Obama's Transition office wastes no time

Meddy · **Posted:** Sun Nov 09, 2008 11:17 pm

President-elect Obama plans to use his executive powers to make an immediate impact when he takes office, perhaps reversing Bush administration policies on stem cell research and domestic drilling for oil and natural gas.

John Podesta, Obama's transition chief, said Sunday Obama is reviewing President Bush's executive orders on those issues and others as he works to undo policies enacted during eight years of Republican rule. He said the president can use such orders to move quickly on his own.

Obama is working to build a diverse Cabinet. That includes reaching out to Republicans and independents. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been mentioned as a possible holdover.

Presidents long have used executive orders to impose policy and set priorities. One of Bush's first acts was to reinstate full abortion restrictions on U.S. overseas aid. The restrictions were first ordered by President Reagan and the first President Bush followed suit. President Clinton lifted them soon after he occupied the Oval Office and it wouldn't be surprising if Obama did the same.

Executive orders "have the power of law and they can cover just about anything," Tobias said in a telephone interview.

Bush used his executive power to limit federal spending on embryonic stem cell research, a position championed by opponents of abortion rights who argue that destroying embryos is akin to killing a fetus. Obama has supported the research in an effort to find cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's. Many moderate Republicans also support the research, giving it the stamp of bipartisanship.

On drilling, the federal Bureau of Land Management is opening about 360,000 acres of public land in Utah to oil and gas drilling. Bush administration officials argue that the drilling will not harm sensitive areas; environmentalists oppose it.

http://change.gov/

XP12 · **Posted:** Mon Nov 10, 2008 11:56 am

Obama team readies new policies

Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues.

A team of four dozen advisers, working for months in virtual solitude, set out to identify regulatory and policy changes Obama could implement soon after his inauguration. The team is now consulting with liberal advocacy groups, Capitol Hill staffers and potential agency chiefs to prioritize those they regard as the most onerous or ideologically offensive, said a top transition official.

In some instances, Obama would be quickly delivering on promises he made during his two-year campaign, while in others he would be embracing Clinton-era policies upended by President Bush during his eight years in office.

A spokeswoman said yesterday that no plans for regulatory changes had been finalized.

Still, the preelection transition team, comprising mainly lawyers, has positioned the incoming president to move fast on high-priority items without waiting for Congress.

Despite enormous pent-up Democratic frustration, Obama and his team realize they must strike a balance between undoing Bush actions and setting their own course, said Winnie Stachelberg, the center's senior vice president for external affairs.

Extracts from : The Washington Post

Wynston · **Joined:** Thu May 01, 2008 11:31 pm **Posts:** 100

It may be early days to say with confidence if there will be sufficient change under the Obama presidency. This is an alternative viewpoint that is worth pondering.

Quote:

November 12, 2008 by the Bangor Daily News (Maine)

Recalling Checks and Balances
by Pat LaMarche

"D'oh!"

That's Homer Simpson, who could now be hired as a spokesman by the Republican national leadership.

The only problem is that once you've led a country to unjustified war and commingled that evil blunder with economic catastrophe, you don't just get an automatic do-over.

So the Republicans want to - need to - regroup. The only problem is that real Republicans aren't anything like their leadership. The leadership of this now battered and bruised political wing of government are big spenders, obfuscaters, responsibility shifters, and cowardly. They dodge subpoenas, they ignore the needs of the country, and they feather their own nests to the detriment of those who elected them.

Need some proof?

According to CNN, the Iraq war is costing $430 million per day. Sure sounds like big spending to me. And who are the big beneficiaries? If you go to the Center for Public Integrity's Web site you can read the product of a six-month study titled "The Windfalls of War," which lists the amounts paid to contractors such as General Electric, Vinnell Corp. - what used to be Northrop Grumman - and Halliburton to name a few. The study also details the campaign contributions made by these companies to various politicos.

We are all familiar with the executive branch skirting the legislative branch's attempts at oversight - the once quaint notion referred to as "checks and balances." The president, vice president and their appointees have claimed some sort of privilege that will allegedly expire when these current executives exit the White House on the 20th of January. I use the term allegedly because of the potential for a "kumbaya" moment that will prompt the newly inaugurated Democratic leadership to start issuing pardons to the Bush-era criminals in exchange for some ever-elusive closure.

Our country exists under the pall of flagrant misconduct committed in the name of expedience and approved under a veil of fear. Considering most of the folks who helped make this happen will still be in office when the executive branch changes hands, this incumbency poses a problem to those lesser players. Who will protect them if some of the bigger players suddenly find themselves in a position to be interrogated? Especially if the high honchos are offered immunity for the information they provide.

Just extrapolate the data you get from reading "The Windfalls of War" and cross-reference the names of campaign contributors and recipients from the think tank OpenSecrets.org and you'll see why it is highly unlikely that there will be trials or even hearings to determine what parts of the government worked honorably and what parts did not.

And the biggest incentive to pardon sins and hide the truth stems from the fact that the Republican leadership did most of their dirty work with the help of the Democratic leadership. And now that this Democratic leadership appears to include some new faces and possibly unpredictable players, the outreach to the enlarged number of elected Democrats has begun.

In fact, OpenSecrets.org shows that this year's defense contractor contributions to Democrats exceeded those made to Republicans for the first time since 1994.

Monday's Washington Post ran a story headlined "Sometimes Continuity Trumps Change." The article discusses the three major Bush administration officials who likely will stay on after President-elect Obama takes over as commander in chief. Ironically, these leaders head up the financial and military arms of the government. Ben Bernanke is expected to continue to head the Federal Reserve. You remember him; he was the leader of President Bush's financial advisory team. Also expected to stay is the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Gee, considering the overwhelming call for change in this country seems to have been a rallying cry against the current administration's economic and military policies, these attempts at continuity seem folly-ridden - unless we remember that the same investors and campaign contributors that brought us Bush-Cheney are now fighting to stay in control of Obama-Biden.

The Republican rank-and-file and the Democratic rank and file have one very important shared concern as they look to 2009, if the expected re-structuring in leadership ever actually reflects the needs of the party faithful.

oneworldtalk

Obama's Transition office wastes no time

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