President-elect promised change, picking insiders

[John81]

President-elect promised change, picking insiders


AP ? WASHINGTON ? President-elect Barack Obama promised the voters change but has started his Cabinet selection process by naming several Washington insiders to top posts.

Obama is enlisting former Senate leader Tom Daschle as his health secretary. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a well-known Washington personality, seemed more likely than ever to be his secretary of state. Clinton is deciding whether to take that post as America's top diplomat, her associates said Wednesday

Obama is ready to announce that his attorney general will be Eric Holder, the Justice Department's No. 2 when Clinton's husband was president. Rahm Emanuel, Obama's chief of staff, is another veteran of the Clinton White House.

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is Obama's primary choice to be secretary of the Homeland Security Department, several news organizations reported Thursday. The New York Times, citing Democrats with knowledge of the process, said Napolitano was about to be offered the job. The Washington Post also reported that she was Obama's choice.

Chicago businesswoman Penny Pritzker, who was national finance chairman for Obama's presidential campaign, is his leading choice for commerce secretary, the Times reported. The newspaper said Pritzker was in the final stages of vetting by Obama's transition team.

Daschle's selection to head the Health and Human Services Department ? confirmed Wednesday but not yet announced ? isn't at the same level of Cabinet prestige as the top spots at the State and Justice departments. But the health post could be more important in an Obama administration than in some others, making Daschle a key player in helping steer the president-elect's promised health care reforms.

Daschle could push Obama for quick action on health care reform next year, if he follows his own advice.

Daschle said efforts during the Clinton administration, led by Hillary Clinton, took too long and went into too much detail, giving every interest group an opportunity to find something they didn't like about the plan.

"The next president should act immediately to capitalize on the goodwill that greets any incoming administration. If that means attaching a health-care plan to the federal budget, so be it," Daschle wrote in a book he released this year, "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis." "This issue is too important to be stalled by Senate protocol."

The former South Dakota senator's return to the government will be a vindication of sorts. He was the Senate Democratic leader when he was defeated in 2004 by Republican John Thune, who convinced voters back home that Daschle was more concerned with Washington than with them.

In fact, Daschle stayed in the capital city after his defeat, becoming a public policy adviser and member of the legislative and public policy group at the law and lobbying firm Alston & Bird. Daschle isn't registered as a lobbyist. He advises clients on issues including health care, financial services, taxes and trade, according to the firm's Web site.

Health care interests, including CVS Caremark, the National Association for Home Care and Hospice, Abbott Laboratories and HealthSouth, are among the firm's lobbying clients.

Daschle's appointment was not formally announced, but Democratic officials said the job was his barring an unforeseen problem as Obama's team reviews his background. One area of review will include the lobbying connections of his wife, Linda Hall Daschle, who has worked mostly on behalf of airline-related companies over the years. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Republicans sniped at what they saw as an unwelcome trend. Alex Conant, spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said, "Barack Obama is filling his administration with longtime Washington insiders."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081120/ap_ ... ma_cabinet

[LAF]

I wonder what the people who voted for him think about all his "change " .Doesn't seem to me to be anything but just a redo of everyone Clinton had when he was in office .

[war_eagle]

And this surpises you? Seriously, what did you think he was going to do? Call Chris Smith, Kurt Weldon, and Roscoe Bartlett and say, "Boy, I sure do need you conservatives to come and help me run the government"?

[trc123]

And this surpises you? Seriously' date=' what did you think he was going to do? Call Chris Smith, Kurt Weldon, and Roscoe Bartlett and say, "Boy, I sure do need you conservatives to come and help me run the government"?[/quote']

Agreed.

If he picks outsiders, people will complain he's too radical and won't have the proper Washington experience and continuity.

If he picks insiders, people will complain he's not really for change.

I'm fairly certain he's going to pick a combination of both insiders and outsiders; liberals and moderates; former Clinton staffers and non-Clinton staffers......................he will try to please 80% of the people and will end up pleasing about 20% in the end I suspect.

[HappyChristian]

The people who voted for him fall into 2 categories - 1. They don't even know the people he picked (and will pick) and 2. They think the people he picked (and will pick) are wonderful people.

Change? The more things change, the more they stay the same....

[JerryNumbers]

He is not unlike any other politician that has run for office in America. Promising that which they planed never to deliver.

And like all other politicians from the past, when they are voted into office they feel that automatically made them have the wisdom of knowing what is best for everyone.

That is why the government is always telling you and I what to do and how to do it. A great example, they now tell us the proper way to correct our children when they do wrong, but blame us when they get in trouble and or turn out to be unlawful grown adults.

I might add, notice one thing, they never take blame, its always someone else's fault.

[HappyChristian]

[quote="Jerry80871852"]
I might add, notice one thing, they never take blame, its always someone else's fault.[/quote]
True dat!!!!!