Tag: Cabinet

Gay Transportation

Please do not let the title confuse you…..

The news has broke…..Mayor Pete a candidate for the Dem nomination in 2020 has been tapped to be the next SecTrans…..and we will be beat about the head and shoulders with this news….you see in case you forgot…..Pete is gay.

Another of Joe Biden’s former primary foes is getting a key role in the new administration. The president-elect will nominate Pete Buttigieg to serve as transportation secretary, reports CNN. Assuming he’s confirmed by the Senate, the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, will be the first openly gay Cabinet secretary, notes Politico. Buttigieg was widely expected to land a significant role. The Washington Post recounts that when Buttigieg dropped out of the presidential race, he endorsed Biden at a pivotal moment before the Super Tuesday primaries. Biden then compared Buttigieg, who served a tour in Afghanistan as an intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve, to his late son Beau.

“It’s the highest compliment I can give any man or woman,” Biden said at the time. “I promise you, you’re going to end up, over your lifetime, seeing a hell of a lot more of Pete than you are of me.” Biden has not formally announced the move yet, but after Reuters first reported the pick via anonymous sources, a slew of major outlets have confirmed it through sources of their own. One area of possible friction: Reuters notes that progressive groups and Black leaders fault Buttigieg for not doing enough to fight systemic racism during his mayoral reign in South Bend.

I say congrats to Mayor Pete….but the news needs to let his orientation go…..is he qualified?

His sexual preference should not be news.

Sorry to be a downer here…..

Once again Biden is rewarding the Centrists with NO policy ideas and ignoring the idea people of the party….and that tells me where this country is going…..nowhere…..his gayness does not alter the facts.

Predictably, Biden’s sterile roster of cabinet picks seem geared toward appeasing a mythical political center that no longer exists, if it ever did.

Biden is a politician who is unlikely to disappoint his followers for the simple reason that he has few truly devoted adherents and offers them little of substance. Mostly, he delivers on small things, tiny symbolic acts that serve to mask the broader betrayals of movements and aspirations he claimed to represent but never had any real interest in. Unlike Obama, idealism was never Biden’s calling card. His entire career he has sold a brutal brand of pragmatism behind a dental implant smile.

At least Pete is NOT an Obamite…..he can be said to be the future of the party…..I say nope….maybe his personality but NOT his policies.

Remember that “Blue Wave” that was predicted…..it fell on its face because there was NEVER any proof of this mythical “Wave”…..https://lobotero.com/2020/11/30/the-massive-blue-wave/

THe government is stuck in the “Centrist” mud……spinning its wheels and going nowhere.

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Obama Redux?

Our new president-elect is set about putting a cabinet together to run this country and so far he has done nothing that would have me believe he wants his own mark on the presidency.

Why would I say that?

So far he has nominated people from the Obama admin….so is he trying to make the Obama years to extend another 4 years?

Foreign policy–Obama…..

President-elect Joe Biden’s latest picks for upcoming national security and foreign policy posts have received mixed reviews from progressives, as leaders and activists express concern, as well as hesitant approval, over the administration’s exclusively Obama-era transition team. 

Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Monday announced their nominations for some top policy posts, including secretary of state; secretary of homeland security; director of national intelligence; national security advisor; and US ambassador to the United Nations, among others. 

While progressive congressional leaders have largely stayed away from harsh criticisms, progressives activists, who last week largely condemned Biden’s choice of Pentagon advisers, are accusing the incoming president of going with nominations that will extend US interventionist policies.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/joe-biden-cabinet-signals-return-obama-era-foreign-policy

Because he cannot get past the M-IC there will be little difference between Obama and Biden admin….foreign policy and national security…..

Joe Biden has named a group of Obama-era officials for top foreign policy and national security positions in his prospective administration.

The former vice president intends to nominate Tony Blinken, who was deputy secretary of state under former President Barack Obama from 2015 to 2017, as secretary of state.

Alejandro Mayorkas, deputy secretary of homeland security from 2013 to 2016, is Biden’s choice for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Mayorkas would be the first Hispanic to serve in the position if confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/biden-selects-7-obama-era-officials-top-administration-positions

I see nothing changing in these endless wars and the massive corruption and influence of the M-IC on our government.

Is this what you wanted for your vote?

I have said many times before and after the election that nothing will change….only the fool on the Hill….this is what you get when you vote against a person and not for policies or values.

And a poll that gets little attention bares out what I keep saying….

Bolstering calls for President-elect Joe Biden to keep business insiders and industry lobbyists out of his Cabinet, new survey results reveal that 68% of Americans want members of the U.S. Senate to reject any corporate-linked nominees proposed by the incoming president.

The Data for Progress poll, sponsored by Demand Progress and first reported Tuesday by The Daily Poster, found that a majority of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents across all documented demographics agree about how the Senate should respond to such nominees.

The majority of likely voters surveyed believe that if Biden tries to install corporate executives and lobbyists in top positions of his administration, senators should vote against confirming them and urge the president-elect to “instead put forth nominees who have worked to forward the interests of everyday Americans.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/25/new-poll-shows-68-americans-want-senators-block-any-corporate-biden-nominees

I know…..polls are usually wrong….is that your choice of attack?

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Biden’s National Security

President-elect Joe Biden is still in the process of picking his cabinet and advisers…..this time it is his NatSec team….

Declaring “America is back,” President-elect Joe Biden introduced his national security team on Tuesday, his first substantive offering of how he’ll shift from Trump-era “America First” policies by relying on experts from the Democratic establishment to be some of his most important advisers. “Together, these public servants will restore America globally, its global leadership and its moral leadership,” Biden said from a theater in Wilmington, Delaware. “It’s a team that reflects the fact that America is back, ready to lead the world, not retreat from it.” The nominees are all Washington veterans with ties to former President Barack Obama’s administration, a sign of Biden’s effort to resume some form of normalcy after the tumult of President Trump’s four years in office.

Biden’s nominees were a clear departure from Trump, whose Cabinet has largely consisted of men, almost all of them white, the AP reports. Biden’s picks included several women and people of color, some of whom would break barriers if confirmed to their new positions They stood behind Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris spaced apart and wearing masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

  • The president-elect’s team includes Antony Blinken, a veteran foreign policy hand well-regarded on Capitol Hill whose ties to Biden go back some 20 years, for secretary of state; lawyer Alejandro Mayorkas to be homeland security secretary; veteran diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield to be US ambassador to the United Nations; and Obama White House alumnus Jake Sullivan as national security adviser.
  • Avril Haines, a former deputy director of the CIA, was picked to serve as director of national intelligence, the first woman to hold that post, and former Secretary of State John Kerry will make a curtain call as a special envoy on climate change. Kerry and Sullivan’s positions will not require Senate confirmation.
  • Biden said his choices “reflect the idea that we cannot meet these challenges with old thinking and unchanged habits.” He said he tasked them with reasserting global and moral leadership, a clear swipe at Trump, who has resisted many traditional foreign alliances.
  • Biden celebrated the diversity of his picks, offering a particularly poignant tribute to Thomas-Greenfield. The eldest of eight children who grew up in segregated Louisiana, she was the first to graduate from high school and college in her family. The diplomat, in turn, said that with his selections, Biden is achieving much more than a changing of the guard.
  • Mayorkas, who is Cuban American, offered a nod to his immigrant upbringing. “My father and mother brought me to this country to escape communism,” he said. “They cherished our democracy, and were intensely proud to become United States citizens, as was I.”

“Cannot change things with old thinking”?

Seriously?

Everyone there is old school Dems

Once again Biden proves that he has NO intention in “changing” things.

More bullshit from the president-elect.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Secretary Of Treasury To Be

My continuing look at the possible people that are being considered for the cabinet and admin of president-elect Biden…..this time I look at the proposal of ex-Fed chief Yellen as the next SecTreasury….

The first woman to lead the Federal Reserve is set to become the first female Treasury secretary. Sources tell the Wall Street Journal and the AP that President-elect Joe Biden has tapped 74-year-old labor economist Janet Yellen, who chaired the Fed from 2014 to 2018, for the role. Yellen also served as chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers during Bill Clinton’s second term. If she is confirmed by the Senate, Yellen will lead the Biden administration’s efforts to help the economy recover from the pandemic, though unlike in her role in the Fed, she will have to deal with a deeply divided Congress on measures including another stimulus bill, the New York Times notes.

Yellen has long focused on reducing unemployment and fighting income inequality, though she has also warned that federal spending should be reduced to a more sustainable level. In a September interview with the Journal, she said Congress needs to spend more to fight unemployment and save small businesses. “There is a huge amount of suffering out there. The economy needs the spending,” Yellen said. Politico reports that before news of the Yellen pick emerged, Biden said Democrats would be pleased with the choice. “You’ll find it is someone who I think is—will be accepted by all elements of the Democratic Party, from the progressive to the moderate coalitions,” he said.

Once again Biden is turning to those people that will continue the slide of the Middle Class….so his promises in campaign were total BS as I said it was…..

She has had 30 years of fighting unemployment and wage inequality….so far it has been for naught…..

Just another Centrist” without anything new to bring to the table….typical Biden .

The only thing to change will be the gender of the secretary of the Treasury if she is confirmed by the Senate.

So far I am batting a 1000…I said after he was declared to be the winner of 2020 that little will change…..and so far I am right on target.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Will Michele Be The New SecDef?

SecDef?

That is government-speak for Secretary of Defense.

I have been spending some time trying to help my readers get a grip on the people that Biden will choose for his cabinet and in turn will be leading our many policies…….,many of those policies have been failures but few will admit.

The front-runner for SecDef is one Michele Flournoy.

I remember her back during the Obama days when he was searching for a SecDef and Chuck Hagel was the leading contender….the year was 2012…..

With opponents of a potential nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R – NE) as Secretary of Defense now centering on the idea that nominating a “white man” would reflect badly on the administration, former Undersecretary of Defense Michele Flournoy has emerged as a seeming consensus candidate for advocates who see her as less likely to make any real policy changes.

A former appointee under President Clinton, Flournoy founded the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) to advocate a more “pragmatic” national security policy. In practice this has meant a policy that never questions the notion that military action abroad is a “force for good,” while arguing distinctions without a difference, as when Flournoy endorsed “withdrawing’ from Iraq by leaving 60,000 troops there more or less indefinitely.

Appointed the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy by President Obama in 2008, Flournoy rarely made waves, backing the administration’s policy without exception. A lone noteworthy spot in this term was in 2010, when the Pentagon publicly repudiated her for saying it was unlikely that the US would attack Iran in “the near term.”

(antiwar.com)

I find Biden uninteresting and she will be the perfect fit in his cabinet…..Flournoy’s general uninterestingness makes her a model choice for lobbyists hoping to keep policy unchanged and the gravy train flowing.

Like I said she is the hands on favorite to lead the Pentagon…..but unlike a loyal readers of IST, https://libertasandlatte.wordpress.com/  I do not think she is what this country needs…..at this time.

She is tied tooth and nail to the defense industry and their desires may well come before the needs of the troops.

Even her thoughts are scary…..

The next Pentagon chief could cement the US’ already hard defence line on China, with one contender suggesting that American forces could bolster deterrence with the ability to “sink all” Chinese vessels “within 72 hours” in the South China Sea.

“For example, if the US military had the capability to credibly threaten to sink all of China’s military vessels, submarines, and merchant ships in the South China Sea within 72 hours, Chinese leaders might think twice before, say, launching a blockade or invasion of Taiwan; they would have to wonder whether it was worth putting their entire fleet at risk,” Flournoy said.

Defence and diplomatic observers said that realising that idea would come at huge cost but appointing its advocate would signal that the US would keep piling military pressure on China.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/11/15/20/a-harder-us-line-potential-pentagon-chief-floated-idea-to-sink-china-fleet-in-72-hours

These things said need to be scrutinized……and scrutinized hard!

But she is still the duck in the barrel for Defense…..Defense News takes a look at her…..

The next U.S. defense secretary must be prepared to invest heavily in game-changing technology, even if it comes at the cost of existing capabilities, in order to maintain a credible deterrent for China and Russia, according to former Pentagon official Michèle Flournoy.

“Our ability to deter is — it’s not gone, but it’s an eroding asset,” Flournoy, who is seen as a top contender for the job of defense secretary should former Vice President Joe Biden win the November presidential election, said at the Aspen Security Forum on Aug. 6. “And we’ve got to pay attention now to making sure that we attend to that and invest in” needed capabilities.

“I think there’s, sort of, two parallel efforts that have to happen. One is investments that may take a decade to be fully realized and integrated into the force. Another is the question of, what can we do in the next five years with what we have, but use it differently,” she explained.

https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2020/08/10/flournoy-next-defense-secretary-needs-big-bets-to-boost-eroding-deterrence/

These endless wars will remain endless….and corporate profits will increase and the troops will be second thought….not much changes.

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The Biden Right Wing Administration

Once again I would like to point out that I have stated and firmly believe that there is NOTHING progressive about the incoming Biden admin…..in fact I have shown that his picks will most likely be more right wing than anything….

Here are some of the possibilities for a Biden cabinet….the most positive thing I can say about these possible choices is they are Centrist……https://lobotero.com/2020/11/10/bidens-attempt-to-heal-the-country/

His choices do not bid well for any sort of change from the previous years….

Lists of prospective cabinet nominations leaked to the media from Biden campaign sources are loaded with figures from the right wing of the Democratic Party or the national security establishment, such as Michele Flournoy for Secretary of Defense, Lael Brainard for Secretary of the Treasury, and Susan Rice or Chris Coons for Secretary of State. These lists generally include more Republicans than figures from the Sanders-Warren wing of the Democratic Party.

If anything, congressional Democrats have taken the lead in what amounts to a campaign to purge the left wing of the Democratic Party in a preemptive effort to appease the Republicans. Senator Joe Manchin, a notorious right winger in the Democratic caucus, blamed the poor performance of Democrats in races for Senate and House seats on “socialism,” which he claimed, without a shred of evidence, was the reason for most people in his state of West Virginia voting for the Republicans.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/11/09/elec-n09.html

Progressives have called on Biden to look elsewhere for his cabinet members…no CEOs, nor lobbyists, etc……

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, one of Biden’s former presidential rivals, also weighed in on the issue on Monday, saying that a new White House that rejects corporate lobbyists is one way to right the wrongs of the current administration.

“Trump’s government—run by the corporate lobbyists, for the corporate lobbyists—has devastated programs and rules that help working people,” tweeted Warren. “Americans have made it clear: the last thing they want is for Washington to again hand over the keys to giant corporations and lobbyists.”

Rejecting such corporate influence, as Demand Progress pointed out Monday, would simply be in line with what most voters want:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/10/biden-must-not-appoint-single-corporate-lobbyist-lawyer-or-executive-top-posts-say

I agree with this push…but I am a realist and know that the cabinet will be stocked with the donor class…..but that is not what many of us voted for….actually too many voted for anyone but Trump….and that is not a plan that will lead this country forward…..the status quo will remain.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Biden’s Attempt To Heal The Country

The slogan going around is that Biden will be the “Great Unifier”…..a slogan I do not buy into…why?

No matter who wins the election, Americans should not expect to see a heightened sense of national unity or higher levels of satisfaction with the political system in the months to come.  A preponderance of evidence suggests that today’s political and ideological divisions have been building for so long that no single candidate or policy agenda could possibly reverse them.  Congressional gridlock, eroding public trust, and partisan polarization are not media creations; they are observable and measurable realities.  Tackling these issues will be a long, arduous task—if it can be done at all.

Polling numbers point to a decades-long slide in trust of political institutions and a popular perception of dysfunction in Washington.  Only 20% of respondents now say that they trust the federal government to do what is right “just about always” or “most of the time,” down from a peak of 77% in the early 1960s and down from the 21st-century high of 54% in the weeks after 9/11.  Even during the anti-Washington zeitgeist of the Watergate era, 42% of Americans expressed high levels of confidence in Congress, but in 2020 only 13%

did.

https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/178027?mc_cid=80c975ddcf&mc_eid=91f0c9a21d

This news will keep the dream alive for more corruption and lies to be tolerated….think 2024 (more on that later)…..

I will be looking into the picks president-elect Biden will put onto his cabinet….but first let us look at the front runners for now…..

  • Defense: Michele Flournoy, WestExec Advisors CEO and former under secretary of Defense for policy.
  • State: Susan Rice, former Obama national security advisor and former UN ambassador.
  • Treasury: Lael Brainard, Federal Reserve governor.
  • Justice: Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama.
  • Homeland Security: Alejandro Mayorkas, former deputy secretary of Homeland Security.
  • Commerce: Meg Whitman, CEO of Quibi and former GOP candidate for governor of California.
  • Veterans Affairs: Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
  • EPA: Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board.
  • UN Ambassador: Wendy Sherman, director of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership.

For more top picks—and a deep dive into alternates—see the full piece at Politico.

Gee…I was right when I stated that no “progressives” or progressive ideas would see the light of day…..these early picks show just how dull and unimaginative the Biden administration will be.

Corporate America will make out like a bandit…..no gun needed for the robbery….

I am waiting for the proper time for me to utter the 4 most wonderful words in the English language….”I Told You So”!

Just a reminder of what I said about the coming Biden administration……https://lobotero.com/2020/11/09/biden-wins/

Hopefully true “Progressives” will remember this betrayal by a corporate candidate that promised to make things better.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Dear Democrats–Great Idea But Laughable

I have often stated that I think Dems have great ideas they just suck at politics…..and a recent attempt by Progressives if Biden is elected is another of those great ideas I speak of but it is also goddam hilarious.

The Progressive want Biden to pledge to deny lobbyists and other sycophants places in the cabinet….

A group of progressive lawmakers, candidates, and organizations have collectively signed a letter urging Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to eschew appointing corporate executives and lobbyists to his administration if he is elected, Politico reported Friday. 

According to Politico, signatories to the letter include Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), and New York congressional candidate Jamaal Bowman.

Groups that signed include Public Citizen, Communications Workers of America, Greenpeace USA, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee—which is closely associated with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Our Revolution, founded by supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

“One of the most important lessons of the Trump administration is the need to stop putting corporate officers and lobbyists in charge of our government,” the letter, which was delivered to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Friday morning, states.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/16/aoc-and-other-top-progressives-urge-biden-if-elected-deny-k-street-wall-street-execs

Let me reiterate….a great idea….but laughable.

Does anyone really think that Biden will ignore all those big dollar donors after he is elected?  Again damn laughable!

A great idea that is more theatrics than actual policy desires…..

I am all for getting “fat cats” out of the government but it is just a dream that they will ever be eliminated from the reins of power…..after all they do want something for all that cash they spread about like so much fertilizer.

Money is why you will never be in government….that is unless you sell what is left of your soul to the soulless….it is never about the service but rather the money and the influence.

I have let it be known what I think we should do with these sycophants…..https://lobotero.com/2020/09/22/arrest-the-lot-of-them/

Dems please stop cracking wise and focus on an actual Progressive agenda that will benefit the people….all the people.

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He Is Just Not Qualified!

Closing thought–17Aug20

That seems to be a major theme running throughout the Trump administration…..at this point we could be talking about many within the White House

Trump has an actor from a TV show as an economic adviser….He has a family member that is his foreign policy adviser that would not recognize foreign policy if it bit him in has ass…..then there is a major donor that gets the Postal Service…….. and the list goes on and on…..

The latest unqualified person to get a seat at the big table in the White House is the newly appointed Secretary of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf……

The top two officials in the Department of Homeland Security were improperly appointed to the posts under federal law by the Trump administration, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog said Friday. The Government Accountability Office says acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf and his acting deputy, Ken Cuccinelli, are ineligible to run the agency under the Vacancy Reform Act, per the AP. GAO said it has asked the DHS inspector general to review the situation and determine if the violation affects decisions they have taken at a time when Homeland Security has been at the forefront of key administration initiatives on immigration and law enforcement. Both men should resign, said the Democratic chairs of the House Committee on Homeland Security and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

“GAO’s damning opinion paints a disturbing picture of the Trump Administration playing fast and loose by bypassing the Senate confirmation process to install ideologues,” Reps. Bennie Thompson and Carolyn Maloney said in a statement. DHS had no immediate comment. The GAO analysis traces the violation back to a tumultuous period at DHS in 2019 when Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned. It found that she was improperly replaced by Kevin McAleenan under the rules governing succession in federal agencies. McAleenan altered the rules of succession after he was subsequently removed, but GAO’s legal analysis concluded that the later appointments of Wolf and Cuccinelli were invalid. DHS is the third-largest Cabinet agency, with about 240,000 employees.

https://www.businessinsider.com/watchdog-says-acting-dhs-chief-not-legally-eligible-serve-role-2020-8

The only qualification one needs to be part of the Trump White House is to be an ass kisser and a yes man…

And now you know why our standing in the world sucks so bad….we have NO ONE capable of putting this country on the right path….or even to return it to it’s former self.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Corruption: Presidential Perspective

There is lots of noise these days about the Trump admin and how corrupt it has become…..but what about the other presidents that are said to have been corrupted as well?

A couple of cabinets that come to mind are Harding, Grant and Jackson…but could there be others?

Throughout American history, some presidents have had better taste than others when selecting the members of their Cabinets. The president’s Cabinet includes the vice president plus the heads of the departments of the executive branch of the government. With all those Cabinet members, sometimes not everybody has the best interests of the nation at heart.

Read on to discover which presidents appointed the most corrupt Cabinets. And get the details on how President Donald Trump’s Cabinet compares on page 7.

https://www.cheatsheet.com/culture/presidents-with-corrupt-cabinets-and-how-donald-trump-compares.html/

Along the same lines as corrupt is the fact that some of the same presidents are considered some of the most notorious in our short history…..

From Richard M Nixon, who resigned following the Watergate scandal, to the impeached Andrew Johnson, historian Adam IP Smith considers five of America’s most disreputable presidents…

https://www.historyextra.com/period/modern/the-5-most-notorious-presidents-in-us-history/

I always like to see the story of our presidents side by side……comparisons is always a good thing….helps presidents live up to the potential that the voters gave them…..unfortunately some have not lived up to their potential.

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