Inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama

Illinois' Reporters Need Courage And An Old Pair of Shoes

In an attempt borrowed from Blazing Saddle's governor Pettimaine to save his "phoney-baloney job," Rod Blagojevich has chosen former Illinois Atty. General Roland Burris to be his Sherriff Bart.

“Gov. Rod Blagojevich is expected today to name former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate. The action comes despite warnings by Democratic Senate leaders that they would not seat anyone appointed by the disgraced governor who faces criminal charges of trying to sell the post, sources familiar with the decision said. Shortly after Obama's Nov. 4 victory, Burris made known his interest in an appointment to the Senate but was never seriously considered, according to Blagojevich insiders. But in the days following Blagojevich's arrest, and despite questions over the taint of a Senate appointment, Burris stepped up his efforts to win the governor's support. Though he is 71, Burris has said that Obama's replacement should be able to win re-election and he has noted that despite a string of primary losses in races ranging from Chicago mayor to governor and U.S. senator, he's never lost to a Republican. Blagojevich, who has sole authority to name a replacement senator, scheduled a 2 p.m. news conference at his downtown Chicago office. Blagojevich's criminal defense attorney Ed Genson had said Blagojevich would not name a Senate successor to Obama. The governor had indicated he agreed with other Illinois politicians that the best option might be a special election to fill Obama's seat. But state lawmakers have not taken up the necessary legislation. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada previously warned Blagojevich, following the governor's Dec. 9 arrest, that Senate Democrats would not seat any appointment the two-term Democratic governor made. Reid's warning was contained in a letter signed by all 50 sitting Democratic senators, including the No. 2 Democrat in Senate leadership, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois. Federal authorities, citing secret wiretap recordings, allege Blagojevich sought a Cabinet position, an ambassadorship or a high-paying job from the incoming Obama administration in exchange for naming a candidate favored by the president-elect to the vacancy. An internal report by the Obama transition team found no offers of any quid pro quo in conversations held by incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and Blagojevich and the governor's staff regarding the seat.” From the New York Times “As recently as ten days ago, his lawyer, Edward Genson, said he would not attempt to make an appointment, since Senate leaders had indicated they would not accept anyone whom the beleaguered Mr. Blagojevich had appointed. The Democratic leaders of the Senate repeated that view on Tuesday, issuing a statement saying it was “truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic Senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Governor Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety.” The statement continued, ‘We say this without prejudice toward Roland Burris’s ability, and we respect his years of public service. But this is not about Mr. Burris; it is about the integrity of a governor accused of attempting to sell this United States Senate seat. Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic Caucus.’” In an attempt borrowed from Blazing Saddle's governor Pettimaine to save his "phoney-baloney job," Rod Blagojevich has chosen former Illinois Atty. General Roland Burris to be his Sherriff Bart. This is a blatant attempt to peel away African American support for his impeachment.

Candy bars are nice to have, but if one comes into contact with a pile of dog crap it's no longer worth having.

He accomplioshed his objective. He spread the shame around. My congressman Bobby Rush has fallen for it. He has the mistaken belief that Barack's seat belongs to black America instead of Illinois. This has blinded him to the pitfall ahead. He is even going to attempt to drag the Congressional Black Caucus into the pit with him. I'm a afraid that there's nothing but a pile of Blagojevich at the pit's bottom, not gold, silver or any other precious thing. The one useful lesson to learn from our embattled governor, is that those who try to mine political positions for personal gain end up the proud owners of backed up latrines, unfit for the high position they think themselves entitled to hold, or polite company. Unfortunately, our culture doesn't throw shoes at these idiots. Perhaps it's time to change that.

ResourceShelf » Blog Archive » Resource of the Week: Change Is Good

ResourceShelf » Blog Archive » Resource of the Week: Change Is Good

Resource of the Week: Change Is Good
By Shirl Kennedy, Senior Editor

Here in the U.S., at long last, we have a new President-Elect. And, for the first time, this means a new presidential transition website. Simple but elegant and still under construction — Change.gov. At the top left, you'll see a countdown, in days, till the January 20, 2009 inauguration.

"The Newsroom" is basically a blog of press releases from the new administration that sits front and center on the site. You'll also find biographies of Barack Obama, the President-Elect, and Joe Biden, the Vice President-Elect. You can watch Obama's election victory speech in Grant Park, in Chicago.

There are a variety of links at the bottom of the page under the headings Newsroom, Learn, American Moment, America Serves, and About This Site. There's also a link you can click to apply for a job in the new administration. Fill out the brief online form and you'll receive, via e-mail, a link to a more extensive online form. (Note: These are non-career positions, not civil service.)

Among the links at the bottom of the page — and also along the right side — you'll find a link to something called the GSA Transition Directory:

The Presidential Transition Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-293) authorizes the General Services Administration (GSA) to develop a transition directory in consultation with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The Act provides that the transition directory "shall be a compilation of Federal publications and materials with supplementary materials developed by the Administrator that provides information on the officers, organization, and statutory and administrative authorities, functions, duties, responsibilities, and mission of each department and agency." Senate Report 106-348 clarifies that the directory is intended to "assist in navigating the many responsibilities that fall on a new administration" that is "confronted by an overwhelming amount of material."

Obviously, there's not much information here yet, but if you click around, you will find some interesting governmental odds and ends:

• A Survivor's Guide for Presidential Nominees, from The Brookings Institution.
• Links to relevant sections of the U.S. Government Manual (2008-09 Edition).
• A link to the Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2009
• A link to An Overview of the Executive Branch Ethics Program, from the United States Office of Government Ethics
• A link to a PDF document: Preparing Presidential Appointees for Leadership: A History (PDF; 157 KB)
• What will the Federal government pay to relocate a new Appointee and his/her family? Look here.
• Information about Freedom of Information

And the new administration wants to hear from you:

Tell us your story and the issues that matter most to you. Share with us your concerns and hopes – the policies you want to see carried out in the next four years.

The White House Transition Project is an interesting resource:

Since 1997, the White House Transition Project has combined the efforts of scholars, universities, and policy institutions to smooth out the American presidential transition. WHTP bridges the gaps between the partisan forces engaged in settling elections and the decision processes essential to governing by providing non-partisan information about the challenges of the American presidential transition and the strategies for overcoming those challenges. It provides these and other resources to presidential campaigns, to the president-elect, and to the new administration. These resources include three separate report series providing a White House institutional memory, perspectives on past transitions, and advanced research covering special aspects of transitions and governing. The WHTP also provides unique analysis of the appointments process and a clearinghouse on other transition resources.

Lots of historical stuff here, including photo archives. A couple items of note:
+ Presidential Power in National Security: A Guide to the President-Elect (PDF; 500 KB), from the Law Library of Congress
+ White House Transition Project Expert Registry (PDF; 211 KB)

Other transition resources, governmental and otherwise:
+ Hearing — "Passing the Baton: Preparing for the Presidential Transition"

On Wednesday, September 24, 2008, at 2:00 p.m., in room 2247 of the Rayburn House Office Building, the Subcommittee held a hearing titled, "Passing the Baton: Preparing for the Presidential Transition."

This hearing continued the Subcommittee's oversight of the ongoing preparations for the upcoming presidential transition. With only 77 days between the November election and the January inauguration, the transition teams of the executive branch and the incoming administration will have much work to do to ensure that the incoming Administration can begin its work immediately. The hearing reviewed the steps that GSA is taking to fulfill its responsibility to assist members of the incoming and outgoing administrations. The hearing also reviewed expert research on federal executive management challenges surrounding the transition.

Testimonies and other documents in PDF.

+ General Services Administration: Presidential Transition

The transfer of power from one administration to the next marks a significant moment in U.S. history. The Presidential Transition Acts of 1963 and 2000 give the General Services Administration (GSA) a prominent role in this process. They authorize the Administrator of GSA to provide the President-elect and the Vice-President-elect the services and facilities needed to assume their official duties.

+ Government Accountability Office: 2009 Congressional and Presidential Transition

Following each presidential election, GAO serves as a resource to assist with the transition to a new Congress and administration. On this Web site, using its institutional knowledge and broad-based, nonpartisan work on matters across the government spectrum, GAO provides insight into, and recommendations for addressing, the nation's major issues, risks and challenges. Also located throughout the site are key reports for further research, as well as contact information for and video messages from GAO experts.

+ Council for Excellence in Government: Presidential Transition
Offers links to various news articles and reports. One hot item that will show up here soon — The Prune Book Online:

PrunesOnline is a must-have tool for prospective Presidential appointees, the Presidential Personnel Office looking for the best and brightest, members of Congress, journalists, advocacy groups, and regular citizens who want to know more about the people working for them. It's your guide to the presidential appointment process and the people involved.

This, of course, follows from the infamous "Plum Book" — United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions — the new version of which is due out this week.

Published by the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Government Reform alternately after each Presidential election, the Plum Book lists over 7,000 Federal civil service leadership and support positions in the legislative and executive branches of the Federal Government that may be subject to noncompetitive appointment, nationwide. Data covers positions such as agency heads and their immediate subordinates, policy executives and advisors, and aides who report to these officials. The duties of many such positions may involve advocacy of Administration policies and programs and the incumbents usually have a close and confidential working relationship with the agency or other key officials.

+ IBM Center for the Business of Government: The Presidential Transition

The next President will face a wide range of challenges - economic, political, and social. He will need to be able to lead an effective government that can address these challenges. The IBM Center for The Business of Government is committed to helping identify and bring best practices from research to practice to help address these issues.

There's a blog here, addressing "management challenges for the next president," as well as various guides, reports, and issue briefs.

+ 1105 Government Information Group: Government Transition 2009 Wiki

This public service Wiki site seeks to be a repository of those ideas and recommendations from knowledgeable organizations and experts–and provide a forum for elaboration and discussion. In particular, this site will focus on transition ideas pertaining to Program Execution, Performance Management, Procurement and Acquisition, the use of Information Technology, and the management of Human Capital in government.

This non-partisan site is being made available as a public service by 1105 Government Information Group. [The lead collaborators of the site currently include 1105 Government Information Group chief editors Wyatt Kash (Government Computer News), John Monroe (Federal Computer Week) and Nick Wakeman (Washington Technology) along with other government transition experts, including: John Kamensky, of the IBM Center for the Business of Government.

Of special note: the "Key Players" page, which seeks to "catalogue think tanks, government agencies, academic institutions and other thought leaders following and generating assessments about transition issues related to government management."

+ Congresspedia: Presidential transition resources
A fine collection of relevant laws, Congressional Research Service reports, discussions/hearings, media coverage, supporting documents and other materials. ("Congresspedia is part of SourceWatch, a similarly collaborative, wiki-based website documenting the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda.")

+ Finally, our friends at the Free Government Information blog have assembled a collection of special interest resources "relevant to government information and technology policies during this transition period" — The Transition: Information, Technology, and Information-Technology.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 10th, 2008 at 4:14 am and is filed under Government Documents and Political Information, Resource of the Week, Source File. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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