Our Chance To Eliminate CZARS and Hold Obama Accountable Is Now!

In disappointing news from the Senate yesterday, an amendment to ban funding to the Climate Change Czar John Holdren was voted down. Yes, the Czar that warned that the only way to avoid the impending appocolyppse due to overpopulation was to force abortions of undesireables, and put sterilants in our drinking water in his 1977 book Ecoscience, will continue to recieve our tax dollars through the EPA thanks to spineless Senators in D.C. Though this news is enough to drive one to insanity, there is a broader bill propsoed in the House of Representatives that has yet to be voted on and we still have time to strongly urge our Reps to endorse. More on that later.

Lets take a look at that amendment that would have banned funding to Holdren. This information is coming directly from the Thomas Library of Congress.

SA 2440. Mr. VITTER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by

[Page: S9570] GPO's PDF
him to the bill H.R. 2996, making appropriations for the Department of the Interior, environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:

FUNDING LIMITATION

Sec.__. None of the funds made available by this Act may be obligated for the purpose of implementing directives or policies of the Federal Government at the direction of the Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change (commonly known as the ``White House Climate Change Czar'').

Sounds like a great opertunity to kill Cap and Trade before it got off the ground was passed up for reasons only God (and maybe Lucifer) knows why. Evidently, our ELECTED officials have no problems with the unaccountable Czar's radical ambitions. Even worse, they don't seem to understand their own role in the system of checks and balances provided for in the US Constitution, nor do they understand that these Czar's are rendering them irrelevant as a legislative body. After digging through Congressional texts for hours, I wasn't able to find a record of the vote to see who was in or out on this issue. However, I think it may be more effective to call our Senator's offices directly and inquire the details on how they voted. For those who aren't familiar with Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, he bears watching for his stance on the current mess in D.C. and the Country for that matter and had this to say on his website regarding his Proposal:

“I think we’re seeing a very disturbing trend with the president appointing czars into leadership positions that have some obvious influence over federal agencies and policy even though they are not confirmed by the Senate,” said Vitter. “I’m very concerned about restricting the undefined authority of what are essentially political advisory positions, and I introduced this amendment with that particular goal in mind.”

Vitter’s amendment would specifically prohibit funds in the Interior Appropriations bill from being obligated for the purpose of implementing directives or policies at the direction of the Climate Czar. The amendment would not restrict any funding from being awarded for programs at the direction of individuals in positions that require confirmation by the U.S. Senate. It is Vitter’s contention that funding should only be awarded to programs directed by cabinet secretaries and other officials who have been approved by the Senate.

“With the recent controversy over Van Jones, the Green Jobs Czar, the practice of naming individuals to these special advisory positions has been further called into question,” Vitter said. “These czars are being given a tremendous amount of regulatory authority, placing them on a similar level as those cabinet-level officials who are thoroughly vetted by the U.S. Senate. That simply isn’t right.”

Mr Vitter is a Patriot for his efforts, and if you get a chance, check out his other proposals here.

Now that I have your attention, we have spent enough time dwelling on what could have been and now we'll focus on what CAN still be accomplished. Representative Steve Scalise, also of Louisiana, has introduced a bill that would end all current and future unconfirmed Czar positions in the White House. The following information is also coming directly from the Thomas Library of Congress.

H.R.3569 Title: To provide a sunset date for all presidentially appointed czars, to require Senate confirmation of those positions, and to provide that appropriated funds may not be used to pay for any salaries and expenses associated with those positions.
Sponsor: Rep Scalise, Steve [LA-1] (introduced 9/15/2009) Cosponsors (41)
Latest Major Action: 9/15/2009 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Finally some legislation written in plain english! An important thing to note on the bill is the number of cosponsors (which grew by one while writing this post). I have voiced my opinion on Holdren, Van Jones and other Czars for a while now, and I don't believe my opinions are far from what most in America, regardless of party affiliation, feel. That is the thing with these Czars, even if you are a Democrat and don't have a problem with the Czars now, you must have the foresight to see the dangerous precident being set. The fact of the matter is: someday the power will shift in D.C. and the next time it may be a more tyrannical President that will yield these unconstitutional powers. I am a Constitutional advocate above all else, and this is a clear effort to undermine the system of checks and balances which protect us from becoming the next Venezuela.

This took a lot of digging to compile this post, but I am happy to do the legwork for my readers. I have placed a button above and below all posts linking to the contact information of all elected officials in D.C. for quite some time now and if you haven't made the leap to call your Rep or Senator up to this point... now is the time to do so! There is no need to be intimidated, the process is quick and painless. When you call, a REAL person will answer the phone immediately and the only information you will be asked for is your name and city of residence before being allowed to voice your opinion. I urge everyone to call and demand that your Representative not only vote in favor of this bill, but also become a cosponsor. If you also believe in the Constitution, this is not only your right, but your RESPONSIBILITY as a citizen of this great Nation.