Obama Names Two Officials and Vows to Cut Waste

[bemildred]

Source: NYT

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The president said he would use his Cabinet meeting on Monday — the first time the full Cabinet will meet — to ask department and agency heads to come up with specific proposals for cutting their budgets by eliminating inefficient programs.

Mr. Obama, who is in this island nation for a weekend gathering of leaders of the Western Hemisphere, ordinarily uses his weekly address to talk strictly about issues like energy, health care or the economy. On Saturday, he took a different tack, using it to announce the appointments of Jeffrey Zients, a management consultant and entrepreneur, to be chief information officer, and Aneesh Chopra, Virginia’s secretary of technology, to serve as chief technology officer.

“If we’re going to rebuild our economy on a solid foundation, we need to change the way we do business in Washington,” Mr. Obama said. “We need to restore the American people’s confidence in their government — that it is on their side, spending their money wisely, to meet their families’ needs.”

Mr. Obama has made accountability and transparency cornerstones of his domestic policy, and he pledged on Saturday that his administration will carefully rethink the way government works. He is hardly the first president to do so; most presidents vow to eliminate waste and inefficiency in government, only to run into obstacles on Capitol

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/us/politics/19address.html

[bemildred]

1. Obama would regulate new 'bubbles'

Word. You can have exponential growth, or you can have stability. You can't have both.

As he battles the economic downturn, President Barack Obama is bracing Americans for a recovery different than any in recent memory – not a go-go return to prosperity like the 1990s but a slow, steady climb to stability.

“We know that an economy built on reckless speculation, inflated home prices, and maxed-out credit cards does not create lasting wealth. It creates the illusion of prosperity, and it’s endangered us all,” Obama said recently.

But what Obama rarely says about ending the “cycle of bubble and bust” is this: he’s prepared to intervene to make sure that kind of red-hot growth doesn’t occur.

And he’s willing to do it with added government regulation if needed to prevent any one sector of the economy from getting out of balance – the way the dot-com boom did in the 1990s and the real-estate market did earlier this decade.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21393.html

[Delphinus]

7. I agree 100% with your "word"!

You get it!

[global1]

2. Sounds Like The Cabinet Meeting In The Movie - Dave......

one of my favorite movies. I loved Charles Grodin's character in that movie.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. ???

Has Sebelius even been confirmed by the full Senate yet? I can't find anything that indicates that she has (most sources indicating that it wouldn't happen until after the recess), so am wondering how this could be considered "the full Cabinet"?

[PSPS]

4. "we need to change the way we do business in Washington"

"If we’re going to rebuild our economy on a solid foundation, we need to change the way we do business in Washington," Mr. Obama said. "We need to restore the American people’s confidence in their government — that it is on their side, spending their money wisely, to meet their families’ needs."

This coming from the same guy who's brought in Goldman Sachs alumni to "fix" the economy by shoveling more taxpayer dollars to their cronies.

What next, Obama? Ask me to pull your other finger?

[FrenchieCat]

8. Better you pull your head out of your ass.

President Barack Obama knows what he is doing,
which is why he was elected President.
If you want to believe via guilt of association
that all who worked in the financial sector should now be exempted
in participating in what it might take to fix problems,
then not only are you simple, but you are one of a large number in this country
who spout out bumper sticker talk cause it makes them feel good.
It might sound righteous and you may be outraged about taxpayer dollars,
but your ignorant rant really doesn't do anything to solve any problems...
just more extreme whine that isn't applicable in today's very real world.

[natrat]

9. come on, the sweetheart deals in the billions being given out is massive abuse of government

[bemildred]

10. Yeah, but it was done before he came into office?

I think Obama is letting them hang themselves.

[No Elephants]

5. Accountability, but not for Republicans.

[antimatter98]

6. So, Obama will abolish the K-Street revolving door? Abolish lobbying? n/t

[SpartanDem]

11. This should be interesting

every is for cutting waste until it's their pet program being cut.

[steven johnson]

12. Obama to Order Cabinet to Quickly Cut $100 Million From Department Budgets

Source: Washington Post,

Monday, April 20, 2009; 12:08 AM
President Obama plans to convene his Cabinet for the first time today, where he will order members to identify a combined $100 million in budget cuts over the next 90 days, according to a senior administration official.
The budget cuts, while they would account to a minuscule portion of federal spending, are intended to signal the president's determination to cut spending and reform government, the official said.
Obama's order comes as he is under increasing pressure to show momentum toward his goal of eventually reducing the federal deficit, even as he goes about increasing spending in the short run to prop up the economy and support his priorities.
Earlier this month, both chambers of Congress passed Obama's $3.5 trillion budget outline for 2010, which includes unprecedented new investments in health care, education and energy. But the huge budget, which contemplates a $1.2 trillion deficit, has drawn the ire of small-government conservatives who say that the deficits jeopardize the nation's economic future.


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/19/AR2009041902009.html

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OK.

Now we have an administration publicity stunt to counteract the 'tea party' publicity stunts. Both seem irrelevant.

[glowing]

13. They could cut 100 mil just by enforcing coach travel.. lol. that and way less paper

cheap toilet paper and building upgrades.

[w4rma]

14. Cut 100 mil by firing Bush burrowers. (nt)

[truthisfreedom]

17. Fire the bush and cheney burrowers both... $1B saved.

No doubt.

[KakistocracyHater]

15. cut the "black ops" military budget

spend only equal to the rest of the world's combined military expenditures.

[western mass]

16. how else are the taxpayers going to afford...

bonuses for banking execs?

[davidinalameda]

18. so Obama wanting to cut the federal budget is some stunt?

obviously you haven't been paying attention

[tomm2thumbs]

19. life is a stunt - we are all series of stunts - some are good, some are bad

some stunt your growth