The current issue of Time magazine has an interesting news report titled “How many more Mike Browns are out there?” that examines political appointments in the federal government. It recognizes that such appointments occur in every administration but says that “Bush has gone further than most Presidents to put political stalwarts in some of the most important government jobs you’ve never heard of, and to give them genuine power over the bureaucracy.”
Two of the appointees that Time features are David Safavian, the ex-lobbyist with minimal purchasing experience who oversaw $300 billion in spending at the Office of Management and Budget before being arrested this month, and Julie Myers, the niece of Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Richard Myers and Bush’s nominee to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement, despite having minimal experience.
Part of the problem is the lack of serious vetting in the confirmation process. Time notes that “Safavian’s April 2004 confirmation hearing before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee (attended by only five of the panel’s 17 members) lasted just 67 minutes, and not a single question was asked about his qualifications.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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21 Comments
There are many “Browns” out there. Quite a few are posing as Liberals and posting on thes blog.Seriously, though, friends and contributors should get jobs based on their abilities, not on their connections. I could care less if Bush gives jobs to his dog, as long as the dog is gualified. I believe in Brown’s case, the dog WAS more qualified.
Why is anyone surprised? Everyone knows that Bush takes care of his own…. the have’s and the have more’s.
J.M.,
Bush appoints people like Brown because he himself is a Brown.
In every job Bush has had, he was either a non-entity or he was a disaster. His tenure as Gov. of Texas was an unmitigated disaster. The only thing that saved the state was their constitution that vests little power in the executive.
He cut taxes for the rich and drove the state into massive debt. Sound familiar?
Meanwhile, policy-wonk Gore was so interested in laying out his own plans, he gave Bush a free pass on Bush’s clear and obvious past failings; that was ONE mistake Bush did not make.
Everything Bush ever got was based on connections, not competence.
No wonder he doesn’t value it.
And want more, and willing to kill to get more.
Galahad,Dead on, again. The scary part is he will be appointing two justices to the Supreme Court. If they emulate Brown, this country is in real trouble.
Good one, Galahad!
You know….I agree that Brown dropped the ball….He was incompetent but exactly how many competent leaders do you think are in the world? Are you willing to pay them for competent leadership?
I never want to hear another person who attacks these appointments criticize how much money CEO’s of large companies make.
Obviously the reason why there is so much backlash against CEO’s who make milions per year in salary is because you assume that any moron could do thier job…..Yet, we see what happens when we do put poor leaders in charge of things. The rarity of your skill set is what determines your compensation in the world….Obviously, there is a shortage of Strong leaders who can provide direction for large orginizations. So i dont want to hear about greedy CEO’s anymore
Galahad, your lack of understanding of basic economics is stunning.
How does the govt obtain revenue?
revenue is created by taking a portion of income and wealth right?
So 50% of people pay essentially no taxes at all (4% actually) …psst….you can’t cut taxes for people who dont pay any!
The other 50% people pay 96% of taxes.
So, which 50% do you think will go out and do something to create more wealth and income to be taxed?
Give one man a dollar and he thinks how to spend it, give another man a dollar and the he thinks how he can turn that $1 into $2 then into $4, I think I know the kind you are Galahad
DR–
The question is simply this–what is the fairest amount for those who have benefited most from society to pay in taxes?
You reactionaries seem to think that the ideal amount is zero. You can’t have a civilized society without taxation. You need roads, police, fire, education, FDA, FAA, FTC, SEC, the military and a whole host of other programs that make life livable.
I think we should have a level of taxation that pays the country’s financial obligations. This is what BushCo. is not willing to do.
They have turned the budget surplus into a budget deficit. They have increased the national debt every year after Clinton-Gore lowered it for six years.
We either have to cut spending or raise taxes to bring the deficit back into balance. Bush has done precisely the opposite–raised spending (33 percent in 4 years!) and cut taxes.
It’s not working. He’s turning us into flipping Argentina.
Also, DR, the poor don’t pay income taxes perhaps, but they pay other taxes.
They pay Social Security (which by the way is capped at 90K so the rich get a huge break there) and Medicare. They pay state and local taxes in many cases. They pay car tags, sales tax, property tax (even if they rent, the landlord pays property tax from their rents), gasoline tax.
When one considers payroll taxes and all the other taxes the poor pay, they may have a higher percentage of their income taxed than the rich, despite not paying income taxes, especially when you factor in the accounting schemes the rich use to avoid taxation.
And lastly, DR, you don’t know crap about “what kind of a person I am.”
I worked my way through college thanks to good unionized jobs with the Teamsters and the Steelworkers.
When I took my MA, I had saved money in the bank.
I had my house paid off when I was 32. I made my first stock market investment when I was 19 and it went from 6 to 18 in less than a year.
I’m not a millionaire yet, but will be by the time I retire, which isn’t bad for my line of work.
So why don’t you take the smug self-righteousness and cram it.
Galahad,Kin I borry a doller?
JM–
I’m trying to save a dollar and make some money off it.
That’s what Bush policies aren’t letting people do these days.
You know what else, if you make 50,000 in “capital gains” by selling stock say, how much of that goes to Social Security and Medicare?
Exactly zero.
So the poor have to pay payroll taxes on their pathetic incomes but rich investors don’t pay the same taxes on investment income.
Oh, yeah, that’s fair . . . it’s like Robin Hood, except for the rich.
Galahad,Never mind, I’ll trade in some aluminum cans.
DR,If you don’t want to read another attack on some CEO, quit reading. When a CEO makes $54,000 an hour, I consider that a bit outrageous. Especially when the average wage in the states is around $36,000 a year. Nobody is worth that much, I don’t care if they discover a cure for the common cold.Those people should be paying way more in taxes than they do now.Period.
Galahd. I thought you got a Golden Key scholarship. Is that how you “worked your way through college.”
How could you graduate in 2003 and then get a MA and pay off your house? Win the lottery? Inherit some $$?
You don’t look even close to 32 in your 2003 picture.
Ian–
I don’t know what brand of crack you smoke, but you’re confusing me with a much younger man.
I got an MA in 1980. I worked for UPS for two years (Teamsters) and I worked construction for a public utility as a welder for two summers (Steelworkers).
Thank goodness college was a lot cheaper back then thanks to higher taxes, so I didn’t have to take out the loans kids do today.
Your early e-mail addresses match you, or at least your computer, to a recent K-State grad…..
Heh, this is why I was using fake or new e-mail addresses.
I didn’t want wack-os digging up personal information on me.
I must have accidentally used somebody’s real address.
You ought to try goggling your e-mail address, Soxfan.
See where it takes you.
I’m too polite to mention it publicly.
Ahaha! Galahad, I did the google search. I say we re-name Ian as “Limp-D”.
Not me, XXX.
Some things are too important to poke fun at. “Quality time” with that special someone is one of those things, heh.