Here's my question. How is it that President Obama has not been able to fill 57% of the more than 500 senior positions requiring Senate confirmation. According to the report in the New York Times, the president is still missing an assistant treasury secretary for financial markets; a director for the Agency for International Development; and even his Army secretary, as well as several top national security posts. Now, I know he's had problems confirming a majority of his picks, some with IRS problems, like Timothy Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury, and others, who failed to pay their income tax in recent years. And others like Republican U.S. Senator Judd Gregg who, after being chosen, decided they were not on board with the Presidents radical policies. But why the sudden lack of attention as far as filling the rest of his Presidential appointments to his staff? Could it be that he just wants to bypass the vetting system altogether? I mean, as long as he's appointing his Czars, which DO NOT have to have Senate confirmation and report to no one else but President Obama, why go through the lengthily process?

Wow, I guess Obama wasn't kidding when he stated that he will fundamentally change this nation. One of the changes he seems to favor is to eliminate the checks and balances of power that were put into place, by our founding fathers, so that no branch of government was more powerful than the other. By appointing all his Czars he is doing away with the need for Congressional approval and having these czars accountable, not to the American people, but to him and him alone. Is this how our country was set up to run. I don't think so.

Just in case you were not aware, with over 250 of his presidential appointee spots still open, Obama has found the time instead to appoint the following Czars:


1. Afghanistan Czar - Richard Holbrooke
2. AIDS Czar * - Jeffrey Crowley
3. Auto Recovery Czar - Ed Montgomery
4. Border Czar * - Alan Bersin
5. California Water Czar
6. Car Czar - Ron Bloom
7. Central Region Czar - Dennis Ross
8. Climate Czar - Todd Stern
9. Domestic Violence Czar - Lynn Rosenthal
10. Drug Czar * - Gil Kerlikowske
11. Economic Czar * - Paul Volcker
12. Energy and Environment Czar - Carol Browner
13. Faith-Based Czar * - Joshua DuBois
14. Government Performance Czar - Jeffrey Zients
15. Great Lakes Czar - Cameron Davis
16. Green Jobs Czar - Van Jones
17. Guantanamo Closure Czar - Daniel Fried
18. Health Czar * - Nancy-Ann DeParle
19. Information Czar - Vivek Kundra
20. Intelligence Czar * - Dennis Blair
21. Mideast Peace Czar - George Mitchell
22. Pay Czar - Kenneth R. Feinberg
23. Regulatory Czar - Cass R. Sunstein
24. Science Czar - John Holdren
25. Stimulus Accountability Czar - Earl Devaney
26. Sudan Czar - J. Scott Gration
27. TARP Czar - Herb Allison
28. Technology Czar - Aneesh Chopra
29. Terrorism Czar - John Brennan
30. Urban Affairs Czar - Adolfo Carrion Jr.
31. Weapons Czar - Ashton Carter
32. WMD Policy Czar - Gary Samore

My question for you is, what do we really know about these people who are so closely advising our President?

Republican or Democrat, Conservative or Liberal, Left or Right. You gotta love our Vice President, Joe Biden. Whether you are on the Right, looking forward to hearing what great gaff comes out his mouth this time, or you're the left, who cringe every time he has to make a public speech, for fear of what he might say next. One thing you can truly count on, Our VP will always tell you what's on his mind. Wow, who would have thought, in this day and age, a Washington Politician saying what he feels. You know, as a Conservative, I don't agree with Mr. Bidens politics, but, I do have to respect a man that speaks from his heart. Sure, in dealing with other governments or others in general, it is important not to offend and to be tactful in your approach, but, since when has being politically correct been more important than telling the truth? I wish more politicians would worry less about the terminology used in describing situations at hand ,and worry more about informing us with the facts and truth of what we are up against. We don't need to be coddled, we're adults. Whether you think we can handle it or not, we deserve to know.

What bothers me the most is when I hear the media talk about; how the VP's candor is a "persistent challenge for Obama.". Why is that? Is it because they wish he would be more diplomatic in his speech, or, is it because that, when VP Biden speaks the truth, it brings to light key facts that the President would much rather have us in the dark about? Such as how the Obama Administration "misread how bad the economy was." Or, on the campaign trail, when he stated that; Obama, if elected, would face a "generated crisis" to "test the mettle of this guy." The latest incident happened this week when he said, during an interview with The Wall Street Journal, that Russia would have no choice but to cooperate with the United States because it is on the brink of sharp decline, referring to their current economic problems. Sure he could have phrased it better but, does that make his statement any less true?

I am not saying that Joe Biden is the ideal statesmen. I am fully aware of how diplomacy works. What I am saying is that; we need to listen, a little more carefully, to what our Vice President is saying these days. For this reason: I believe that, when a person speaks off the top of their head, ( and not off a teleprompter ) you are more likely to hear some unintentional truths slip out. More so than from a canned response or a written statement. If that is what it takes for us to get the real facts, about what is happening and what our leaders are thinking, than I say; Let Joe speak freely, and let him speak often.

I am so tired of hearing, in response to the lies and deception in Washington, phrases like; "That's just politics, Politics as Usual or What do you expect? they're Politicians". When did this all begin? How long has it been the Status Qua that, it's OK to allow our nations leaders to lie and deceive us? And when they do, just write it off as politics as usual. I'm no historian and maybe I am wrong, but, I can't imagine our founding fathers sitting around the room, when they were drafting our constitution, saying; "We can't put that in there, it might offend this group over here" or "If we don't include this, this group over here won't get what I promised them" or what seems to be going on, more and more, in the Bills flying through Congress these days; "If we use this language, it will give the impression we are looking out for their best interests and still leave it open to do what we want" When did it become OK for us to be lied to and deceived? When did we decide as a nation that; we have no choice but to settle for leaders who say one thing and do another? When did we drop the ball; when it comes to holding our elected officials accountable to do the job they were elected to do? Think about this. We let Congress pass Bills on TARP, Cap and Trade and Health Care without reading what's in them. How can they possible be protecting the citizens who elected them when ,they don't even read what they are putting into policy? I guarantee our founding fathers not only read what they signed and passed, but also, had full knowledge and understanding of what they were voting on. Remember this?:



The problem is; We as Americans are letting our so-call leaders do this to us. We are letting them lie to us. We are not holding them accountable for their actions or lack there of. We are justifying their playing games, with our freedoms and future, by letting them off the hook with a simple excuse of; "What do you expect, they can't help it. That's the nature of the game in Washington" "That's how politics work" ENOUGH ALREADY!!

As long as we just sit back and allow our leaders to keep doing this, to us and our country, they are going to. If we don't hold them up to a higher level of accountability, then we deserve what they give us. I can't speak for anyone else, but, I for one will be writing letters to, calling and emailing my elected officials, State Senators and Representatives, letting them know that; when it comes to their role as my elected official, They are expected to do the job they were elected to do. When it comes to communication with the voters, that they say what they mean and mean what they say. When they don't, I will hold them accountable and they WILL hear from me.

I have a right and an obligation to keep our leaders in check, and, so do you

I can see why the topic of Health Care Reform is such a priority in our country today. The facts and figures show compelling evidence that there is a need to fix the current system. That doesn't mean we have to scrap what we have all together and start from scratch. We, as a nation, still have the best Health Care System in the world today. Whatever IS working in that system can definitely be improved on and whatever isn't working should definitely be changed. Common sense, right?

You see, I am one of the “46 million uninsured” in America. At 46 years old, I have never had medical, dental or vision. Now, do i need it? Yes! Do I want it? of course. I thank the Lord that I have never had to have been hospitalized without insurance, yet. Being over weight and having high blood pressure, at my age, it's just a matter of time. I have always been a commission sales person, so, when I was younger and made the money, I was healthy and insurance wasn't a priority. Now that I am a small business owner and not so healthy, I can't afford it. That doesn't mean, that I believe, the government should be responsible in supplying it for me either. As it stands for me right now, I do have a regular doctor, I just don't see him as regularly as I should. I have to pay cash for my doctors visit and cash for my blood pressure medicine, so when things are tight financially, that's one of the things I sacrifice. The thing about my situation now is, when I do go to the doctors, I go to the doctor I know and trust. I have that choice. When I do go, I have an appointment and I am seen in a timely manner. Because I don't go as often as I should, usually my visits are more urgent, and require more immediate attention, so I am grateful I don't have to wait for weeks or even months to get in and be seen. This is what scares me about a government run plan. Even though it might supply me with the ability to go and be covered, the fact of having to go to a doctor that I am not comfortable with or know anything about bothers me. And if the government plan makes me wait weeks or jump through hoops to be seen, chances are, I won't go. At least not until I absolutely have to. So much for health maintenance. As a small business owner, who had to let go of his employees because of this economy, If I am waiting in lines to see a doctor for a check up, My business is closed with no one to operate it. So do I shut down my business for a couple of hours or maybe even a whole day, to go get a check up, or do I convince myself I'm fine and it can wait another month so I can run my business and make a living. It's already a strain to shut down my store just to go to the DMV. I don't even want to think about what it would be like to have the government running my doctors or hospitals.

Yes, We need reform. But as Americans, we need the freedom to be able to choose which doctors we see and when we see them. We need affordable plans, but we need plans that are best suited for our individual needs. Not some blanket system that takes away the individual factors that make up our unique medical situations. I don't want to have to look up at a monitor to see how close I am, to my number being called, when trying to see a doctor and, I don't want to have to trust what one physician says without the option of getting another opinion of a doctor with whom I am confident and comfortable.

I don't know, maybe because I have no insurance I don't have a right to be so critical. But I am not asking for the government to cover me either, or do I want to be fined $2,500 if I don't have a plan of my own. President Obama said, in his press conference last night, that it's not about him, he has the WORLDS BEST INSURANCE for his family, but proceeded to say that he believes everyone should be able to have good insurance at a reasonable cost. Well to be fair Mr. President, either give the rest of the country some of that "Worlds Best" insurance you have, or, you and your family, sacrifice and take one of the those " good insurance at a reasonable cost" plans your trying to push on us. THE U.S.

I am hoping that, at the speed in which this administration is writing bills, passing laws, spending money and changing policy, this Bullet Train of Change has an emergency brake. My head is spinning trying to keep up with the intense pace that things are being done. And what is up with the month of August? The President wants EVERYTHING done by this time. Sotomayor, Cap and Trade, Health Care, Why? Whatever happened to "slow & steady wins the race"? I agree that we want and need things done, but, I don't want them done fast as much as I want them done right. It's all "Hurry up and Wait" with Obama it seems. Hurry, we need the stimulus, now, wait for the results to be seen and felt. Hurry and pass Cap and Trade, now, wait for China and India to come on board. Hurry with Health Care reform, but, wait while we come up with a plan to pay for and implement it. We can't fix things over night that have been broken for years. I applaud the intentions, we need to have progress and find solutions, but, to do something, just for the sake of saying that we are doing something, is not the right solution.

My Father always told me to "Take your time, do it right the first time. That way you won't have to waste time in doing it all over again"