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Title: Czar Purge in Progress, Dear Leader Throwing Out the Trash
Source:
WSJ
URL Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100 ... 3555804576102810159169324.html
Published: Feb 7, 2012
Author: LAURA MECKLER
Post Date: 2012-02-07 13:55:04 by Happy Quanzaa
Keywords: Obama-doma-ding-dong, Dear Leader, Purge, Exile, Gulag
Views: 1486
Comments: 2
WASHINGTON — Carol Browner is leaving her position as White House "energy czar," and a staff shake-up is likely to eliminate her post altogether, according to Democrats familiar with events. The czar position, and Ms. Browner herself, have been lightning rods for critics of the president's environmental-policy agenda and a reassurance to its supporters, who liked having a top official in the White House devoted to their priorities. The White House health czar position may also be eliminated, said people familiar with the process. Ms. Browner led the administration's effort to gather votes in Congress for legislation to limit emissions of greenhouse gases. The effort unraveled in the Senate last year, amid opposition from Republicans and some Democrats fearful of its impact on energy prices and jobs. Ms. Browner was also a heroine to many environmentalists who cheered her decisions when she led the EPA in the 1990s and viewed her as an ally in internal administration debates over environmental regulation. Her influence within the administration within the White House has long been a source of concern to Republicans critical of her record in the Clinton administration. Fred Upton, the new chairman of the House Energy and Commerce (R., Mich.), had suggested in recent weeks that he intended to investigate Ms. Browner's authority. Both czars were charged by President Barack Obama with coordinating policy among multiple government agencies, a function that some members of Congress argued should be left to agency directors who are confirmed by the Senate and would be subject more directly to congressional scrutiny. Ms. Browner, whose formal title is assistant to the president for energy and climate change, was a leading candidate in the current White House reorganization for one of two positions as deputy chief of staff to Mr. Obama. But those positions are now likely to go to Nancy-Ann DeParle, the health policy czar, and Alyssa Mastromonaco, Mr. Obama's longtime scheduler. Ms. DeParle will oversee policy issues, and Ms. Mastromonaco will oversee operations, people familiar with events said. They will replace Jim Messina, who is leaving to run Mr. Obama's re-election campaign, and Mona Sutphen, who is leaving the White House. The office that Ms. DeParle leads as health czar, formally called the White House Office of Health Reform, could be trimmed as implementation of the health overhaul shifts to the Department of Health and Human Services. Already, Mike Hash, Ms. DeParle's deputy, has moved to a post at the agency. Eliminating Ms. Browner's position is more politically complex. Unlike with health care, Mr. Obama has not succeeded in persuading Congress to pass an energy bill. Mr. Obama has said that the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives means he is unlikely to pass legislation making it more expensive for industry to emit carbon. Environmental activists say such a measure is needed to combat global warming, but Republicans view it as an "energy tax" that would kill jobs. Eliminating Ms. Browner's position would be another signal that the White House is giving up the effort. The action comes at a time when the White House is reaching out to business leaders on several fronts. Democrats familiar with the White House thinking cited other reasons for the step. But eliminating the energy czar post would likely be welcomed by many business leaders, who view Ms. Browner as a leading advocate for environmental regulations they oppose. One Democrat close to the White House said there is "no question" that Ms. Browner's post would be eliminated. Asked why, he noted that cabinet secretaries do not like having high-level policy officials at the White House working in their fields. He also said the job will be eliminated "because there will be no climate or carbon bill in the next two years." Another Democrat who is also close to the White House said it is possible the position will remain in a downgraded form, either filled by a lower-level official or merged into another White House office. The decisions about top jobs are being made under the direction of Bill Daley, the new chief of staff. Officials close to the process said there were several top aides who Mr. Obama wanted to promote, but not enough top jobs for all of them. Ms. Browner's departure was confirmed by a White House official Monday evening. The president has been looking for a top position for another Obama aide, Stephanie Cutter, who has been working on communications strategy on health care and other issues. She is likely to work on overall strategy and communications with David Plouffe, who recently began work as a senior adviser to Mr. Obama. Phil Schiliro, White House director of legislative affairs, was also a candidate for deputy White House chief of staff but is not likely to get the post and may leave the White House after two intense years of congressional action, Democrats said. That will open up the job of top White House lobbyist. Rob Nabors, now at the Office of Management and Budget, is seen as a top contender for the post. The other major job to be filled is White House press secretary. Five people have been interviewed for the post, an official said: Bill Burton and Josh Earnest, who are now deputy press secretaries; Jay Carney, Vice President Joe Biden's communications director; Jen Psaki, the deputy communications director; and Karen Finney, a Democratic consultant and former communications director for the Democratic National Committee.
White House Energy 'Czar' to Exit in Staff Shake-Up
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#1. To: Happy Quanzaa (#0)
The action comes at a time when the White House is reaching out to business leaders on several fronts. Translation: obungler and his cronies are looking bad, and he wants to be re- elected ('cause he "deserves" it). I'm sure her replacement will show up after the election.
To: mcToejam, rat-boy, drippy, Alzheimer Fred, whitesands, t-bird, loonymom/ming, e-type jackoff, goober56, wreck, cal-CON, rabid dog, dummy DwarF, biff, harrowup the communist, and meguro. You're on the "a waste of human flesh" list. Piss off.
Spit. It has only taken about five months concerning the hatchet. Here is why: By JACKIE CALMES Published: October 28, 2011 WASHINGTON — The White House directed a well-known businessman on Friday to conduct an independent review of government loans to energy companies, as House Republicans announced they would consider subpoenaing records related to a 2009 loan to a California manufacturer of solar-energy equipment that is now bankrupt. In enlisting Herbert M. Allison Jr., a former executive who helped the Bush and Obama administrations rescue the financial system, the White House indicated some concern that it needed to get out ahead of the Congressional investigation into the loan portfolio of the Department of Energy and, in particular, the half-billion-dollar loan to the California manufacturer, Solyndra. But officials also indicated that the White House would oppose any subpoena of additional internal records related to Solyndra. The administration has given more than 70,000 documents to Republicans investigating what they characterize as the first scandal related to the economic-stimulus package early in the Obama administration. The White House contends that those documents show that the decisions related to Solyndra and other loan recipients were based on merit and made by nonpolitical career staff members following proper procedures. In a statement, the White House chief of staff, William M. Daley, said Mr. Allison would analyze “the current state of the Department of Energy loan portfolio, focusing on future loan monitoring and management.” Mr. Allison is to issue a public evaluation and any recommendations in 60 days and can bring in outside experts to help him. Mr. Daley said Mr. Allison was chosen not only for his résumé, but because “he is tough, always tells it like it is.” Mr. Allison, a former president of Merrill Lynch and former chief executive of the insurance company TIAA-CREF, was tapped by the Bush administration in September 2008, with the financial sector near collapse, to lead the mortgage-finance giant Fannie Mae when it was forced into a government conservatorship. In 2009, he was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate to be assistant Treasury secretary for financial stability and to oversee the bank bailout, the Troubled Asset Relief Program. He left in September 2010 when it had become evident that big banks would repay their loans, with interest. Like Mr. Obama, Mr. Daley, in his statement, stressed that the president remained committed to government investments in clean energy, to create jobs and to compete with foreign rivals. “And while we continue to take steps to make sure the United States remains competitive in the 21st century energy economy, we must also ensure that we are strong stewards of taxpayer dollars,” Mr. Daley said. The Energy Department program comprises 40 projects worth $36 billion, including guarantees for large nuclear-power loans and for development of electric vehicles. Scrutiny has focused on a portfolio with a total loan value of about $16 billion that relates to 28 renewable-energy projects at companies engaged in biofuels, wind farms, battery storage, solar energy generation and solar-panel manufacturing like Solyndra was trying before it declared bankruptcy in September. The company, which received $528 million, is also under investigation for possible fraud by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. On Friday the leaders of the Republican-controlled House Energy and Commerce Committee — Representatives Fred Upton of Michigan, the chairman, and Cliff Stearns of Florida, the chairman of the oversight subcommittee — announced that the committee would meet on Thursday to vote on whether to subpoena internal White House communications related to the Solyndra loan and its restructuring in 2010. The Republican majority on the committee has been seeking evidence that the White House ordered the Energy Department to approve the loan guarantee to Solyndra, but so far it has mostly found expressions of intense interest from the White House over the timing of the approval. Specifically, the committee is now seeking communications from the start of the administration involving some of Mr. Obama’s closest advisers. While the White House has not yet tried to exercise executive privilege to withhold material, any subpoenas could prompt a legal showdown with Republicans. “Subpoenaing the White House is a serious step that, unfortunately, appears to be necessary in light of the Obama administration’s stonewall on Solyndra,” Mr. Upton and Mr. Stearns said in a joint statement. The White House said it stood by an Oct. 14 letter to the two lawmakers from one of Mr. Obama’s lawyers, Kathryn H. Ruemmler. She wrote that the White House, the Energy and Treasury Departments and the budget office had taken part in nine briefings to Congressional staff, testified at hearings and produced more than 70,000 pages of documents with nothing to indicate “the White House intervened in the Solyndra loan guarantee to benefit a campaign contributor.” Stopping short of an invocation of executive privilege, Ms. Ruemmler said the committee’s request for more material “implicates longstanding and significant institutional Executive Branch confidentiality interests.” Eliminating Ms. Browner's position would be another signal that the White House is giving up the effort.
Ms. Browner's departure was confirmed by a White House official Monday evening.
#2. To: Happy Quanzaa (#0)
Leader Picked for Review of U.S. Loans on Energy
ANYONE WHO UNDERMINES A CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATE [NEWT GINGRICH]IS AT RISK OF BEING BANNED ~ Goldi-Lox, eternal mad&angry mistress of LP, circa February 5, 2012
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