Posted by
Blogging Conservative Granny on Thursday, October 29, 2009 2:04:39 PM
In the last debate before last fall’s elections, then-Senator Obama said:
Let me tell you who I associate with. On economic policy, I associate with Warren Buffett and former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker. If I'm interested in figuring out my foreign policy, I associate myself with my running mate, Joe Biden or with (Richard) Lugar, the Republican ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, or General Jim Jones, the former supreme allied commander of NATO.
Those are the people, Democrats and Republicans, who have shaped my ideas and who will be surrounding me in the White House.
In the months since the election, we’ve found that there are a few more people than that in the President’s inner circle. Since I started with the premise that lots of the people he surrounds himself with are elitists, I highlighted all the Ivy League connections. I also highlighted some career positions with some names you’ll recognize from the financial sector as well as some ultra-liberal connections.
Herbert Allison—bailout czar (appointment required confirmation)
His education: degree in philosophy from Yale; MBA from Stanford.
His work history includes nearly 30 years at Merrill Lynch and a short stint as CEO at Fannie Mae.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/a/herbert_m_allison_jr/index.html
Bought $25 million estate from Phil Donohue & Marlo Thomas in 2006 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E2DC1F3FF934A35756C0A9609C8B63
Alan Bersin—border czar (a/k/a Departrment of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs)
Education: A.B. in government from Harvard
Rhodes Scholar at Oxford
Law degree from Yale (1974)
Work experience: Southwest border representative for the Attorney General ’95-98
Superintendent of San Diego Public Schools
California Education Secretary
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Bersin
Dennis Blair—Intelligence Czar (Director of National Intelligence; required confirmation)
Education: U.S. Naval Academy (1968)
Work Experience: 34 years in Navy; retired as admiral
Associations: board of directors of EDO Corporation, which worked with the F-22 Raptor project; resigned from EDO while involved with the Institute for Defense Analyses, a national security focused government think tank that endorsed a multiple-year contract for that project; claimed he had no influence on the study (he was president of IDA)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_C._Blair#Naval_career
Ron Bloom—Manufacturing Czar (Senior Counselor for Manufacturing Policy)
Education: bachelor’s from Wesleyan University
MBA from Harvard
This bio from the Whitehouse blog:
Prior to joining the Treasury Department, Bloom served as a Special Assistant to the President of the United Steelworkers Union where his responsibilities included the Union’s collective bargaining program in its core jurisdictions with an emphasis on the particular issues facing the Steelworkers in its dealings with companies facing financial difficulties. He also coordinated the Union’s relationships with investors in both public and private companies. Prior to joining the Steelworkers, Bloom was one of the founding partners of Keilin and Bloom, an investment banking firm, where he was involved in numerous transactions on behalf of the Steelworkers, the Auto Workers, the Teamsters, the Air Line Pilots Association and other unions. Prior to founding Keilin and Bloom, Bloom was a Vice President at the investment banking firm of Lazard Freres & Co. where he specialized in analyzing, structuring and raising financing for union-led employee-ownership transactions. Previously he served as a research and negotiating specialist for the Service Employees International Union.
http://whitehouse.blogdig.net/archives/articles/September2009/08/President_Obama_Names_Ron_Bloom_Senior_Counselor_for_Manufacturing_Policy.html
John Brennan—counterterrorism czar (Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism
Education: Fordham University, political science; studied in Cairo one year
Master’s in government from University of Texas at Austin, concentrating in Middle Eastern studies
Career: CIA and other national security jobs
Because of his association with interrogation, he withdrew from consideration for head of the CIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_O._Brennan
Carol Browner—energy czar (Director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy) (No confirmation required.)
Education—University of Florida, including law school
Career—worked for the Florida House of Representative and then for Citizen Action, a group the origins of which “lies in various state-level organizations founded by veterans of Students for a Democratic Society and the Indochina Peace Campaign.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Action
Went on to work as a legislative assistant to Senators Chiles and Gore. Headed Florida Department of Environmental Protection from 1991-93. Head of EPA under Clinton. Helped found Albright Group and Albright Capital Management.
Personal: married to former congressman, now lobbyist for companies with energy policy concerns, Thomas Downey.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Browner#Business_career
A cached web page shows her as a member of the Commission for a Sustainable World Society, a part of Socialists International. http://24ahead.com/images/si-csws-cache-as-of-011009.jpg
Adolfo Carrion—urban affairs czar (Director of White House Office of Urban Affairs Policy)
Education: graduate of a Christian liberal arts college with major in world religions Kings College; masters in urban planning from Hunter College
Career: associate pastor
Intermediate public school teacher
City planning in the Bronx
New York city council member
Borough president of the Bronx District
Controversy: Had an addition on his house in 2007; didn’t pay for it until April, 2009 (he accepted the White House position in February, 2009), and his final payment was half of the estimate. The architect for his project received approval for a development in the Bronx while working on the Carrion house while Carrion was borough president.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolfo_Carrion
Ashton Carter—weapons czar (Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (AT&L)) Required Senate confirmation
Education: graduated from Yale with degrees in medievel history and physics
Rhode’s scholar with a doctorate in theoretical physics from Oxford
Career: served in President Clinton’s first term as assistant director of defense for international security policy
Advisor to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice; “advised on the creation of the Department of Homeland Security”
Currently on leave from the faculty of the JFK School of Government at Harvard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashton_Carter
Aneesh Chopra—technology czar (Chief Technology Officer of the United States) Senate confirmation, Aug 2009
Education—BA from John Hopkins (1994)
Masters from Harvard’s JFK School of Government (1997)
Career—managing director of a healthcare think tank
Secretary of technology for the state of Virginia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aneesh_Chopra
Jeffrey Crowley—AIDS czar (Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy)
Education: Kalamazoo College (Chemistry)
Master’s in public health (John Hopkins)
Career: National Association of People with AIDS (1994-2000)
Senior scholar and researcher at Institute for Health Policy (Georgetown University)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Crowley
Mr. Crowley is openly gay, and this link provides the names of other LGBT members of the Obama administration. http://www.examiner.com/x-1916-Sex--Relationships-Examiner~y2009m2d26-Jeffrey-S-Crowley-Obama-appoints-Director-of-the-Office-of-National-AIDS-Policy
Cameron Davis—Great Lakes Czar
Education: Boston University
J.D. Chicago-Kent College of Law
Career: served as President of the Great Lakes Alliance. Has called Rahm Emanuel “the godfather of Great Lakes restoration legislation.” His group has lobbied for a $20 billion restoration project, and Obama’s proposed 2010 budget has $475 million in new spending for the lakes.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1607289,w-great-lakes-obama-davis-060409.article
http://www.greatlakes.org/Page.aspx?pid=823
Nancy-Ann Deparle—health czar
Education: University of Tennessee
Rhode’s scholar at Oxford
Law degree at Harvard
Career: partner in Nashville law firm
Commissioner of the Tennesse Department of Human Services
Administered Medicare for the Clinton administration
Personal: married to a NY Times reporter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy-Ann_Min_DeParle
Controversy: MSNBC reports that she “served as a director of corporations that faced scores of federal investigations, whistleblower lawsuits and other regulatory actions, according to government records reviewed by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31566399/ns/health-health_care/
Earl Devaney—stimulus oversight czar
Education: degree in government from Franklin and Marshall college
Career: Massachusetts police officer
Secret service (fraud division)
Director of criminal enforcement for the EPA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Devaney
Linda Douglass—Director of Communications for the Office of Health Reform—referred to by some as the Disinformation Czar
Education: BA in psychology from University of Southern Cal
Career: journalism, ABC reporter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Douglass
Joshua DuBois—God czar (head of theOffice of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
Education: graduated from Boston University in 2003 with a degree in political science
Master’s from Princeton in public affairs (2005)
Career: Aid to Rep. Rush Holt, Jr. and fellow in the office of Rep. Charles Rangel
Aid to Senator Obama
Pentecostal minister
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_DuBois
Arne Duncan—Education Czar (Secretary of Education) (confirmed by Senate)
Education: graduated from Harvard (1987) (sociology)
Career: Director of the Aerial Education Initiative on the Chicago south side
Chief of staff to the CEO of Chicago Public Schools
Appointed CEO of the schools by Mayor Daley in 2001
Other: Played professional basketball in Australia for four years
Played pickup basketball with Michael Jordan
Played recreational basketball with Obama
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arne_Duncan#Education_career
His bio on the Department of Education website doesn’t show any advanced education degrees.
http://www.ed.gov/news/staff/bios/duncan.html
Kenneth Feinberg—Pay czar
Education: BA University of Massachusetts-Amherst (1967)
Law degree New York University
Career: Worked for the New York Department of Justice
Assistant then chief of staff for Sen. Ted Kennedy for five years before helping found a law firm, then started his own
Mediated high-profile cases including Agent Orange, asbestos, and defective contraceptive devices
Pro bono head of the Sept 11th Victim Compensation Fund
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Feinberg
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1903547,00.html
Daniel Fried—Guantanamo closure czar (Special Envoy to Guantanomo)
Education: BA Cornell
International Affairs degree from Columbia
Career: Foreign service, including at the State Department, as well as overseas in Leningrad, Belgrade, and Warsaw
Worked for the National Security Council during part of the Clinton Administration
Along with Eric Holder, he sits on a committee to review prisoners’ cases. He is tasked with getting European countries and Yemen to take back around 240 prisoners
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Fried
J. Scott Gration—Sudan Czar
Education: Rutgers
Master’s from Georgetown University (National Security Studies)
Career: Over 30 years in the Air Force; attended Armed Forces Staff College and National War College
Other: He speaks Swahili because his parents were missionaries to Africa. Says, “I believe if you could get rid of all the nuclear weapons this would be a wonderful world.”
http://www.newsweek.com/id/32587
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Gration
Cybersecurity Czar
During his campaign, Obama promised to “appoint a National Cyber Advisor who will report directly to me." http://www.barackobama.com/2008/07/16/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_95.php
This position was expected to be filled by Melissa Hathaway who recently resigned “after leading a sweeping review of the federal cybersecurity apparatus that President Obama commissioned in February.” You can read the report of a recent speech she made at a security conference here: http://www.internetnews.com/government/article.php/3839001/Hathaway+Feds+Starting+to+Get+Cybersecurity.htm
David J. Hayes—Water Czar (Deputy Secretary of the Interior)—Confirmed by Senate
Education: Bachelor’s from Notre Dame
Law degree from Stanford (1978)
Career: served in same position during Clinton Administration
Practiced environmental and energy law after leaving government the first time
Wikipedia has no information about what he did between law school graduation and his first government position. It does report this:
During the 2007-2008 academic year, Hayes was a Consulting Professor at Stanford University's Woods Institute for the Environment [5], where he undertook a special project analyzing the regulatory challenges associated with carbon offsets. His report was published by the Center for American Progress.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_J._Hayes
Richard Holbrooke—Af-Pak Czar (Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan)
Another Clinton retread, Holbrooke served as ambassador to Germany and the United Nations during that administration. He goes back to the Johnson years.
Education: graduate of Brown University
Career: besides his extensive time in government positions, he was a managing director of Lehman Brothers in the 1980’s. From 2001 to 2008, he was a member of the board of directors of AIG.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Holbrooke
John Holdren—Science Czar (Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy)
Education: Bachelor’s from MIT (1965)
Phd. Stanford (1970)
Career: Helped found and helped lead a master’s program in energy and resources at University of California (Berkeley) for over 20 years
More recently he served “as the Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and Professor of Environmental Science and Policy in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard.” http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2008/1218holdren.shtml
You can read some of the content of a 1977 textbook which Holdren coauthored—Ecoscience : Population, Resources, Environment at zombietimes.com. http://zombietime.com/john_holdren/
Read more about him here at http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2368
Kevin Jennings—safe schools czar (Assistant Deputy Secretary, Office of Safe & Drug Free Schools)
Read his bio and you might suspect that there’s more of an agenda than school security.
Education: Bachelor’s from Harvard
Master’s from Columbia
MBA NYU’s Stern School of Business
Career: History teacher
Founder of (quoting the Department of Education website) “and former executive director of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), an organization that works to make schools safe for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.”
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2009/05/05192009d.html
His bio on his website says:
He became a high school history teacher after graduation. He became the faculty advisor to the nation’s first gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) at Concord (Massachusetts) Academy in 1988, launching his life on a path dedicated to seeking to make sure schools become places where young people learn to value and respect everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
http://kevinjennings.com/blog/biography/
Read an interview with him here:
http://sandiego.indymedia.org/es/2002/05/1255.shtml
Van Jones—Green Jobs Czar
Government career recently ended after his radical background was revealed, so I won’t waste a lot of time and space on him. (BA from University of Tennessee and graduated from YaleLawSchool.) Here are a few related things you might want to look at.
Van Jones was a long-time board member of the Apollo Alliance before taking this job. http://apolloalliance.org/tag/van-jones/
The Apollo Alliance was instrumental in getting the stimulus package.
http://apolloalliance.org/apollo-productions/weekly-updates/apollo-weekly-update-22009-clean-energy-breakthrough-in-stimulus-next-steps/
Jeff Jones (no relation) is director of the New York State Apollo Alliance. I had to go to a cached page to find this: http://74.6.239.67/search/cache?ei=UTF-8&p=%22Jeff+JOnes%22+apollo+alliance&fr=slv1-&u=bit.ly/nTR24&w=%22jeff+jones%22+apollo+alliance&d=TfDTNd29TX8W&icp=1&.intl=us&sig=NsAQCOUUUmC.DpWPLYrMYA--
According to wikipedia,”He was a national officer in Students for a Democratic Society, a founding member of Weatherman, and a leader of the Weather Underground.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Jones_(activist)
His name also appears in this writeup about a Movement for a Democratic Society meeting in 2007. http://antiauthoritarian.net/NLN/?p=179#more-179
Gil Kerlikowske—drug czar (Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy)
Education: criminal justice BA and MA from University of South Florida (Tampa)
Graduate of FBI Academy’s National Executive Institute
Career: policeman and police chief in three Florida towns
Oversight of community grants for the Justice Department during the Clinton Administration
Seattle, Washington, police chief from 2001 until appointed to this position
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Kerlikowske
Ron Kirk—Trade Czar (United States Trade Representative)
Education: Austin College (political science and sociology)
University of Texas School of Law
Career: various stints of practicing law—currently a partner in a Houston Firm (Vinson and Elkins) where he made lots of money lobbying. http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/121308dnnatkirk.3ba21ad.html
He also worked for Senator Lloyd Bentsen, was Secretary of State for Ann Richards, and was mayor of Dallas for six years. He made a bid for Phil Gramm’s senate seat.
Vivek Kundra—Infotech Czar (Chief Information Officer of the United States)
Education: degree in psychology from University of Maryland College Park
IT masters from University of Maryland University College
graduate of the Sorensen Instiute for Political Leadership (University of Maryland)
University of Maryland University College.[1][6] Additionally, he is a graduate of the University of Virginia's Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivek_Kundra
JC Penney shoplifter http://www.businessinsider.com/vivek-kundras-crime-shoplifted-some-shirts-from-jc-penney-2009-3
Mark Lloyd—FCC Diversity Czar (Associate General Counsel and Chief Diversity Officer)
Education: Undergraduate degree University of Michigan
Law degree Georgetown University
Career: 20 years in print and broadcast journalism
Communication attorney
Consultant to the Clinton Administration
Visiting scholar at MIT
Director of Civil Rights Forum on Communications Policy
Senior fellow at Center for American Progress
http://www.americanprogress.org/events/2007/05/lloyd.html
Whether he likes free speech is debatable. Here’s David Horowitz’s site (Horowitz is the son of two communists and a reformed lefty himself):
http://newsrealblog.com/2009/08/28/fcc-diversity-czar-loves-communist-hugo-chavez/
Links to pieces by Mark Lloyd:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/06/pdf/talk_radio.pdf
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/07/lloyd_fairness.html
Douglas Lute—War Czar (Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan)
A holdover from the Bush Administration
Education: United States Military Academy
master’s the Kennedy School of Government (Harvard)
Career: LT Gen U.S. Army
Other: His current wife, Jane Holl Lute, was recently appointed Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.
George Mitchell—Mideast Peace Czar (Special Envoy to the Middle East)
Education: Bowdoin College (1954)
J.D. Georgetown University Law Center
Career: U.S. Department of Justice
Assistant to Sen. Muskie
Practiced law in Maine
Appointed U.S. Atttorney for Maine by Pres. Carter
Federal judge
Appointed to Senate to replace Ed Muskie in 1980
Turned down appointment to Supreme Court by President Clinton
Went back to private practice
Special envoy for Northern Ireland
2004-2006 chairman of the board for Disney
2006 headed investigation of major league baseball performance-enhancing drug use
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_J._Mitchell
Ed Montgomery—Car Czar (Director of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers)
Education: bachelor’s Pennsylvania State University
Master’s and Phd. in economonics Harvard University
Career: taught Michigan State and University of Maryland (College Park)
U.S. Dept. of Labor chief economist during the Clinton Administration
dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (University of Maryland—College Park)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_B._Montgomery
Lynn Rosenthal—Domestic Violence Czar (White House Advisor on Violence Against Women)
Education: Bachelors in social work, Florida State University
Career: directed a shelter
2000-2006 Executive Director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV)
Executive Director of the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Vice-President-Biden-Announces-Appointment-of-White-House-Advisor-on-Violence-Against-Women/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/cwg/who/vp
Dennis Ross—Mideast Policy Czar (Adviser on Middle East Affairs)
Education: UCLA for bachelor’s and advanced degrees
Career: various government positions except for a brief time in academia in the 1980’s
Middle East Envoy for Clinton Administration
“helped the Isaraelis and Palestinians reach the 1995 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and brokered the Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron in 1997. He facilitated the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace and also worked on talks between Israel and Syria.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Ross
Gary Samore—WMD Czar (Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for Arms Control and Weapons of Mass Destruction, Proliferation, and Terrorism
Education: BA sociology State University of NY (Stony Brook)
PhD in government from Harvard
Career: joined the State Department in 1987
Member of National Security Council in Clinton Administration, advising on non-proliferation
Went to work for nonprofits in 2001
Director of studies for Council on Foreign Relations (2006)
http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Gary_Samore
Todd Stern—Climate Change Czar (Special Envoy on Climate Change)
Education: Bachelor’s Dartmouth
Law degree from Harvard Law School
Career: Legal Aid Society for two years
Decade in private law
Senior counsel to Sen. Leahy
Deputy staff secretary to Clinton
At Treasury Department from 1999-2001
Adviser on environment and global warming to the Hillary Clinton campaign
Senior fellow at the Center for American Progress
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1874152,00.html
Other: At the news conference announcing his appointment, he said, referring to climate change and clean energy, “The time for denial, delay, and dispute is over.”
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/01/115409.htm
The Center for American Progress bills itself as nonpartisan, but it’s headed by John Podesta who was chief of staff for Pres. Clinton. Read what Discover the Networks says about it here: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=67090
George Soros is reported to have given $3 million to start the group. See that and other liberal causes that his money had gone to as of May, 2005 here: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/Articles/GEORGE%20SOROS'%20WEB%20OF%20OBSTRUCTION.htm
Cass Sunstein—Regulatory Czar (Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs) (confirmed by Senate)
Education: BA Harvard
JD Harvard Law School
Career: clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall
Justice Department
Taught at University of Chicago Law School 27 years
Also has taught at Columbia and Harvard
Other: According to wikipedia, Sunstein has written these books:
After the Rights Revolution (1990)
The Partial Constitution (1993)
Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech (1995)
Legal Reasoning and Political Conflict (1996)
Free Markets and Social Justice (1997)
One Case at a Time (1999)
Risk and Reason (2002)
Why Societies Need Dissent (2003)
Laws of Fear: Beyond the Precautionary Principle (2005)
Radicals in Robes: Why Extreme Right-Wing Courts Are Wrong for America (2005)
Are Judges Political? An Empirical Analysis of the Federal Judiciary (2005)
Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce Knowledge (2006)
co-authored with Richard Thaler Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness (2008)
Sunstein has become known for his opposition to hunting and his idea that animals have right to legal representation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cass_Sunstein
Maybe we should be grateful he’s just a czar—Esquire said he’s been mentioned as a possible Supreme Court nominee. http://www.esquire.com/features/fun-couple-21st-century-1008?click=main_sr
He’s married to a journalist (a Yale graduate) a decade and a half his junior. They met during the Obama campaign. Samantha Power had to resign from the campaign after calling Hillary Clinton a monster. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Power
Sunstein’s co-author of the book Nudge (Richard Thaler) said of his nomination: "Cass is one of the people in the Administration he knows best….He knew what he was doing when he gave Cass that job." http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1889153-2,00.html
Larry Summers—Economic Czar (Director of the White House's National Economic Council)
Education: degree in economics from MIT
PhD Harvard
Career: Harvard professor
Economic adviser to Pres. Reagan and the Dukakis campaign
Chief economist for the World Bank 1991-1993
Worked in the Clinton Administration, including a short time as Secretary of the Treasury
President of Harvard from 2001-2006.
Other: Resigned after a no-confidence vote by the faculty. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Summers
One controversary was a speech in which he said “innate differences between men and women might be one reason fewer women succeed in science and math careers.” http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/01/17/summers_remarks_on_women_draw_fire/
Michael Taylor—Food Czar (Senior Adviser to the FDA Commissioner)
Education: BA from Davidson College in political science
Law degree from University of Virginia
http://www.resolv.org/about/board/taylor.htm
Career: started in the FDA in 1976 as a litigating attorney
USDA
Professor University of Maryland School of Medicine
Research professor at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services
The press announcement of his appointment called him “a nationally recognized food safety expert and research professor at George Washington University’s School of Public Health and Health Services. http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm170842.htm
The FDA press announcement doesn’t mention Taylor’s position at Monsanto, a fact that has been proposed as the equivalent of the fox guarding the hen house.
http://www.examiner.com/x-6495-US-Intelligence-Examiner~y2009m8d23-Obama-appoints-Monsanto-fox-to-guard-food-safety-hen-house
http://www.naturalnews.com/026809_food_Monsanto_the_FDA.html
http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/00n0598/ts00022.pdf
Arturo Valenzuela—Latin-American Czar (Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere)—not yet confirmed by the Senate
Education: BA political science and religion from Drew University
Master’s and PhD in political science from ColumbiaUniversity
Career: Deputy Assistant Secretary for Inter-American Affairs in Pres. Clinton’s Department of State. In Clinton’s second term, Valenzuela was Senior Director for Inter-American Affairs at the National Security Council.
Has taught at Georgetown and Duke
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arturo_Valenzuela
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Arturo_Valenzuela
Paul Volcker—Economic Czar (chairman of the newly formed Economic Recovery Advisory Board)
Education: Bachelor’s from Princeton
Master’s in political economy from Harvard
One year at the London School of Economics
Career: Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Chase Manhattan Bank
U.S. Treasury Department (1969-1974)
President of the Federal Reserve Bank
In 1989, he told Time Magazine, "The [Carter] Administration [was] deeply concerned …. [about] … exploding inflation and was willing to stand still for stronger measures than would ordinarily be the case. And that is a great advantage. If you can walk into a situation that is felt to be so severely out of kilter, you have greater freedom of action."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Volcker
http://www.businesstoday.org/magazine/temporarily-cancelled-running-bull/paul-volcker
Elizabeth Warren—TARP Czar (chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel created to oversee the U.S. banking bailout—the Troubled Assets Relief Program)
Education: BS University of Houston
Law degree from Rutgers
Career: law professor at Harvard
Blogger for the Huffington Post
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Warren
Jeffrey Zients—Government Performance Czar (United States Chief Performance Officer)—confirmed by Senate
Education: Bachelor’s from Duke University
Career: worked in management consulting
Found and manages “an investment firm primarily focused on pediatric healthcare and business services companies.”
Was on the board of XM Satellite Radio
Was on the Sirius XM board until he was confirmed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Zients
Behavioral Science Czar
This one hasn’t been announced as far as I know. I’ve heard Joe Goebbels suggested for the position, other than the teeny tiny little problem that he’s already dead. HR 3247 was introduced in the House in July for the purpose of establishing “a social and behavioral sciences research program at the Department of Energy, and for other purposes.” Is it just me, or does that “other purposes” sounds kind of open-ended?
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.+3247:
Copyright Czar
We can’t blame this position on the current holder of the Presidency. Pres. Bush signed the bill back in October ’08. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2332432,00.asp
VP Biden assured the Movie Picture Association of America back in April that they’d like Pres. Obama’s pick for the position. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/04/biden-to-mpaa-youll-like-obamas-copyright-pick.ars
September 25th, President Obama nominated Victoria A. Espinel to the position, officially known as U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator.
Education: B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown, LLM from London School of Economics, J.D. Georgetown University Law School
Career: Varied and can be found here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Announces-More-Key-Administration-Posts-9/25/09