OBAMA GOVERNS WITH A CADRE OF "CZARS"

Ed Morrissey:

... We seem to have an entire executive branch comprised of czars of one sort or another.  The Los Angeles Times reports that this impulse towards autocracy worries more than just a few observers...

If Congress acted like a true check on the executive instead of a rubber stamp for Obama — a  criticism often leveled by Democrats from 2001-6, and not without cause — they would put a halt to the expansion of powers Obama proposes.  Czars by their nature work directly for the President and are not accountable to Congress, yet they direct agencies that exist as a trust-based hybrid of legislative and executive powers.  That is why Congress has to confirm appointees at the top levels of these agencies, and why Congress demands that they report constantly to them on their status and actions.  [Morrissey's emphasis]

Czars change the equation of power between the executive and the legislature, which is the people’s branch of government.  They assume powers not intended for the executive and can get around Congressional mandates at whim.  That might make sense during temporary periods of emergency, but left in place corrupts accountability of government to the people.  It creates a powerful and unchecked executive branch, only answerable to a greatly-increased presidency. 

It’s interesting to note that the Democrats have decided to allow this, after years of screeching incoherently about Bush’s “unitary executive” without understanding at all what the term meant. . .  The formation of a legion of czars represents a challenge to the proper balance of power far outstripping anything seen during the Bush years, or for that matter any time in American history.   [my emphasis]