Here's petitioning for one.)
High-Value Detainee Interrogation Czar (See the post.)

Green Czar, to be refilled after Van Jones resigned

Speculative, for now:

Urban Demolition Czar (Dan Kildee)
Fat Czar (Richard Simmons) - I guess Sam Kass's appointment killed this one.
Art Czar (see the post, 3rd topic on the post)

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Obama to Appoint Oil Czar

Finally, a new Czar!! (What took him so long?)

Business Insider reports that Obama's solution to the Gulf oil spill is to name his 'Oil Czar':

Oh Boy: Obama's Solution Is To Name An "Oil Czar" (6/15/2010 Business Insider)

"Obama will name an Oil Czar tonight in his live televized address (via Hot Air).

"We have no idea who it will be, but Press Secretary Robert Gibbs assures us it will be "somebody that will be in charge of a recovery plan, putting a recovery plan together.... when we get past the cleanup and response phase of the disaster."

"The Oil Czar will join the ranks of nearly 30 others czars in Obama's increasingly technocratic regime."

Technocratic? Maybe, except Obama's Czars don't seem that knowledgeable in their supposed expertise.

More and more, his regime resembles that of the czarist Russia, where dissent is not allowed by a thin-skinned despot.

The Hot Air article linked by Business Insider has an interesting remark about Obama's Czars:

"...the appointment of a “czar” is another way to outsource leadership. ...The insertion of a “czar” with an even broader mandate will not clarify the chain of command and the mission — it will make both more ambiguous and more difficult."

Ah, but at least I can now update my Obama's Czars list for the first time in a very long time...

(How many czars are needed to change a lightbulb at the White House?)

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Green Czar Van Jones Resigns - AP

US APNewsAlert (9/5/09 AP)

"WASHINGTON — Obama aide Van Jones resigns as environmental adviser amid controversy over past statements."

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Van Jones on White Subsurban Boys (and It's Positive)

Van Jones, Obama's Green Czar, suddenly has a bright and unwanted spotlight on him. Articles on the Internet that he has a very radical past have been around since he was appointed , but they didn't catch much attention, until recently.

Now a Republican Congressman is calling for his resignation. There is a question how he or anyone in Congress could demand a resignation of a Presidential appointee, when he or anyone in Congress didn't have any say in the appointment. But that aside, Mr. Jones is being criticized for:

• Being a 9/11 "truther"
• Having called Republicans a**holes earlier this year

According to Congressman Mike Pence (R. Indiana), "His extremist views and coarse rhetoric have no place in this Administration or the public debate."

Having doubts about the official version of 9/11 is an extremist position? And calling Republicans a**holes coarse rhetoric? Well I have a surprise for you Congressman Pence. More than 1/3 of Americans suspect the government was involved in 9/11 or complicit in the affair, and there is no lack of Americans who want to call Republicans a**holes for what they have and haven't done particularly over the last 8 years.

(I wonder if he remembers then-Vice President Cheney's coarce rhetoric in 2004. Compared to that, "a**hole" is nothing.)

The latest attack is over a video clip from 2005 in which Van Jones is portrayed by the headlines in the news as saying "Only suburban white kids shoot up schools", the headlines implying he was trashing white kids, putting them in a very negative light.

The video clip is only 3 minutes long, and you don't know the full context of the speech. But contrary to what the news headlines were trying to convince us, I think what he was saying is POSITIVE. If anything, he was standing up for (hold your breath) white, suburban, boys. Not just kids, it's boys.

"Our young, white males are suffering in the society. Profoundly. PROFOUNDLY. And nobody is saying a word about it.

"We'll criminalize the black student, criminalize the black child, the Latino child, where there's whole discussion about whether they are animals, not animals, should we abuse them, should we help them, blah blah blah. And that young white boy sitting out there, suffering.

"You've never seen a Columbine done, by a black child. Never. They always say, "We can't believe it happened here, we can't believe that these were these suburban white kids." It's ONLY them.

"Now, a black kid might shoot another black kid. He ain't go shoot at the whole school. My cousin's up in here but I don't shoot up the entire school. I might hit my cousin. I might shoot your uncle.

"But these young white men, they are in so much pain and so isolated and so alienated that they will shoot up the entire school. Where is the concern? Where is the love? Where is the compassion for these young men?

"And it's doubling twisted because if anything that you're doing is wrong we wanna hurt you we wanna punish you we're not gonna help you we're not gonna love you, so rather than punish you and attack you and jump on you like we do to black kids we just ignore you and neglect you.

"We have got to begin to look at the idea of criminality, of evil, of wrong-doing, of mistakes as being a universal condition, requiring a universally loving response, and a universally embracing response, so that our society in trying to confront any evil in at any level does not in fact become evil.

"It is just as evil, in my view, to attack these young black and brown men. It is just as evil to neglect and ignore these young white men, who, as the best I can tell, have very little now in the way of loving, affirmative male leadership that can put the arm around, wipe away a tear, and show the kind of masculinity that is not brittle or mean-spirited."

There are a boat load of Obama Czars and advisers with some very "radical" ideas which should be examined and questioned vigorously before it's too late. (Science Czar, Safe School Czar, and Regulatory Czar come to my mind, as well as Dr. Emanuel on health care "reform".)

But this one particular view on young white boys from a former radical black activist doesn't look to be one of them. On the contrary, it's about time someone stood up for young white boys, and as a black, he can get away with it. Imagine if a white person said this, particularly a white man. He would be roundly condemned as "racist".

It would be very ironic and telling if he is forced to resign because he stood up for young white boys, because he doubted the official version of 9/11, because he called Republicans a**holes. All the wrong reasons, if I may say so.

(I found the youtube video of the original video that was posted at Breitbart.com, as the embed code of the video at Breitbart keeps doing the disappearing act, for some strange unknown reason.)

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A New Presidential Czar May Be Coming Our Way

Well, well. I didn't expect the next Presidential czar to be this one: Torture (or High-Value Detainee Interrogation) czar.

Obama spokesman announces interrogation unit
(8/24/09 AP via Breitbart.com) [emphasis is mine]

"WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama has approved creation of a new, special terrorism-era interrogation unit to be supervised by the White House, a top aide said Monday, further distancing his administration from President George W. Bush's detainee policies.

"The administration has also decided that all U.S. interrogators will follow the rules for detainees laid out by the Army Field Manual, according to senior administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the decision. That decision aims to end years of fierce debate over how rough U.S. personnel can get with terror suspects in custody.

"The unit would be led by an FBI official, with a deputy director from somewhere in the government's vast intelligence apparatus, and members from across agencies. It will be directly supervised by the White House, but the senior administration officials insisted the unit's agency bosses will make operational decisions, not the White House.

"The new interrogation unit will be known by the acronym HIG."

That acronym stands for "High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group", according to Time Magazine.

The Army Field Manual is available online.

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Subtitle E Section 141 of H.R. 3200 Health Care "Reform" Bill

establishes a Health Choices Administration in the executive branch and an unelected Health Choices Commissioner. [emphasis is mine]

Subtitle E--Governance

SEC. 141. HEALTH CHOICES ADMINISTRATION; HEALTH CHOICES COMMISSIONER.

(a) In General- There is hereby established, as an independent agency in the executive branch of the Government, a Health Choices Administration (in this division referred to as the `Administration').

(b) Commissioner-

(1) IN GENERAL- The Administration shall be headed by a Health Choices Commissioner (in this division referred to as the `Commissioner') who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

--------------------------

Great. An(other) unelected official, a(nother) czar, appointed by and answerable only to, the über-czar, uhh, President, will decide on your health care. His/her mandate? That's in Section 142:

--------------------------

SEC. 142. DUTIES AND AUTHORITY OF COMMISSIONER.

(a) Duties- The Commissioner is responsible for carrying out the following functions under this division:

(1) QUALIFIED PLAN STANDARDS- The establishment of qualified health benefits plan standards under this title, including the enforcement of such standards in coordination with State insurance regulators and the Secretaries of Labor and the Treasury.

(2) HEALTH INSURANCE EXCHANGE- The establishment and operation of a Health Insurance Exchange under subtitle A of title II.

(3) INDIVIDUAL AFFORDABILITY CREDITS- The administration of individual affordability credits under subtitle C of title II, including determination of eligibility for such credits.

(4) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS- Such additional functions as may be specified in this division.

Basically, the whole aspect of this health care "reform".

Don't turn around.. The Commissar in town, Oh uh...

Here's a take by the Heritage Foundation, posted on 7/29/09.

By the way, does this chart (created by GOP, to be sure) look like the "reform" will save money or reduce cost?

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Medicare Czar, Anyone? White House Wants More Power

The White House wants to set up yet another "independent advisory board" not accountable or answerable to anyone but to the President. If its recommendations are approved by the President, Congress can either approve them all or reject all. (Do you still think the United States is a democracy?)

White House wants more power to set Medicare rates
(7/17/09, AP via Breitbart.com)

"The White House is asking Congress to give the executive branch more power to limit Medicare's rising costs.

"A White House letter to top lawmakers on Friday said the move would be "a critical step forward" in controlling health care costs and providing better care.

"The proposal would allow an independent advisory board to recommend changes in Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors, hospitals and other providers. If the president approved the recommendations, Congress could still vote to reject them altogether. But Congress could not approve some recommendations and reject others.

"Currently, Medicare reimbursement rates vary from region to region. Key lawmakers often get involved in setting local rates, a practice the Obama administration plan would end. "

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Rattner Leaves Auto Task Force

So, after bankrupting the two of the three U.S. auto makers, bankrupting part of their dealerships and subcontractors and suppliers, and selling off the best assets of the companies to foreign entities on the cheap, the investment banker leaves the post of the Car Czar. His boss, the President, now says "some" of the auto jobs will never return. (What was the point of using the taxpayers' money on these companies? The last I remember is the babble about "saving jobs". Ha!)

Rattner Departs as Head of U.S. Panel Overseeing GM, Chrysler (7/14/09 Bloomberg)

"Steven Rattner stepped down as head of the U.S. panel that forced General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC into bankruptcy, signaling the government was easing into a new role as a passive investor in the automakers.

"His departure leaves Ron Bloom, a former union adviser and Lazard Ltd. vice president, to oversee remaining Obama administration carmaker decisions, including when to sell stakes in the two companies it bailed out with more than $75 billion in taxpayer money.

"“The administration definitely wants the perception to be out there that they’re not going to have their fingerprints in every decision,” said Clint Currie, an analyst with Concept Capital’s Washington Research Group."

Now, do you see the key word in this statement? It is "perception"; as long as the administration is "perceived" as not making every decision. It's more like some ad campaign for branded goods. Perception to make you feel good.

"“Job one for Ron Bloom is to get the government out of these equity positions in GM and Chrysler, preferably before the next election,” said auto analyst Michael Robinet of CSM Worldwide, a Northville, Michigan, consulting firm that did research for the task force. “The American public does not want to be long term owners of car companies.”"

I hope Mr. Robinet is talking about the mid-term election. The American public didn't want to be short-term owners of car companies either, but did they have a choice?

The article says Mr. Rattner has no plans to go back to his firm Quadrangle, which has been investigated by New York Attorney General for New York public pension bribery scandal.

One banker leaves (Rattner, Quadrangle), another banker steps in, albeit with a labor slant (Bloom, Lazard). Change we can believe in. (As if all we need to do is close our eyes and believe - oh look, I do see some green shoots...)

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Increasing Noise Against Bloggers And Alternative Media

from so-called mainstream media (MSM), in case you haven't noticed. Here are two latest "attacks" from the professional, high-caliber high-standard media personalities.

Dennis Lets Zero Hedge Have It (6/30/09 Zero Hedge)

CNBC host Dennis Kneale calling bloggers "digital dickweed, including Zero Hedge.

(Sorry but his whole rant does sound like a skit in Saturday Night Live rejected by the SNL producer.)

Murdoch CEO Labels Bloggers “Political Extremists" (7/1/09 Infowars.com)

John Hartigan, the CEO of Rupert Murdoch’s News Limited, labels bloggers and alternative media outlets as “political extremists”.

"... the blogosphere is all eyeballs and no insights..."

And let me remind you that the government wants to monitor the blogsphere:

Blog Czar Is Next? FTC plans to monitor blogs for claims, payments

And let me also remind you that Obama's Cyber Czar is yet to arrive, and the front runner is not very promising for cyberspace freedom or what's left of it:

Cyber Security Czar Front-Runner No Friend of Privacy (6/22/09 Wired)

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Next Czar: Urban Demolition Czar?

I have a hunch, just a hunch, that it is indeed the next czar to join so many others. Urban Demolition Czar. Doesn't it have a nice ring of power and authoritarianism combined with almost video-game like fun and excitement?

US cities may have to be bulldozed in order to survive
(6/12/09, Telegraph):

"Dozens of US cities may have entire neighbourhoods bulldozed as part of drastic "shrink to survive" proposals being considered by the Obama administration to tackle economic decline.

"The government looking at expanding a pioneering scheme in Flint, one of the poorest US cities, which involves razing entire districts and returning the land to nature.

"The radical experiment is the brainchild of Dan Kildee, treasurer of Genesee County, which includes Flint.

"Having outlined his strategy to Barack Obama during the election campaign, Mr Kildee has now been approached by the US government and a group of charities who want him to apply what he has learnt to the rest of the country.

"Mr Kildee said he will concentrate on 50 cities, identified in a recent study by the Brookings Institution, an influential Washington think-tank, as potentially needing to shrink substantially to cope with their declining fortunes.

"Most are former industrial cities in the "rust belt" of America's Mid-West and North East. They include Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Memphis."

There you go. Mr. Kildee has been already approached by the Obama admin, and he has already picked his first 50 targets. The announcement of newly annoin.. appointed czar cannot be too far away.

"The city is buying up houses in more affluent areas to offer people in neighbourhoods it wants to demolish. Nobody will be forced to move, said Mr Kildee.

""Much of the land will be given back to nature. People will enjoy living near a forest or meadow," he said. Mr Kildee acknowledged that some fellow Americans considered his solution "defeatist" but he insisted it was "no more defeatist than pruning an overgrown tree so it can bear fruit again". "

The first thing I thought about when I first read this article yesterday was: Agenda 21.

United Nation Agenda 21, signed by the United States in 1992, is basically about how we should change just about every aspect of our life (live, eat, move) to save the mother planet Earth. It involves "equitable" development (think wealth transfer) as well as "sustainable" development (think depopulation). If you think this is about one of those empty promises by a big organization like U.N., you are mistaken. But I will leave you to do further research.

It seems perfectly in line with the direction this new administration seems to be heading: more government control over ever-increasing aspects of private lives and private enterprises, because they know what's good for the rest of us.

But this urban demolition derby, it is absolutely juicy.

Think redevelopment agency; think eminent domain targeting of entire opposition districts, payoffs to/from green and affordable housing developers. It's a dream come true for "smart growth" proponents - everyone should, no, can, no, must live above the bus depot, WPA-like organization for the 25% unemployment coming among the young to tear it all down and recycle all those door knobs, .. endless possibilities. (Sort of like FDR's WPA that created jobs to catalog 350 different ways to cook spinach.)

(And remember, those old houses in Detroit, Philadelphia, Memphis, etc. are probably full of asbestos and lead paint. Probably it will cost much more to demolish than to keep them. But so what if will cost more, we just issue more debts and print more money. Besides, these people will acquire the essential skills and knowledge of "green" demolition.)

So after 10 years of tearing down cities, with 20 million kids with no other job prospects in a downsized economy, what to do with them next?

With finely-tuned demolition skills they can spread the gospel to other parts of the world, can't they? Yes, we can. Downsized economy will be everywhere in the world, since this current recession/depression is very much global.

Or they can settle for "green" jobs in the U.S., I suppose. There are lots of possibilities here, too. Neighborhood green compliance monitoring and enforcement, garbage container policing to see there is no recyclable items in the garbage bins (Brits are already doing it; this alone would merit another post), or how about carbon police (darn, Australians are already doing it. Come on America, you are behind the curve...).

Mr. Rahn Emanuel put so eloquently, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." Ms. Hillary Clinton echoed, "Never waste a good crisis."

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Car Czar, Cyber Czar, Pay Czar...Pay Czar??Cacophony of Presidential Czars

Particularly since the new administration swept in, there has been a proliferation of "czars". (Here I thought czars were Russian Emperors. Senator John McCain clearly thought so too.)

We apparently have:

Cyberspace Czar (Melissa Hathaway, frontrunner)
Technology Czar (Vivek Kundra)
Drug Czar (Gil Kerlikowske )
Copyright Czar (I have no idea if anyone got appointed. Here's petitioning for one.)
Climate Czar (Carol Browner)
Car Czar (Steven Rattner)
Healthcare Czar (Nancy-Ann DeParle)
WMD Czar (Gary Samore)
Education Czar (Arne Duncan)
Economic Czar (Lawrence Summers)
Urban & Housing Czar (Adolfo Carrion Jr.)
Bailout Czar (Herb Allison)
Stimulus Accountability Czar (Earl Devaney)
U.S. Border Czar (Alan Bersin)
Regulatory Czar (Cas Sunstein)
Great Lakes Czar (Cameron Davis)
Middle East Czar (Dennis Ross)
Af-Pak Czar (Richard Holbrooke)
Bank Czar (American Bankers Association is currently fighting against it.)
Performance Czar (She had to withdraw because of some tax problem...)
Guantanamo closure Czar (Daniel Fried)

The latest? Pay Czar.

White House Set to Appoint a Pay Czar (6/5/09 Wall Street Journal):

"The Obama administration plans to appoint a "Special Master for Compensation" to ensure that companies receiving federal bailout funds are abiding by executive-pay guidelines, according to people familiar with the matter.

"The administration is expected to name Kenneth Feinberg, who oversaw the federal government's compensation fund for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, to act as a pay czar for the Treasury Department, these people said."

The Pay Czar is going to make sure those pesky TARP recipients comply with the pay guidelines set out by the Treasury.

These "czars" are all appointed by the President and placed above Cabinet level agencies. They are not confirmed by Congress, nor answerable to Congress. Bloomberg News sees a potential not just for confusion but for a constitutional crisis (read the article here).

(Who's paying their salaries?)

So what's next? Credit Card Czar, Insurance Czar, Junk Food Czar, Organic Food Czar, Arts Czar (I've seen the petition for this)? If Great Lakes can have a czar, why not Yosemite? Monterrey Bay?

Is there any area of our private life left, without being watched by the Czars?

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