Without solid international or political cover and needing to move back into a more populist position, Pakistani President Zardari reached out to former Prime Minister Sharif and called for “tolerance, mutual accomodation and respect for dissent ….” His efforts even went so far as the government asking the Supreme Court to lift the ban on the Sharif brothers holding political office.
John Bresnahan reports that Senator Robert Byrd wrote President Obama Wednesday to complain about the Presidential creation of power positions called “czars.”
Senator Byrd, the most tenured Democrat in the Senate, believes that the creation of these “czar” positions wrongfully moves oversight and management from the legislative branch to the executive. To put more of a point on the issue programs are normally overseen by either a Congressional committee or a Presidential cabinet appointee who has been vetted and approved by Congress. The way President Obama is appointing people to positions of power where they report to him with no Congressional oversight of the appointment or review of the program circumvents the principle of checks and balances.
Governor Kathleen Sebelius is again linked to President Obama, this time as a likely nominee for the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services. Last time the administration allowed her name to slip out it was in reference to the possibility of Gov. Sebelius being the Vice Presidential running mate.
Some items of interest:
Senator Russ Feingold (D. Wis) will introduce legislation to federally mandate how appointees to vacated Congressional seats are decided.1,2 It appears that Sen Feingold wants to force all states to implement a special election with no interim appointments.
This bill may have some legs as Sen. Feingold is Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution.
1 Time.com, Mark Halperin on The Page editorial, Jan 26, 2009.
2 FiveThirtyEight.com, Feingold Introduces 28th Amendment, Jan 25, 2009
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (Dem) announced today that he is declining President-elect Barack Obama’s nomination for Secretary of Commerce.1, 2
Richardson would have been the ranking Latino in the Obama administration so his loss is a blow to the administration’s ethnic diversity but more importantly the issue that spurred the Obama camp to urge Richardson to refuse calls into question the thorough, professional manner of Obama’s current camp. The Obama administration released a seven page, 63-question form for people to fill out if they wanted to be part of the administration. 3, 4