Bush refines venerable art of presidential cronyism (Scripps Howard News)

[highplainsdem]

http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=CRONYISM-10-10-05&cat=PP


Bush refines venerable art of presidential cronyism
By JAMES ROSEN
McClatchy Newspapers
October 10, 2005

WASHINGTON - The fading furor over former FEMA chief Michael Brown and the fresh consternation over President Bush's Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers have reignited an age-old American debate over cronyism in the White House.

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While he has plenty of historical company in looking out for his friends, according to some analysts, Bush has taken cronyism to a new level.

In order to do a statistical comparison of the Bush and Clinton administrations, Lewis, the Princeton political scientist, used a thick volume that is highly prized on Capitol Hill. Known widely as "the Plum Book," it is a government publication of senior posts with the formal title, "United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions."

In 2004, the fourth year of Bush's presidency, there were 3,202 political appointees to jobs outside civil-service laws or restraints, according to Lewis. That was a 12.7 percent increase from the 2,845 such jobs in 2000 during the eighth and final year of Clinton's administration.

<snip>

[NVMojo]

1. what an understatement!!!

[Norquist Nemesis]

2. Add Ron Silver to the numbers for 2005.

Not to mention that he's put him up for a position with the term ending in 2009!!!

[OneBlueSky]

3. "cronyism" is way to mild a word . . . makes it sound almost friendly . .

you know, taking care of your buddies and all . . .

let's call it what it is: political corrpution of the highest order . . . and it permeates this maladministration from top to bottom . . . and then some . . .