Feingold Takes Up 'Czar' Questions with the White House

[SpartanDem]

Really? No one gave a damn about Bush's or Clinton's "czars". Way to be a tool Russ!

Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-Wisc.) released a letter Wednesday asking the White House for an accounting of the "roles and responsibilities" of the growing number of special advisers or policy "czars" working for President Obama.

In the letter, Feingold also asked the president's legal advisers to explain how their appointments square with the Constitution's mandate that the Senate oversee executive appointments.

"I hope that this information will help address some of the concerns that have been raised about new positions in the White House and elsewhere in the Executive Branch," wrote Feingold, chairman of the Senate Constitution Subcommittee. He added that the issue was raised by his constituents in Wisconsin at several town hall meetings

Since taking office, Obama has continued a presidential tradition by appointing several dozen special advisers and envoys, while assigning special duties to Cabinet deputies to coordinate across normal administrative boundaries. While some of the appointments are Senate approved, others are not -- and the issue has become a flashpoint for critics of the presidents who have labeled the appointees "czars."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/09/16/liberal_sen_takes_up_czar_ques.html?hpid=sec-politics