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Bush Admin’s ‘Special Gift’ For Obama

Posted by SWARAAJ CHAUHAN, International Columnist in At TMV.
Nov 19th, 2008 | Comments

Think Progress provides an interesting example of Bush Administration’s strategy to forcibly push “the political ideologues” down the throat of the new Obama administration.

“The Washington Post reported this morning that between March and November, the Bush administration has ‘burrowed’ at least 20 political appointees into career civil service posts, initially depriving President-elect Obama of the chance to install his own appointees in key jobs.

“In today’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino defended the ‘burrowing,’ saying that Obama’s administration should want experienced Bush political appointees in his administration.” More here…

As one smart alec suggested that these Bush “civil servants”, if they can’t be sacked, should be dispatched to Iraq and Afghanistan by the new Obama administration and stationed there for good!!!

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superdestroyer

One of the things that President-Elect Obama was promising to civil servants is a repel of the new rules that allow the government to reassign people without their permission. The Bush Administration wanted to rearrange the DoD after 9/11 but the civil service rules did not allow it. It is one of the reasons that the DoD was gone so heavily into contracting out work. It allows more flexibility and allows them to hire retired military/civil servants into high paying jobs.

It idea that an Obama Administrationis going to get tough on any civil servant is laughable.

AustinRoth

This is another of those 'let's try to make Bush lookk bad for doing what Presidents have done since almost the beginning of the country'. Because when other Presidents did it, well, that was OK.

But GWFB? NFW!

BTW - you forgot the obligatory Rove reference.

jeff_pickens

I'll add it AustinRoth: Rove!

RememberNovember

There's always ambassadorships to warm tropical climates. I guess Dana Perino has already burrowed her way into Fox or somesuch plum talking head gig.

kritt11

Ah, the gift that keeps on giving............................

Considering the current state of the country and Bush's abysmal approval ratings, I think this is the kind of "experience" that the Obama administration needs to avoid at all costs!
Will that be the Bush legacy to haunt for the next 30-40 years????

DLS

Oh, come on, already. If the Demmies can shriek about buying home-loan borrowers' votes, and they want to pay off the UAW and keep the dimwit Detroit dinosaurs on life support for a few weeks more, they can hire replacements for these people, make the Bush appointees' subordinates report to the new people, have the Bush appointees report to nobody, relocate them to converted broom closets, and last but foremost --

*** MINIMUM WAGE ***

Enough said, right?

AustinRoth

DLS -

There are times you are a complete idiot, like now.

Of course they cannot do that. That is the exact point of the civil service laws. They control pay, reporting structure, etc. In fact, this is using the very laws pushed into place in the 60's and 70's by Liberal Democrats against them. Not that I agree with them, but as I said, this is a centuries old tradition, nothing new.

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