Thread: Border czar makes visit to Yuma

Border czar makes visit to Yuma
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August 06, 2009 6:54 PM
BY JAMES GILBERT, SUN STAFF WRITER

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Alan Bersin visited the Yuma area on Thursday, making several stops throughout the county.

Agent Ben Vik, spokesman for the Yuma Sector Border Patrol, said during his visit Bersin spoke to components of both the Border Patrol and Customs, including the Office of Field Operations at the Port of Entry in San Luis.

Bersin also had the unique opportunity to visit the Yuma Sector's Camp Desert Grip — which is a tactical substation located near the border in the desert east of Wellton and manned by agents from the Yuma and Tucson sectors.

"(Bersin) wanted to familiarize himself with the operation, terrain and personnel," Vik said.

Although he did not make any public appearances, Bersin did spend some time in the afternoon, meeting with a group of about 35 members of the community.

"He just took some input from community members about border issues," said Ken Rosevear, executive director for the Yuma Chamber of Commerce. "He was a sounding board and didn't talk about anything specific."

That meeting took place at 1:30 p.m. in a conference room inside the old City Hall building.

Bersin was also scheduled to visit Marine Corps Air Station — Yuma, before leaving later in the evening.

In April, Homeland Security Secretary and former Arizona Governor, Janet Napolitano named Bersin to the newly-created position of Border Czar.

As Border Czar, Bersin, who is a former federal prosecutor, will oversee efforts to end drug-cartel violence along the U.S.-Mexico border and slow the tide of people crossing illegally into the United States.

www.yumasun.com

Czars??????????

Obama's Czars Spark Concerns Among Some Lawmakers
Some lawmakers believe President Obama's multitude of czars is a power grab.
By Brian Wilson

FOXNews.com

Friday, April 17, 2009

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ShareThisAlthough former U.S. attorney Alan Bersin and the late Russian ruler Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov appear to have nothing in common, thanks to President Obama, they now share a title.

Romanov, known as Nicholas II, was the last Russian czar. Bersin is Obama's border czar, a new Homeland security post responsible for issues related to drug-cartel violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The appointment of czars is nothing new in Washington. President Obama apparently likes the idea of appointing them -- he's got a bunch of czars.

Foreign Policy magazine composed a list of 18 Obama administration czars, including Carl Browner, who is the energy czar, and Gil Kerlikowske, who is the drug czar. But almost immediately, typical Washington quibbling began over who is and who is not a czar.

Czardom does not sit well with Sen. Robert Byrd. Though slowed by age, the West Virginia Democrat remains vigorous in his defense of the powers ceded to the Congress by the Constitution. He said he believes czars are a slick way of governing without having to answer to Congress.

There is no constitutional requirement that czars undergo those pesky Senate confirmation hearings.

Former Rep. Ernest Istook said he doesn't like the term czar either because it's too Russian.

"We could just call somebody the big boss, el jefe, head honcho, the big cheese," he said. "My father used to refer to people as the chief cook and bottle washer."

Istook said he believes the Obama team is using the appointment of czars to reinvent how the executive branch operates.

"If Barack Obama thinks that the executive branch is badly organized, and you could make a great case for that, then he ought to present a coherent system," he said. "But it's just ad hoc on a case by case basis."

If there is a public outcry over the czar mania, it's entirely possible, knowing Washington, that the Obama administration will appoint a super czar to resolve the issue.

I do not care for the term either!

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first10 ... lawmakers/

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/czars

Obama's 32 Czars

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By Eric Cantor
Thursday, July 30, 2009

"The biggest problems that we're facing right now have to do with George Bush trying to bring more and more power into the executive branch and not go through Congress at all. And that's what I intend to reverse when I'm president of the United States." -- Sen. Barack Obama, March 31, 2008

To say President Obama failed to follow through on this promise is an understatement. By appointing a virtual army of "czars" -- each wholly unaccountable to Congress yet tasked with spearheading major policy efforts for the White House -- in his first six months, the president has embarked on an end-run around the legislative branch of historic proportions.

To be sure, the appointment of a few special officers to play a constructive role in a given administration is nothing new. What is new is the elevation of so many czars, with so much authority on endless policy fronts. Vesting such broad authority in the hands of people not subjected to Senate confirmation and congressional oversight poses a grave threat to our system of checks and balances.

At last count, there were at least 32 active czars that we knew of, meaning the current administration has more czars than Imperial Russia.


The administration has a Mideast peace czar (not to be confused with the Mideast policy czar), a Sudan czar and a Guantanamo closure czar. Then there's the green jobs czar, sometimes in conflict with the energy czar, who talks to the technology czar, who sometimes crosses paths with the urban affairs czar. We mustn't forget the Great Lakes czar or the WMD czar, who no doubt works hand in hand with the terrorism czar. The stimulus accountability czar is going through a rough time right now, as is the TARP czar -- but thankfully they have to answer to the government performance czar. And seemingly everyone falls under the auspices of the information czar. In a government full of duplicative bureaucracies, adding more layers with overlapping responsibilities hardly seems the way to go.

Even Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd (W.Va.) was fearful enough to pen a letter to President Obama in February highlighting his concerns with the administration's tactics. The Constitution mandates that the Senate confirm Cabinet-level department heads and other appointees in positions of authority -- known as "principal officers." This gives Congress -- elected by the people -- the power to compel executive decision-makers to testify and be held accountable by someone other than the president. It also ensures that key appointees cannot claim executive privilege when subpoenaed to come before Congress.

As we move forward, proper oversight of the growing lineup of czars is essential. From orchestrating bailouts to making industrial policies to moving toward government-run national health care, Washington seems intent on sailing into uncharted waters -- and the czars are often steering the ship.

The car czar, who stepped down this month amid controversy over his former firm's role in a scandal, had been managing government's recent takeover of a huge swath of the domestic auto industry and making decisions for auto companies. The pay czar -- also known in White House circles as the "special master for compensation" -- has the power to reject or accept any current and future compensation for the top 100 earners at companies that received, in some cases under pressure, money from the Troubled Assets Relief Program. In the coming months he will decide the fate of $235 million in pending retention bonuses at AIG. And the health czar, meanwhile, has become as influential as perhaps anyone in the Obama administration, spearheading White House negotiations with doctors, hospitals and other health providers. She will play a key role in determining which medicines, treatments and cures are deemed necessary for the public.

The point here is not that President Obama's reliance on czars is illegal (although it does raise significant, unresolved constitutional issues). Nor is it that these czars are bad people. It's that we have not been able to vet them, and that we have no idea what they're doing. It's that candidate Obama made a pledge to keep Congress in the light. Yet less than six months after his inauguration, the president appears intent to keep Congress more and more in the dark. Dozens of czars at a time.

The writer, a Republican from Virginia, is the House minority whip.

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