Czars

2010: The Year Main Street Sticks It to Wall Street and Washington

Don McNay | Posted 10.27.2009 | Business


Don McNay

If anyone has ever dreamed of being an office holder, 2010 is the year to do it. There are going to be several situations where voters elect a complete unknown, just to express their anger about the incumbent.

Our Water Crisis: Too Big For Even a Czar

Susan J. Marks | Posted 10.19.2009 | Green


Susan J. Marks

Water is the new oil, except there is no alternative. We can't live without it. The water crisis is here and now in our backyards, and in our homes.

Constitutional Experts: Obama's 'Czars' Are Perfectly Legal

latimes.com | Joe Markman | Posted 10.06.2009 | Politics


In Senate testimony, constitutional experts say the president has the right to appoint independent advisers as long as the distinction between practic...

Jason Linkins

Fox News Ignores White House Afghanistan Meeting To Obsess Over Czars

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 10.06.2009 | Media


Lawmakers met at the White House to have a discussion on the war in Afghanistan. But Fox News' Neil Cavuto chose to spend his time fearmongering about the White House's Special Master for Compensation.

My Brother Loves Glenn Beck, But I Still Love My Brother

Suz Redfearn | Posted 10.01.2009 | Politics


Suz Redfearn

My brother rolled into D.C. from Boston on a chartered bus, arriving in the dark outside a Marriott. I scanned the pack of fairly nondescript folks ...

Bureaucracy and Power Plays: The Problems with Obama's Policy Czars

John W. Whitehead | Posted 11.24.2009 | Politics


John W. Whitehead

"A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency." -President Barack Obama in a 2009 memorandum to executive departments...

The Impeachment of President Obama

Bob Cesca | Posted 11.23.2009 | Politics


Bob Cesca

I've been following the Republican descent into the realms of the bizarre for some time now, and I'm convinced that if they retook Congress the Republicans might try to impeach the president.

The Return Of McCarthyism: Hysteria In Action On The Right (VIDEO)

Huffington Post | Nicholas Graham | Posted 11.21.2009 | Politics


***UPDATE 9/22/09*** I haven't found another embeddable version yet, but sharp-eyed reader Mark points out that you can watch the video here. ***UPDA...

Former Reagan And Bush Aides Defend Obama's Use Of 'Czars'

washingtonpost.com | David B. Rivkin Jr. And Lee A. Casey | Posted 11.19.2009 | Politics


Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) argued on this page this week ["Czarist Washington," op-ed, Sept. 13] that the Obama administration's "czars" are e...

The Phony Czar Attack (VIDEO)

Craig Crawford | Posted 11.18.2009 | Politics


Craig Crawford

In this CQ Politics video, I explore the history of czarism in America, with special emphasis on FDR's Rubber Czar -- "Battling Bill" Jeffers.

Jason Linkins Discusses Czars On MSNBC: "Nothing To Do With Russian Imperialism"

Huff TV | Posted 11.17.2009 | Politics


Huff TV

The Huffington Post's Jason Linkins was on MSNBC Thursday with conservative blogger Liz Mair, discussing the recent czar-mania. Linkins touched on t...

Jason Linkins

"Dancing With The Czars": Dems Mock GOP, Glenn Beck Over Czar Obsession

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 11.16.2009 | Politics


Over the past few days, I've written about the wildly outsized claims of czars in the Obama administration undermining the government. Republican Sena...

Jeff Muskus

Anti-Czar Republican Laments GOP "Rubber Stamp" On Bush Policies

HuffingtonPost.com | Jeff Muskus | Posted 11.16.2009 | Politics


The House Republicans leading the campaign against Obama administration "czars" told the Huffington Post Wednesday that he is "very disappointed" that...

Jason Linkins

Anti-Czar Bill Gets 100 Cosponsors In House [UPDATE]

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 11.16.2009 | Politics


Yesterday, I posted on how a group of senators sent the White House a letter expressing concern over a multitude of presidential appointments -- which...

Jason Linkins

Obama Czars: Group Of Republican Senators Sends Disingenuous Missive Over Appointees

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 11.15.2009 | Politics


A group of Republican senators, led by Utah Senator Bob Bennett, have sent a letter to the White House, concern-trolling over the existence of "czars....

Who Are the Czars, and Where Did They Come From?

Avelino Maestas | Posted 11.15.2009 | Politics


Avelino Maestas

The "czar" situation is a little more nuanced than the current email meme. There are no formal "czars" within the framework of government, and the term itself was created by the media.

Czarist Nonsense

John McQuaid | Posted 11.14.2009 | Politics


John McQuaid

Demagoguery and aggrievement are nothing new in American politics. But what's strange is the scattershot nature and incoherence of the attacks on Obama. It's a communist-fascist-socialist word salad.

Repeat After Me: 'The Czars Are Ruining America!'

Michael Wolff | Posted 11.14.2009 | Politics


Michael Wolff

the Democrats are always scrambling against a rhetoric that they can't parry and don't ever seem to have anticipated. Now it's the czars.

Cass Sunstein Attacks Frustrate Conservative Fans

Washington Independent | David Weigel | Posted 11.09.2009 | Politics


...The campaign against Sunstein has largely written itself. One of the most regularly cited legal scholars, the author, co-author, or editor of dozen...

Jason Linkins

Everything You Need To Know About Czars

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 11.08.2009 | Politics


Driving today's fearful discussion about czars this morning is a Politico article that 's a fine example of what it does best: provide a distillation of political scuttlebutt and press releases into a story.

Our Shadowy Government: Czars, Health Reform, And Bush's Resurgence

Harry Moroz | Posted 09.21.2009 | Politics


Harry Moroz

Criticism of Obama and the czar "system" is overblown. In fact, a czar's power comes not from dictatorial authority, but from humble restraint.

Eric Cantor Regurgitates Someone Else's Column In Article

Wall Street Journal | Elizabeth Williamson | Posted 09.20.2009 | Politics


There's a hint of deja vu in a column by House Republican Whip Rep. Eric Cantor that ran in the Washington Post on July 30. In the opinion piece, "Ob...

Go East Young Man and Woman

Susie Hoeller | Posted 03.06.2009 | Politics


Susie Hoeller

When I see Obama not making the tough choices about personal responsibility in the Geithner and Daschle cases, I wonder if it is the same old insider favoritism that so infected the Bush Administration.

Something to Chu On

Brian Keane | Posted 02.15.2009 | Green


Brian Keane

To be sure, the nomination of Steven Chu -- like almost all of the Obama appointments -- represents a striking and hopeful departure from the approach we've seen under President Bush.