Yeah, because we are cheap, and torture does not matter! Yay.

He can’t “recess appoint” someone when Congress is not yet in recess. Wanna criticize Obama? Fine. I’ll help you but let’s not get silly about it.

You’re right, of course. I wasn’t even thinking of a recess appointment when I wrote my comment. I was thinking that he should have already selected her as in “nominated” her, or ordered Geithner to appoint her.

Whether the operative word is “select,” “choose,” “nominate,” or “appoint,” I believe he is absolutely opposed to her running the agency and he won’t do any of those things. Even if I’m wrong and he ends up “selecting,” “choosing,” “nominating,” or “appointing,” her, I still won’t support him because he is the wrong man for his job.

Thanks for pointing out my error and giving me an opportunity to clarify my point.

Two recent news items highlight the need for this bureau and for a strong person to lead it. One is an account of attempts to stop payment on a check. The bank imposes a $30 fee and then $30 each subsequent six-month period to keep it in effect. The other report shows how some insurance make survivors under military policies believe that they are getting the money while the insurer keeps the funds and earns good return on it.

So let’s get the agency started with the best person to lead it, Elizabeth Warren. Filibuster threat? Obama should make them try. The charge that she is an activist? Exactly what we need – an activist working on the side of consumers.

homer http://www.altara.blogspot.com

We need not only Warren in a top slot, but the network she would lead, who will do that job tomorrow and the day after. Not getting such people appointed and in place, not giving them experience – perhaps the most consistent top priority for the Bushites (Liz Cheney, Kavanaugh, Sampson, Goodling, ad nauseum) – is itself a significant rightward slant on Obama’s part, because it entrenches the Bush people and the far right policies they pursued, which are still in place.

Obama’s failure to get his own team in place, mid-level to senior judges and agency official (the courts, OLC) – his failure to claim ownership of their characters, backgrounds and promise – and his failure get them doing things differently, I would rank as among his top three failures. He may think that in failing to do that, he has successfully hidden the parts of him that contradict his campaign persona. The truth is, his failure to make and fight for those appointments already does that.