What Is This "Czar" Business?

The latest is the "car czar" who will purportedly oversee how U.S. automakers use the proposed billions of bailout dollars. I have three questions about this terminology:

(1) Given the propensity of people with power to abuse it -- Governor Blagojevich being only the latest in a long line of "me first" political players -- why should we trust a single person to oversee how taxpayer money will be spent by companies that have already demonstrated a narrow focus on short term profits and plumping the pillows of senior management?

(2) Given the need for domestic and international crisis management, financial, operational and marketing acumen, and the huge number and diversity of stakeholders in the auto industry, why on earth would we place all our bets on one person? Can anyone say Henry Paulson?

(3) Why do we keep allowing both the term and the concept of a "czar" to creep into our language? Aside from sending all the wrong messages to the people who assume such posts, why on earth do journalists and pundits use a term that smells of autocracy?

Barack Obama has remarked that his wife, Michelle, endeavors to keep his ego in check. As we have learned, being President of the United States can make you a "decider" - for everyone. But at least our presidents are elected. What on earth does a "czar" have to do with leadership in a country that is founded on democratic principles?

What would our forefathers and foremothers think of this "czar" claptrap? Whatever happened to "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"? Weird.

Explicitly using the term "car czar," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has suggested Paul Volcker as a good choice to lead US automakers out of the doldrums. But as industry experts have already pointed out, Mr. Volcker has zero experience running a manufacturing organization. Who has enough experience to know all of what could happen, especially AFTER the money has been given to the same guys who ran their company into the ground? What's to stop GM from using a few billion to bolster its China operations if the "czar" thinks that makes good financial sense?

This whole deal needs a lot more thought. Instead of a "car czar" we need checks and balances - common objectives - a team-oriented structure - a leader who emerges because he or she has what it takes in the minds of other superbly competent experts. In short, something more American than a traditional, dictatorial, corporate structure.

"Czar" in America is becoming code for a big shot who plans to fail while giving away huge sums of money to the wrong people.

And a final word. Remember the supposedly wonderful concept of a homeland security "czar"? There was also the drug czar. Need I say more?

Dr. Reardon also blogs at bardscove.

Comments

[rr52]

The agenda for the Czar is to break unions, even though they are not at fault. Toyota workers in KY made more than UAW workers last year. It's not about wages, it is indeed about rights. Corporate America with the help of some Republican senators are stilling pushing that agenda. No one is telling anyone that all of the foreign car companies have been helped by their govts. in the past. Many of the foreign car manufacturers are in states like Alabama that boasts 3 factories and that these same states gave away millions in incentives to entice these foreign manufacturers to set up shop. Indiana gave 85 million in incentives for the Honda plant.

Also every last one of the Repug senators threatening the auto bailout have the worst environmental voting records. They all voted against fuel economy standards and on the side of big oil. Yet these hypocrites point fingers at our auto industry for not keeping up with making hybrids? This is getting to be a real fishy looking picture.

One generation ago our country was willing to tax the crap out of Japanese foreign automakers because they threatened our economy. Now foreign auto companies have invested 40 billion dollars in 70 facilities within our country, The states fighting our unions are doing so on behalf of their foreign buddies and their money. I call it the worse kind of "anti-Americanism" I've seen in a long time.

[wiseapple]

The next instance where the title needs to be used, it should be spelled 'Tsar". Spelling it this way always works in the crossword puzzles, and maybe it will lead to better success for the program that is being put in place at the time.

[dfranz]

This is the absurd answer Bush and the Republicans have for everything as if we should just go along because Father Knows Best. The problem is that they only use people who will further their skewed agenda. The disgusting show being put on by Southern Republicans makes me sick. They are all for throwing hundreds of billions of dollars at banks with no oversight or plan and now they’re working hard to bankrupt the competitors of the foreign auto companies with factories in their states. I can't wait until January 20th when those creeps will find themselves marginalized and get a feeling for what it's like to be on the other side.

[SethBLiNK]

I agree that, in America, the word Czar is an odd choice and does smack of autocracy. I used to have trouble remembering that a Drug Lord sold drugs and a Drug Czar was on our side.

But it has fallen into usage (perhaps because it is short and to the point) whenever a person is appointed to oversee something.

And you know what, Kathleen? Every once in a while a person has to be appointed to oversee something. We need a single person to oversee the American auto industry because there is so much wrong with it and because all three companies (now down to two) came to us together for help.

Also, the adminstrations are about to change and we need somebody in that job who will survive the transition. Now don't be confused. Just because their title is czar doesn't mean they don't report to somebody.

In situations like this, you have three choices... appoint a person and call him/her czar; appoint a committee from which one person will be named chairperson and that person will be the defacto czar; or don't do anything.

The idea of letting a leader emerge is nice but not so realistic. When there is disorder, order needs to be put in place.

[scooperss]

"Czar" in America is becoming code for a big shot who plans to fail while giving away huge sums of money to the wrong people."

Czar is a code word that means Congress is simply too lazy, too well fed and too wealthy to bother doing oversight anymore.

Tell me again, why are they being paid and why are they getting a COLA the first of the year with the economy in the pits?

And I HATE the word czar.

[mamacita]

First of all, I think there has been way too much focus on the history/meaning of the word "czar." It's just a poorly chosen title in this case, not a commie threat. Geez!

Secondly, appointing a single person to address an industry with so many complexities and ties to other industry is not clear thinking, especially in the case of Paul Volkcker, who has no automotive experience. Lack of experience and knowledge in the actual industry itself is what has brought these companies to this point. Management experience without product knowledge isn't very efficient because there is no understanding of how things work by the "deciders" of the company.

Change the czar to a "Coalition of the Willling," consisting of the people who actually manufacture the product, with the ability to design and produce, who understand that busting the unions and lowering wages will only destroy the consumer base by eliminating the ability of that consumer to purchase the product. Remember, Henry Ford chose to pay his workers wages that made it possible to buy his cars, thus assuring himself a consumer base.

[scooperss]

HuffPost's Pick

We have *Homeland Security* and czars. What's next? Grand Poobah of Bull?

[JScott]

They should do something similar to what was done during the first Chrysler bailout.

[Manuel]

Dictatorships are rather odd things, particularly when administrations are transitioning.

Undoubtedly, though answers to this and other mysteries -- including the mystery of the White Motor Corporation -- can be found at the Post. Not Washington's, but Palm Beaches.

Manuel

[CitizenLegislatorCC]

This is important precisely because our Congress has in fact devolved into a "traditional, dictatorial, corporate structure" in actual practice. That may seem temptingly "efficient" in the short run, but in the long run it eviscerates self-government at the federal level.

If you paid attention to the dealmaking that led to the auto bridge-loan vote in the House Wednesday, you saw a few people at the top of a Party power pyramid working secretly to cut a DEAL as though they were merger & acquisition players or CEOs on Wall Street.

Then, mere hours after the DEAL was publicly announced, almost every member of the Democratic Party in the House voted for a bill almost none of them helped write, had read (never mind understood), or had any opportunity to amend or meaningfully debate. Simply because their Party CEO had told them that this was the best DEAL they could get.

A functioning legislature is NOT about cutting DEALS at the top in order to work backwards from a result to a process for endorsing it. Congress is (supposed to be) about PUBLIC democratic PROCESS leading to democratic results.

But an extremely dangerous precedent now exists where our "Representatives" silently relinquish their judgement and will by "just" following orders to rubberstamp a PRE-determined outcome dictated by a few Party Bosses behind closed doors.

A Congress that can't be dictated to by Party Bosses can't be dictated to by a president. Self-government doesn't worship Party.

[RogerRantjet]

RIGHT! This "czar" thing has got to go! One would think that after 80 or 90 years of vehement anti-Russian sentiment in this country that this would be the LAST word that would be chosen to designate a position of power. "Car Czar"...how stunningly stoopid that sounds. Why not one of the other derivations or spellings...like "Tsar" or "Kaiser". Yeah...that's it..."Car Kaiser". I nominate Ralph Nader, who achieved notoriety by authoring "Unsafe At Any Speed" many years before a lot of readers here were born. He was the first one to give the auto industry behemoth a swift kick in the arse. We could even give him a comic-opera quasi-military uniform...complete with a pointy spear helmet thingy.

[LITU]

"Why do we keep allowing both the term and the concept of a "czar" to creep into our language? Aside from sending all the wrong messages to the people who assume such posts, why on earth do journalists and pundits use a term that smells of autocracy?"

My sentiments exactly.

Although he did not coin the term, I was really hoping Obama would take us to a new level. He certainly may, but it seems he's caught up in the same ol', same ol' as everyone else.

[UNCLEJOE]

The Executive Power under Bush has become too strong, upsetting the Balance of Power between the three Branches of Government described in detail in the Constitution:
Further, the States Right's have all but been abrogated by the Federal Government turning the Peoples Representative free Democracy into a governmental structure, very different from the idealization inspired by our brilliant Founding Fathers like Madison and Jefferson.

The Roman Empire lasted a 1000 years; once Roman Senators began to buy their office as Senators, and began to hire German mercenaries to fill the military ranks, the Rman Empire crumbled into minor city states.

We need a structure of government where various cabinet offices are voted on by the 400+ House of Representatives instead of the 100 Senators who represent a disproportionate control of states with less than a million voters like Alaska, Wyoming and Maine.

And States Right's have to be reclaimed so that many civil maters should be decided by the states such as Education, pollution control, drug laws that punish citizens for victimless crimes.

Bush demonstrated how dangerous it is for a President who oversteps his Executive Powers. How close are we to becoming a dictatorship after Bushe's criminal misrule with impunity?

If Obama is the man of patriotic integrity that I believe him to be, he will return those Executive Powers to the States and the Senate that Bush & Cheney abrogated these past eight years.

[Bluetiger]

The job description of a government Czar says as follows: Nap from 9 to 5 finish make company do well get pat on back get $2.00 plaque.

So you call in who you are Czaring.

You ask all of the questions of a good manager. You see you went to UT, Northwestern, or KU and not Yale or Harvard. All of those pretty pretty boys went to work for the Auto Companies. You went to work for Uncle Sam. But you took all the same courses from the same books and you remember and have used the skills you learned.

So you call them in make them stand up and answer all of the normal management questions. When they can't answer you sent them back to rework their briefing.

Pretty soon they learn how to manage and lo and behold you can achieve your job description.

Take it from me a former government Czar.

[bmermaid]

The best one I've heard yet- how about Roseanne Barr for Car Czar?

But you're right- the use of the word Czar seems contra-intuitive.

[QueenOfViolets]

We've had a Drug Czar since 1982 and look how our well our drug problem has been solved. It's been solved so well, the death toll from the drug war in Mexico is now double that of 9/11.

What we need more than a czar is a panel of scientific and economic experts and some guarantee that independent voices won't be drowned out.

That's not what we have in the Drug Czar. The Drug Czar's office seems to exist right now to make sure drug reform voices are NOT heard. Even in the Obamadmin, this looks to be the case unfortunately.

The problem is, the word "Czar" itself implies some kind of territory that needs protecting. So the name of the position becomes an invitation to turn it into a fiefdom organized to protect bureaucratic wealth, obstruct access, obscure vision and squelch dissent.

That's how the Drug Czar's office functions now. There's no reason to believe copying that paradigm over to other policy areas won't being the same set of dysfunctions along with it.

We need a panel of experts, with procedures that discourage territorialism, encourage fresh points of view, and prevent the squelching of dissent.

I wish we had that in drug policy too. Maybe those 6800 or so dead Mexicans killed in the drug cartel wars would be alive now.

[chaos4700]

Is anyone else struck by the irony that Ronald Reagan, the supposed hero of the Right who conquered the Soviet Union, was the first administration to embrace the concept of having "czars" in the executive branch? Yet another subversion of the democratic process we can thank our friends the Republicans for...

[bubbuh]

The term was first used by the Nixon Adminstration. William R. was appointed the "Energy Czar' in response to the OPEC boycott.