Obama's Cabinet and Staff

[EvilMonkey]

You seem to want to apply the bats*** fringe complainers (who complain about EVERYTHING the other side does) to the Obama campaign as a whole, and to any of us who voted for him. I really think it was ever Obama's intention, or his words, to have some sort of ban on any and all current and former lobbyists having any role whatsoever in his administration. That would be incredibly silly and impractical.

 

Also, do you think anyone in their right mind honestly thought that Obama would change EVERYTHING? No one said anything of the sort here, and Obama's campaign certainly didn't. There are only so many things that can be changed. Yes, Obama's main theme was change. Yes, I think he can indeed change a number of important things. No, no one I have seen has ever said that Obama will change every single damn thing.

 

Are you going to flip out if Obama walks the same path from Marine 1 to the White House that Bush did?

How his Obama himself expressing his distrust and dislike of lobbyists bats*** fring anything! Obama repeatedly emphasized the problems of lobbyists in politics. Made it a point to show how it was bad every time McCain even shook the hand of one as if the lobbying cooties were contagious. He made a huge showing of giving back donations from lobbyists because “Giving back these donations is part of our best efforts to ensure we stay true to our commitment to not take money from federal lobbyists,” said Bill Burton, a campaign spokesman. http://tinyurl.com/24vkmt

Both Barack Obama and John Edwards have fulminated against "lobbyists" and "insiders," and claimed that they will end "business as usual" in Washington if elected president. How is picking a former lobbyist with ties to a current lobbying firm in any way ending business asusual. http://tinyurl.com/2qmjv7

Hell, Alexrod is a lobbyist in all but name. Only some very loose rules in illinois lets him get away with not registering as one for ComEd. Yes, every 'promise' he makes and then changes on, before he even gets into office, i am going to talk about. Do I think he was going to change everything? No, I thought he would change almost nothing. But he SAID he was going to do a heck of alot of hopey and changy things. We'll see. Dems had 8 years to play all nice, and all they did was a little bit after 9/11, because they would have looked like uncaring asses if they didn't play nice for just a little while.

[KipWellsFan]

Interesting, I thought Lugar already declined? He's fully qualified and probably the best for the job, though.

 

What's this declining nonsense? My impression from up here in the north was that if the President asks you to do something you do it.

 

Another impression I often have is, that if you say you're declining, what's really happened is you've been told you're not going to be picked.

Edited November 12, 2008 by KipWellsFan

[NorthSideSox72]

How his Obama himself expressing his distrust and dislike of lobbyists bats*** fring anything! Obama repeatedly emphasized the problems of lobbyists in politics. Made it a point to show how it was bad every time McCain even shook the hand of one as if the lobbying cooties were contagious. He made a huge showing of giving back donations from lobbyists because “Giving back these donations is part of our best efforts to ensure we stay true to our commitment to not take money from federal lobbyists,” said Bill Burton, a campaign spokesman. http://tinyurl.com/24vkmt

Both Barack Obama and John Edwards have fulminated against "lobbyists" and "insiders," and claimed that they will end "business as usual" in Washington if elected president. How is picking a former lobbyist with ties to a current lobbying firm in any way ending business asusual. http://tinyurl.com/2qmjv7

Hell, Alexrod is a lobbyist in all but name. Only some very loose rules in illinois lets him get away with not registering as one for ComEd. Yes, every 'promise' he makes and then changes on, before he even gets into office, i am going to talk about. Do I think he was going to change everything? No, I thought he would change almost nothing. But he SAID he was going to do a heck of alot of hopey and changy things. We'll see. Dems had 8 years to play all nice, and all they did was a little bit after 9/11, because they would have looked like uncaring asses if they didn't play nice for just a little while.

Apparently we aren't going to see eye to eye here. I personally see Obama expressing reservations about involving lobbyists in anything financial or policy, but also realizing that you simply cannot have NO lobbyists across the board. Again, he and his administration can't change everything, but they will change some things, and that's what I expected all along.

 

[Texsox]

Apparently we aren't going to see eye to eye here. I personally see Obama expressing reservations about involving lobbyists in anything financial or policy, but also realizing that you simply cannot have NO lobbyists across the board. Again, he and his administration can't change everything, but they will change some things, and that's what I expected all along.

 

And not everything a lobbyist does is wrong. We see the biggest lobbyists with the most money and see what they do. We also miss all the lobbyists for the smaller causes that have access only because they can hire someone who already knows the turf.

 

A few years back I went in support of the Manufacturers Assistance Centers who were having their budget cut back to the level that they could keep the doors open, but not deliver any programs. The lobbyist that was hired lined up a few appointments, gave us maps, some training, and we knocked on every Senator and most of the Congressional doors.

 

Lobbyists help keep staffs informed of specific issues. They are another expert, albeit slanted and biased, that staffers can use. The staffs are adept at separating the wheat from the shaft.

 

Remember, every time you contact your elected officials about their stance on an issue or offer your opinion, you just became a lobbyist.

[YASNY]

That's certainly one way to go. If you want to be like the screaming liberal fringe, I can't stop you.

 

Or, we can have some good discussions as the new Presidency unfolds, like we did about the volunteerism thing over the past few days. Some of us voted for Bush in 2000 and gave him every chance to succeed, before becoming cynical about him.

 

I didn't say that I would be that way. In fact, I'm on record here as saying I'll give Obama a fair shot. I am, however, saying that the bats*** liberals have no reason to complain when the bats*** conversatives give the next president the type of crap that they gave to the current one. It's amazing how now that the most liberal senator has been elected to POTUS that we should all sing Kumbaya and hold hands.

[Texsox]

I didn't say that I would be that way. In fact, I'm on record here as saying I'll give Obama a fair shot. I am, however, saying that the bats*** liberals have no reason to complain when the bats*** conversatives give the next president the type of crap that they gave to the current one. It's amazing how now that the most liberal senator has been elected to POTUS that we should all sing Kumbaya and hold hands.

 

And then when we elect a bats*** conservative then the bats*** conservatives have no reason to complain . . . and around and around the drain we go, neither side willing to be better than the other.

[NorthSideSox72]

I didn't say that I would be that way. In fact, I'm on record here as saying I'll give Obama a fair shot. I am, however, saying that the bats*** liberals have no reason to complain when the bats*** conversatives give the next president the type of crap that they gave to the current one. It's amazing how now that the most liberal senator has been elected to POTUS that we should all sing Kumbaya and hold hands.

Bernie Sanders says hello.

 

[bmags]

I just find it strange that the last two elections, the democratic candidates always seem to be the most liberal in the senate. Odd. Maybe the people doing these calculations are a little off, no?

[Balta1701]

Former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack's name is bouncing around as Secretary of Agriculture.

[HuskyCaucasian]

Former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack's name is bouncing around as Secretary of Agriculture.

My mother-in-law (born and raised in Iowa) HATES Vilsack. Said he was a horrible Gov.

[Balta1701]

My mother-in-law (born and raised in Iowa) HATES Vilsack. Said he was a horrible Gov.

FWIW, I don't hate the guy personally...but I really don't want to see yet another "Corn subsidies" guy running that department.

[bmags]

FTR, I learned last night that the only real leak from the campaign has been Emanuel soooo, essentially all this really is rumors and speculation. The

[Heads22]

Yeah, Vilsack had no chance in the Iowa caucus, FWIW.

[HuskyCaucasian]

Posted this in the Dem forum, but I'll pull it from there and post it here:

Secretary of State... Hillary Clinton?

 

According to MSNBC, she's under consideration per two Obama advisers. (This has apparently been floating around recently, but today is the first time it was reported) Clinton is either on her way to, or already in Chicago on "personal business".

 

Others under consideration: Kerry, Richardson, Daschle

Edited November 14, 2008 by Athomeboy_2000

[Balta1701]

I'd probably prefer Kerry to Hillary there, honestly. I hope that's not sexist. Mainly I'm thinking strategically...I'd rather get Kerry out of the Senate and moved on to a position that would be his final spot before retirement, thus allowing some new blood to enter the Senate from MA for the first time in 25 years. Hillary has a strong position in the NY senate and she's still only the Junior senator from that state.

[kjshoe04]

she's still only the Junior senator from that state.

So is Kerry.

[BigSqwert]

Obama creating a Tech Czar.

[Rex Kickass]

I'd probably prefer Kerry to Hillary there, honestly. I hope that's not sexist. Mainly I'm thinking strategically...I'd rather get Kerry out of the Senate and moved on to a position that would be his final spot before retirement, thus allowing some new blood to enter the Senate from MA for the first time in 25 years. Hillary has a strong position in the NY senate and she's still only the Junior senator from that state.

 

Not to sound crass or callous, but there probably will be a new face in the Senate delegation before too long, given Kennedy's brain cancer. Personally, I would prefer to see Hillary become the Majority Leader of the Senate.

[NorthSideSox72]

Not to sound crass or callous, but there probably will be a new face in the Senate delegation before too long, given Kennedy's brain cancer. Personally, I would prefer to see Hillary become the Majority Leader of the Senate.

As much as I dislike her, I think she'd be a large improvement over Reid.

 

[YASNY]

As much as I dislike her, I think she'd be a large improvement over Reid.

 

I never thought I'd say this, but Hillary gained a reasonable amount of my respect during the campaign.

[southsider2k5]

As much as I dislike her, I think she'd be a large improvement over Reid.

 

Blech. Is death an option?

[knightni]

Obama creating a Tech Czar.

 

 

Here he is:

 

http://attachments.techguy.org/attachments...03898160/rb.jpg

[NorthSideSox72]

I never thought I'd say this, but Hillary gained a reasonable amount of my respect during the campaign.

I had the opposite reaction, for the most part. She showed a duplicitous quality that made me ill. It was really borderline personality disorder - she was a different person every few weeks, depending on what seemed to be working for her.

 

 

[lostfan]

I had the opposite reaction, for the most part. She showed a duplicitous quality that made me ill. It was really borderline personality disorder - she was a different person every few weeks, depending on what seemed to be working for her.

Every few weeks? Every few days, she changed shells with the poll numbers. Sometimes she was more than one person at a time.

[HuskyCaucasian]

Obama creating a Tech Czar.

that has been around for a while. I think he mentioned that like a year ago. But I think it's important in the 21st century. I wouldn't even have a GUESS as to who might be a good choice.