The longest serving Democratic Senator, Robert Byrd, recently sent a letter to Obama criticizing his appointment of various Czars as a concentration of power by the executive branch. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), the longest-serving Democratic senator, is criticizing President Obama’s appointment of White House “czars” to oversee federal policy, saying these executive positions amount to a power grab by the executive branch. In a letter to Obama on Wednesday, Byrd complained about Obama’s decision to create White House offices on health reform, urban affairs policy, and energy and climate change. Byrd said such positions “can threaten the Constitutional system of checks and balances. At the worst, White House staff have taken direction and control of programmatic areas that are the statutory responsibility of Senate-confirmed officials.” While it's rare for Byrd to criticize a president in his own party, Byrd is a stern constitutional scholar who has always stood up for the legislative branch in its role in checking the power of the White House. Byrd no longer holds the powerful Appropriations chairmanship, so his criticism does not carry as much weight these days. Byrd repeatedly clashed with the Bush administration over executive power, and it appears that he's not limiting his criticism to Republican administrations. Byrd also wants Obama to limit claims of executive privilege while also ensuring that the White House czars don’t have authority over Cabinet officers confirmed by the Senate. “As presidential assistants and advisers, these White House staffers are not accountable for their actions to the Congress, to cabinet officials, and to virtually anyone but the president,” Byrd wrote. “They rarely testify before congressional committees, and often shield the information and decision-making process behind the assertion of executive privilege. In too many instances, White House staff have been allowed to inhibit openness and transparency, and reduce accountability. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/19303.html”
You know Byrd was more of a Republican in action than a Democrat. Second, the guy is a whacko. Third, Obama is reversing the centralization of power under the executive branch...not centralizing it. Where was Byrd during the warrantless wire taps, expansion of executive privilage and other abuses under George II? Are you certian Byrd knew he was complaining about Obama or was George II he intended to refer to?
What goes around comes around. Republicans should have thought of that when Bush/Cheney claimed unprecedented executive power.
My mistake. Anyway, this is still the legacy of Bush/Cheney. What president wouldn't want more power?
In the words of every single Republican. "Robert Byrd is a racist and former Grand Dragon of the KKK, whatever he says is irrelevant and he should be taken to the back of the barn and"... You know.
There is nothing WRONG with criticizing Obama - jesus, pull your head out. Also, it doesn't matter is Byrd is a whacko or not, all that matters is if his criticism is accurate or not.
Thank you. And anyone who says Byrd was no critic of Bush has a pretty short memory. I remember him literally screaming "THIS IS WROOOONNGGGGGG!!!!!!" regarding one of Bush's policies (I don't recall which one). He was often one of Bush's loudest critics. You of the left have a very selective and short term memory. Let me refresh it: Byrd criticizes Bush over first responder funds By Bill Ghent CongressDaily February 25, 2003 Senate Appropriations ranking member Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., fired back at the White House Tuesday after President Bush criticized Congress Monday for hamstringing $3.5 billion in "first responders" money by tying it to already existing grant programs. In a letter to Bush, Byrd defended as "responsible" the decision to channel first responders money through existing state and local grant programs "rather than launch a new untested program." Instead, Byrd said it was the Bush administration that had failed to yield to calls by governors and others about the need for more homeland security money, vetoing some $2.5 billion in last summer's supplemental bill while using "strong-arm tactics" to defeat various amendments to the fiscal 2003 omnibus bill to boost homeland funding. Byrd criticizes Bush over first responder funds By Bill Ghent CongressDaily February 25, 2003 Senate Appropriations ranking member Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., fired back at the White House Tuesday after President Bush criticized Congress Monday for hamstringing $3.5 billion in "first responders" money by tying it to already existing grant programs. In a letter to Bush, Byrd defended as "responsible" the decision to channel first responders money through existing state and local grant programs "rather than launch a new untested program." Instead, Byrd said it was the Bush administration that had failed to yield to calls by governors and others about the need for more homeland security money, vetoing some $2.5 billion in last summer's supplemental bill while using "strong-arm tactics" to defeat various amendments to the fiscal 2003 omnibus bill to boost homeland funding. West Virginia's Sen. Byrd Criticizes Bush Administration, Corporate Secrecy. COPYRIGHT 2002 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News By Paul J Nyden, The Charleston Gazette, W.Va. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Jul. 12--As President Bush begins to criticize corporate secrecy, Bush is also working to keep his own administration hidden from public view, Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., said Thursday. Byrd said both government secrecy and corporate secrecy threaten the public interest. "When the administration's polls suggest opposition to certain policies from the American public, it limits access to information about that policy," Byrd said in a speech to the Senate Thursday morning. "I fear that the American public, and their elected representatives in Congress at times, are viewed by the administration as some sort of obstacle or hurdle that is to be avoided. "This kind of executive mentality can only emanate from the arrogance ... that believes the White House is the fountain of wisdom... http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-6878115_ITM West Virginia Byrd Senator Criticizes Bush for 'Rushing Into War'. Mar. 12--Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., once again asked the Bush administration to slow down its march to war with Iraq. "The world is awash in anti-Americanism," he warned Tuesday. "The doctrine of pre-emption enshrined in the Bush administration's national-security strategy -- the policy on which the war with Iraq is predicated -- has turned the global image of the United States from that of a world-class peacemaker into what many believe is dangerous warmonger. "The president is on the wrong track in insisting on rushing into war without the support of the international ... http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-98682325.html Sen. Robert Byrd lambasted the Bush administration Staunch constitutional defender Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W. Va., lambasted the Bush administration’s restrictions on civil liberties in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in a joint appearance with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy ’54-’56, D-Mass., and Gen. Wesley Clark on Tuesday at Cambridge’s First Parish Church. The event—nominally a discussion of Byrd’s recently released book Losing America: Confronting A Reckless And Arrogant Presidency co-sponsored by Harvard Book Store and Cambridge Forum before a packed house—provided a forum for the trio to aggressively criticize President Bush’s handling of U.S. foreign policy in the spotlight of the Democratic National Convention without the restrictions imposed by candidate John F. Kerry’s campaign staff. http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=503247
As has been noted before, Obama is a rightwing authoritarian politician. He will not willingly yield some of the "Unitary Executive" powers established by W. Byrd is right to call him on that, and it's something we all should keep an eye on.
Actually, you are very wrong. Citing a person's past views does not make them the same thing now. He's actually quite liberal now. ~String
Not according to Conservative pundits. They skewer this guy each and every chance they get, on the basis that he's a former Klansman, and according to them, he still harbors his past views. It wasn't to long ago when he uttered on national tv, "I've seen allot of White Niggers in my time".
Um ... it's a "Czar"? Byrd is Byrd. One of the things missing from the discussion so far is the object of Byrd's criticism. I, too, think this whole "Czar" idea is a mistake. I mean, we're calling the position "Czar". Come on. To the other, a chuckle for those inclined: Just how Communist can Obama be if he intends to appoint Czars?
Yeah, why not call them Caesar and Pontif Maximus ... ... I was reading in the New Yorker about these Ghost Suburbs in Florida... wow, really interesting.
