To the followers of my US Politics 101 course, here are Cabinet officers of the Obama Administration. When looking at some of these, an old cliche’ seems to appear. “Keep your friends close, and keep your enemies closer.”
President of the United States: Barack H. Obama, II
Born in Honolulu, 4 Aug 61. Lawyer; Community Activist; Law School Professor; Civil Rights Attorney; Illinois State Senate(D-13th), 1997-2004; United States Senate (D-IL), 2005-2008. As a former Illinois resident, during President Obama’s tenure in the State Senate, it is GUNNER’S VIEW that NO Chicago politician can be elected to or hold office without being “beholden to” Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.
Vice President of the United States: Joseph R. Biden
Born in Scranton, PA, 20 Nov 42. Lawyer; County Councilman, 1970-1972; United States Senate (D-MD), 1972-2009. Five Student Draft Deferments during Vietnam. Presidential Candidate, 1988 & 2008. His son, “Beau”, is Attorney General of Delaware. His second son, Robert, was appointed to the Department of Commerce by President Clinton and the Board of Directors of AMTRAK by President Bush. A fine example of an entire family feeding at the government trough.
Department of State: Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton
Born in Chicago, 26 Oct 47. Lawyer; Law School Instructor; Patent Attorney; First Lady of Arkansas, 1979-1981 and 1983-1992; First Lady of the United States, 1993-2001; United States Senate (D-NY), 2001-2009. Presidential Candidate, 2007-2008. See the Whitewater Controversy, “Travelgate” and “Filegate”.
Department of the Treasury: Secretary Timothy F. Geithner
Born in Brooklyn, 18 Aug 61. Kissinger & Associates, 1985-1988; US Treasury Dep’t., 1988-2001(Deputy Ass’t Sec’y, Senior Deuty Ass’t Sec’y, Assistant Secretary, Under Secretary); International Monetary Fund, 2001-2003; President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 2003-2009. Some issues about failing to pay his income taxes. In the early 1980’s, Geithner’s father oversaw the microfinance programs in Indonesia being developed by Obama’s mother.
Department of Defense: Secretary Robert M. Gates
Born in Wichita, 25 Sept 43. Ph.D., Russian & Soviet History. 2dLT, USAF, AIO, SAC, 1967-1969; Central Intelligence Agency, 1966-1967 and 1969-1974; Staff, National Security Council, 1974-1979; Central Intelligence Agency, 1979-1989 (Director of DCI Staff, Deputy Director for Intelligence, Deputy Director of CIA); Deputy Ass’t to the President for National Security Affairs, 1989; Deputy National Security Advisor, 1989-1991; Director of CIA, 1991-1993; Academic & Lecturer, 1993-1999; Dean, Texas A&M, 1999-2001; President, Texas A&M, 2002-2006; Secretary of Defense, 2006-Present. I like this guy. A SecDef that now only knows what he’s doing, but why he’s doing it.
Department of Justice: Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Born in The Bronx, 21 Jan 51. Lawyer; Dep’t of Justice, 1976-1988; Judge, Superior Court of DC, 1988-1993; US Attorney for DC, 1993-1997; Deputy Attorney General, 1997-2001; Private Practice, 2001-2009. Anti-Second Amendment, wants to reinstitute the “Assault Gun Ban”.
Department of the Interior: Secretary Kenneth L. Salazar
Born in Alamosa, CO, 2 Mar 55. Lawyer. Chief Legal Counsel to Governor of CO, 1986-1990; Director, CO Dep’t. Of Natural Resources, 1990-1994. Private Practice, 1994-1998. CO Attorney General, 1998-2005; United States Senate (D-CO), 2005-2009. Brother, John Salazar, is a Member of Congress from CO.
Department of Agriculture: Secretary Thomas J. Vilsack
Born in Pittsburg, 12 Dec 50. Lawyer; Mayor, Mt. Pleasant, IA, 1987-1992; IA State Senate (D), 1992-1999; Governor of IA, 1999-2007. Presidential Candidate, 2006-2007.
Department of Commerce: Secretary Gary F. Locke
Born in Seattle, 21 Jan 50. Lawyer. WA State House of Representatives (D-37th), 1983-1994; King County WA Executive, 1994-1997; Governor of WA, 1997-2005; Private Practice, China & Government Relations. WA Co-Chair, Clinton for President. In-laws born in the People’s Republic of China.
Department of Labor: Secretary Hilda L. Solis
Born in Los Angeles, 20 Oct 57. CA State Assembly (D-57th), 1992-1994; CA State Senate (D-24th), 1994-2001; US House of Representatives (CA-D-32nd), 2001-2009. Supporter of Hillary Clinton for President.
Department of Health and Human Services: Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
Born in Cincinnati, 15 May 48. KS House of Representatives (D), 1986-1995: KS State Insurance Commissioner, 1995-2003; Governor of KS, 2003-2009. Daughter of former OH Governor John J. Gilligan. Husband is Federal Magistrate Judge. Father-in-Law was Member of Congress from KS from 1969-1981.
Department of Housing and Urban Development: Secretary Shaun L.S. Donovan
Born in New York City, 24 Jan 66. Deputy Ass’t Sec’y at HUD during Clinton Administration; NYC Housing Commissioner, 2004-2008. Staff of Obama Campaign for President, 2008. Who is this guy and what has he done to qualify for this position?
Department of Transportation: Secretary Raymond L. LaHood
Born in Peoria, IL, 6 Dec 45. School Teacher. IL House of Representatives (R), 1982-1983; Member of Congress (IL-R-18th), 1995-2009.
Department of Energy: Secretary Steven Chu
Born in St. Louis, 28 Feb 48. Ph.D., Physics. Nobel Prize Winner. Pro-alternative energy. Probably will prove to be an outstanding cabinet selection.
Department of Education: Secretary Arne Duncan
Born in Chicago, 6 Nov 64. Professional Basketball Player in Australia, 1987-1991; Appointed as Chief Executive Officer, Chicago Public Schools by Mayor Richard Daley, 2001-2009. It is GUNNER’S VIEW that NO Chicago politician can be elected to or hold office without being “beholden to” Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.
Department of Veterans Affairs: Secretary Eric K. Shinseki
Born in Lihue, HI, 28 Nov 42. General, US Army Retired. Former Chief of Staff of the Army. Armor officer serving in Vietnam and Bosnia. While serving as Chief of Staff of the Army he was not a yesman to SecDef Rumsfeld. In GUNNER’S VIEW, General Shinseki will be an excellent SecVA.
Department of Homeland Security: Secretary Janet A. Napolitano
Born in New York City, 29 Nov 57. Lawyer; US Attorney, Dist of AZ, 1993-1998; AZ Attorney General, 1999-2002; Governor of AZ (D), 2002-2009. In GUNNER’S VIEW, appointing this person to this position was a serious mistake. She couldn’t/wouldn’t keep illegal aliens out of AZ during the 10 years she had the power to do so. She’s accused veterans of the United States Armed Forces as right wing extremists.
The following positions have the status of Cabinet-rank:
Council of Economic Advisers: Chair Christina Romer
Born in Alton, IL, 25 Dec 58. Ph.D., Economics. Professor, UC Berkley.
Environmental Protection Agency: Administrator Lisa P. Jackson
Born in Philadelphia, 8 Feb 62. US EPA, 1986-2002; NJ Dep’t. Of Environmental Protection, 2002-2006; NJ Commissioner of Environmental Protection, 2006-2008; Chief of Staff to Governor of NJ, 2008.
Office of Management & Budget: Director Peter R. Orszag
Born in Boston, 16 Dec 68. Ph.D., Economics. Senior Economist & Senior Advisor, Council of Economic Advisors, 1955-1996;Special Ass’t to the President for Economic Policy, 1997-1998; Director, Congressional Budget Office, 2007-2008.
United States Trade Representative: Ambassador Ronald Kirk
Born in Austin, TX, 27 Jun 54. Lawyer; TX Secretary of State, 1994-1995; Mayor of Dallas, 1995-2002; Lobbyist for Energy Future Holdings Corp. A couple of problems here, I think. Ambassador Kirk has also had some “issues” with the IRS about payment of taxes, he doesn’t appear to have any experience in this arena, and, in GUNNER’S VIEW, this “agency” should be a part of the State Department.
United States Ambassador to the United Nations: Ambassador Susan Rice
Born in Washington, 17 Nov 64. D.Phil., Int’l Relations. Director for International Organizations and Peacekeeping, National Security Council, 1993-1995; Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs, National Security Council, 1995-1997; Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, 1997-2001. My primary issue with Dr. Rice is not that she’s Ambassador to the UN, but that the President upgraded her position to Cabinet level, when she should still be subordinate to the Secretary of State.
White House Chief of Staff: Rahm I. Emanuel
Born in Chicago, 29 Nov 59. Chief Fundraiser for Mayor Richard Daley; Director, Bill Clinton’s Campaign Finance Committee; Senior Advisor to President Clinton for Policy and Strategy; Board of Directors, Freddie MAC, 2000-2001 (see Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight investigation); Member of Congress (IL-D-5th), 2003-2009. It is GUNNER’S VIEW that NO Chicago politician can be elected to or hold office without being “beholden to” Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.
Now, the question. Why do we have a National Director of Intelligence and a National Security Advisor if neither of them rank as high as the Administrator of the EPA and the Director of OMB?? Food for thought.
God Bless the United States, we need it.
Gunner Sends
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