{"id":225344,"date":"2010-01-25T07:33:07","date_gmt":"2010-01-25T12:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/?p=30258"},"modified":"2010-01-25T07:33:07","modified_gmt":"2010-01-25T12:33:07","slug":"report-card-for-the-obama-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/225344","title":{"rendered":"Report Card for the Obama Administration"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='snap_preview'><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>CEI Grades the Performance of Cabinet and Agency Heads<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>By <a href=\"http:\/\/cei.org\/people\/cei-staff\">CEI Staff<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Washington, D.C., January 20, 2010\u2014One year ago today, Barack Obama took the oath of office as President of the United States. Since then, he and his appointees have had the opportunity to begin implementing their policy agenda, with notable results throughout the federal government\u2019s departments and agencies. The analysts of the Competitive Enterprise Institute have assessed the administration\u2019s first-year performance and assigned grades accordingly.<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\" width=\"90%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"5%\"><span style=\"font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;\"><strong>D-<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;\"><strong>White House (overall) \u2015 <\/strong>Barack Obama, President<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/papundits.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/01\/obama_sneer.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" style=\"margin-left:5px;margin-right:5px;\" title=\"Obama_Sneer\" src=\"http:\/\/papundits.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/01\/obama_sneer.jpg?w=100&#038;h=135\" alt=\"Obama Sneer\" width=\"100\" height=\"135\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Grader: <strong>Fred L. \tSmith, Jr.<\/strong>, President<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Americans rallied behind President Obama\u2019s message of \t\t\thope and change, giving this administration a wonderful opportunity to \t\t\treframe the debate about an array of issues in America\u2014entitlements, environmental \t\t\tpolicy, health care, and the roles of the federal and state \t\t\tgovernments.\u00a0Americans, not wedded to either the Democrats or the \t\t\tRepublicans, were ready for a reappraisal, a rebalancing of the powers of the \t\t\tpeople and the politicians. He blew it. Despite being elected by moderates \t\t\tand independents, this administration adopted the most statist agenda and \t\t\tcreated the most bloated bureaucracy in America\u2019s history.\u00a0By \t\t\tchampioning further politicization of an already overly politicized America, \t\t\tthere have been rapid drops in Obama\u2019s credibility and popularity.\u00a0\u00a0 <strong>&#8230;\u00a0\u00a0 <span id=\"more-30258\"><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Americans are dropping out of his Long March toward \t\t\tSocialism.\u00a0Obama could have adopted a \u201cNixon in China\u201d policy, working \t\t\twith Republicans, Independents, and Democrats to rebalance private and \t\t\tpolitical frontiers, encouraging greater private involvement in education, \t\t\tallowing private property a role in the environmental field, taking on the \t\t\tnon-sustainable entitlement programs already threatening the survival of \t\t\tEurope, reducing the regulatory and tax burdens on entrepreneurial \t\t\tcreativity, and moving away from the neo-conservative \u201cnation building\u201d \t\t\tcrusade of his predecessor.\u00a0 Unfortunately, he has not.\u00a0He could \t\t\thave been\u2014and, if he reshapes his course quickly enough, might still become\u2014a \t\t\tgreat president.\u00a0But, in this first year of his presidency, he has \t\t\tdisappointed.\u00a0The performance of the White House to date merits only a \t\t\tD-.<\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\" width=\"90%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"5%\"><strong>D+ <\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Department of Agriculture \u2015 <\/strong>Tom Vilsack, \t\t\tSecretary<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><div style=\"float:right;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=Agriculture+Secretary+Tom+Vilsack&amp;iid=6752382\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/c\/9\/7\/0\/Tom_Vilsack_Announces_6f71.jpg?adImageId=9449486&amp;imageId=6752382\" width=\"137\" height=\"100\" border=0  \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:left;height:0px;overflow: hidden;\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\"><\/script><em>Grader: <strong>Frances B. Smith<\/strong>, Adjunct Fellow<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In a February 24, 2009, \t\t\taddress to Congress, President Obama promised the American people that his administration \t\t\twould be taking a hard look at farm support. \u201cIn this budget,\u201d he said, \u201cwe \t\t\twill . . . end direct payments of large agribusinesses that don\u2019t need them.\u201d \t\t\tHowever, reality wasn\u2019t consistent with that rhetoric, as the U.S. Department \t\t\tof Agriculture estimates that direct government payments would total $12.5 \t\t\tbillion in 2009, a 2-percent increase over 2008. Agricultural policy in the \t\t\tObama administration has also continued and expanded massive agricultural \t\t\tsubsidies, with new \u201cgreen\u201d subsidies for ethanol production. In addition, \t\t\tthe American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 gave USDA nearly $28 \t\t\tbillion in funding, which together with guaranteed loan programs represents \t\t\tnearly $52 billion in new program funding.\u00a0 The Obama administration has \t\t\talso refused to touch special interest programs that benefit wealthy farmers \t\t\tat the expense of consumers\u2014for example, the \t\t\tUSDA decided not to increase import quotas for sugar, which restrict the \t\t\tamount of sugar available for sugar users and consumers. And, despite World \t\t\tTrade Organization rulings against U.S. \t\t\tcotton subsidies, no U.S. \t\t\taction has been taken to change that program.<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\" width=\"90%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"5%\"><strong>D<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Consumer Product Safety \t\t\tCommission \u2015 <\/strong>Inez Moore Tenenbaum, Chairman<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><div style=\"float:right;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=Inez+Moore+Tenenbaum&amp;iid=7076805\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/c\/a\/3\/8\/Toys_R_US_7d29.jpg?adImageId=9449733&amp;imageId=7076805\" width=\"100\" height=\"150\" border=0  \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:left;height:0px;overflow: hidden;\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\"><\/script><em>Grader: <strong>Angela Logomasini<\/strong>, \t\t\tDirector of Risk and Environmental Policy<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The CPSC gets a D for its management of perhaps the most significant \t\t\titem on the Consumer Product Safety Commission agenda for 2009: the \t\t\timplementation of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 \t\t\t(CPSIA).\u00a0 It regulates lead and certain \t\t\tchemicals in toys.\u00a0 Never mind the fact \t\t\tthat the trace levels are too low to pose a health risk, this draconian law \t\t\tis putting small businesses out of commission and forcing charities to toss \t\t\told books, toys, and other items. Small businesses and others have been fighting \t\t\tthis unreasonable and impractical law since its inception.\u00a0 But CPSC has made things even more \t\t\tdifficult than necessary by refusing to apply any flexibility built into the \t\t\tlaw.<\/p>\n<p>Commissioner Ann Northup, one of the few voices of reason at CPSC, noted \t\t\trecently in the <em>Wall Street Journal<\/em>:\u00a0 \u201cFor the past several months, American \t\t\tbusinesses have been caught in the middle of a classic standoff between the \t\t\tfederal commissioners in the majority, who argue that the statute ties their \t\t\thands, and members of Congress, who claim they wrote flexibility into the law \t\t\tand blame the commission for any harsh consequences. Although the commission \t\t\tsteadfastly refused to reach out to Congress to seek clarifications to the \t\t\tlaw, Congress has now reached out to us\u2014asking the agency last week for a \t\t\tlist of recommendations to amend the statute.\u00a0 \t\t\tThankfully the commission responded, in part, by agreeing to extend \t\t\tthe stay on testing and certification for lead content. This window gives \t\t\tCongress time to consider such common-sense changes\u2026\u201d The commission gets a \t\t\tfew points for having at least extended one compliance deadline to allow time \t\t\tfor reform, but it could have taken more opportunities to apply some reason \t\t\tto the application of the law.<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\" width=\"90%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"5%\"><strong>F<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong> <\/strong><strong>Department of Energy \u2015 <\/strong>Steven Chu, Secretary<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><div style=\"float:right;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=Steven+Chu&amp;iid=7603657\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/d\/1\/1\/c\/Secretary_of_Energy_5064.JPG?adImageId=9449923&amp;imageId=7603657\" width=\"200\" height=\"137\" border=0  \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:left;height:0px;overflow: hidden;\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\"><\/script><em>Grader: <strong>Iain \t\t\tMurray<\/strong>, Vice President for Strategy<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The mission of the \t\t\tDepartment of Energy has historically been one of ensuring that America \t\t\thas the power to meet its economic needs.\u00a0Unfortunately, under Secretary \t\t\tSteven Chu, a Nobel-prize winning physicist, the Department has apparently \t\t\tdecided that America\u2019s \t\t\teconomy is too big and needs to be scaled back.\u00a0It has taken a decision \t\t\tto frown upon traditional sources of energy, generated from fossil fuels, and \t\t\tdiscouraged their further development.\u00a0Alternative sources of energy, \t\t\twhich cannot possibly meet America\u2019s \t\t\tneeds in the short-to-medium term, are instead encouraged with massive \t\t\ttaxpayer-funded subsidies.\u00a0Some noises have been made about nuclear \t\t\tenergy, but it remains the red-headed stepchild of energy policy.\u00a0The \t\t\tresult will likely be a continuing degradation of America\u2019s energy infrastructure \t\t\twhich will almost certainly result in its failure to meet economic needs \t\t\tshould the nation begin to climb out of the current recession, with the likelihood \t\t\tof a stalled recovery.\u00a0For its failure to appreciate exactly what it is \t\t\tsupposed to be there for, the Obama administration\u2019s Department of Energy \t\t\tgets a resounding F.<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\" width=\"90%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"5%\"><strong>F<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong> <\/strong><strong>Environmental Protection Agency \u2013 <\/strong>Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><div style=\"float:right;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=Lisa+P.+Jackson&amp;iid=7334946\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/0\/3\/5\/5\/EPA_Declares_Greenhouse_7e8e.jpg?adImageId=9449982&amp;imageId=7334946\" width=\"100\" height=\"149\" border=0  \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:left;height:0px;overflow: hidden;\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\"><\/script><em>Grader: <strong>Myron \t\t\tEbell<\/strong>, Director of Energy and Global Warming \t\t\tPolicy<\/em><\/p>\n<p>EPA flunked on April 16, 2009, \t\t\twhen EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson found that greenhouse gas emissions \t\t\tendanger public health and welfare, and therefore must be regulated under the \t\t\tClean Air Act. This endangerment finding came after an advance notice of \t\t\tproposed rulemaking begun during the Bush administration in July 2008 that \t\t\tresulted in numerous substantive expert comments that show clearly that the \t\t\tfinding is unwarranted scientifically, that the Clean Air Act is entirely \t\t\tunsuitable for regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and that using it to do \t\t\tso would create a regulatory nightmare and do enormous economic damage. \t\t\tAdministrator Jackson \t\t\tadmitted that the Clean Air Act was not designed to regulate greenhouse gas \t\t\temissions, but went ahead and made the finding anyway.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, EPA has moved aggressively to stop coal production in Appalachia by intervening in mine-permitting decisions \t\t\tby the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The EPA has even demanded that the Corps \t\t\trevoke permits for new mines that have already been granted. The grounds upon \t\t\twhich the EPA is attempting to stop coal mining are utterly ridiculous.<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\" width=\"90%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"5%\"><strong>D<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Federal Communications Commission \u2013 <\/strong>Julius Genachowski<strong>,<\/strong> Chairman<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<div style=\"float:right;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=Julius+Genachowski&amp;iid=4993838\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/7\/4\/8\/e\/Senate_Committee_Holds_7727.jpg?adImageId=9450011&amp;imageId=4993838\" width=\"145\" height=\"100\" border=0  \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:left;height:0px;overflow: hidden;\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\"><\/script><em>Grader: <strong>Ryan \t\t\tRadia<\/strong>, Associate Director of Technology Studies<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Radio and television stations, Internet service \t\t\tproviders, and even wireless phone companies are all regulated by the United \t\t\tStates Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This agency is tasked with \t\t\tgoverning the nation\u2019s airwaves and making available communications services \t\t\tto the residents of the United \t\t\tStates.<\/p>\n<p>Technological evolution has spurred fundamental \t\t\tchanges in the way we communicate over the last couple of decades. Consumers \t\t\tnowadays enjoy more information and entertainment sources than ever before, \t\t\tand the notion of scarcity in communications has yielded to a world of \t\t\tabundance. Consequently, the FCC\u2019s proper role has grown smaller and smaller.<\/p>\n<p>Like most modern bureaucracies, however, the FCC has \t\t\tmaneuvered in recent years to interject itself in market processes in order \t\t\tto preserve the agency\u2019s relevance in the face of a rapidly changing \t\t\tcommunications landscape. Most recently, the FCC has proposed imposing net \t\t\tneutrality rules that would limit how Internet providers can manage their \t\t\tnetworks in the name of protecting consumers. But these rules threaten to \t\t\tconstrain tomorrow\u2019s innovative business arrangements\u2014arrangements which \t\t\ttoday\u2019s shortsighted regulators simply cannot foresee.<\/p>\n<p>The FCC also made headlines in the fall of 2009 when \t\t\tit launched an investigation into wireless industry practices. AT&amp;T, the \t\t\tnation\u2019s second largest wireless carrier, and Apple, the maker of the iPhone, \t\t\twere at the center of the controversy. Naturally, the FCC claimed its actions \t\t\twere aimed at protecting consumers. In fact, the looming scepter of \t\t\tregulatory intervention in the wireless market\u2014a market which is highly \t\t\tinnovative and competitive, according to objective measures\u2014causes firms to \t\t\tretreat, stifling innovation and making consumers worse off.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, the FCC has publicly acknowledged \t\t\tthe need for expanding the pool of spectrum available to the marketplace. \t\t\tSpectrum is the lifeblood of mobile communications, but government controls \t\t\tgiant swaths of this resource. The FCC has streamlined the process of \t\t\tdeploying wireless services, which has helped ensure that wireless carriers \t\t\tare able to meet escalating demand for mobile data service. But the \t\t\tCommission still has a long ways to go if it\u2019s to enable American enterprise \t\t\tto realize the full potential of the spectrum.<br \/>\n<strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\" width=\"90%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"5%\"><strong>F<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Federal Trade Commission \u2013 <\/strong>Jon Leibowitz, \t\t\tChairman<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><div style=\"float:right;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=Jon+Leibowitz&amp;iid=4474836\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/a\/b\/7\/f\/PicImg_Federal_state_agencies_210a.JPG?adImageId=9450043&amp;imageId=4474836\" width=\"100\" height=\"126\" border=0  \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:left;height:0px;overflow: hidden;\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\"><\/script><em>Grader: <strong>Michelle \t\t\tMinton<\/strong>, Policy Analyst<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The purpose of the Federal \t\t\tTrade Commission is, ostensibly, to protect consumers and encourage \t\t\tcompetition in the marketplace. However, over the last year the FTC and the \t\t\tObama administration have initiated or endorsed actions that display an \t\t\tincreasingly interventionist intent and that would resoundingly impede \t\t\tcompetition and threaten the liberty of individual consumers.\u00a0Congress \t\t\tinitiated plans to repeal portions of the McCarran-Ferguson act, \t\t\tending\u00a0the long-standing antitrust exemption for health insurers. This \t\t\tproposal, endorsed by President Obama, would do nothing to reduce the costs \t\t\tof health insurance and would more than likely result in increased costs and \t\t\tmarket consolidation. The \u201ccollusion\u201d practiced by health insurers actually \t\t\tallows them (especially small insurance companies) to share information and \t\t\trate-setting standards for more accurate premium calculations. Setting \t\t\taccurate risk-based rates is fundamental to an insurer&#8217;s ability to charge \t\t\tadequate rates that are neither too little or too much. States already have \t\t\tthe power to regulate antitrust in the insurance industry so the result of \t\t\trepealing the antitrust exemption would most likely be insurance companies \t\t\terring on the side of caution by reducing market cooperation, a reduction in \t\t\tpremium rate accuracy and thus an increase in the costs of writing insurance.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the FTC filed an \t\t\tantitrust suit against Intel, the leading manufacturer of microprocessors, \t\t\talleging that the company violated federal laws by engaging in exclusionary \t\t\tbusiness practices. In reality, Intel has been able to achieve its success \t\t\tdue to constant innovation as a result of a vibrant and competitive market. \t\t\tThe application of antitrust laws will only retard what is an otherwise \t\t\tdynamic market. There is no evidence that Intel&#8217;s market success has harmed \t\t\tconsumers in any way. Lastly, and most disturbingly, the FTC issued new rules \t\t\twhich went into effect December 1, 2009, that would make the average blogger \t\t\tliable for civil penalties for false claims about products or failure to \t\t\tdisclose material connections between the reviewer and the marketer of a product \t\t\tor service. This raises serious concerns about the scope of the FTC&#8217;s powers \t\t\tand its ability and willingness to hamper individuals&#8217; freedom of speech. For \t\t\tthis and the previously mentioned offenses the FTC receives an unequivocal F.<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\" width=\"90%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"5%\"><strong>C-<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Food and Drug Administration \u2013 <\/strong>Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Commissioner<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><div style=\"float:right;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=Dr.+Margaret+Hamburg&amp;iid=4735325\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/7\/2\/4\/2\/Margaret_Hamburg_Attends_3855.jpg?adImageId=9450113&amp;imageId=4735325\" width=\"120\" height=\"164\" border=0  \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:left;height:0px;overflow: hidden;\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\"><\/script><em>Grader: <strong>Gregory \t\t\tConko<\/strong>, Senior Fellow<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Obama administration\u2019s Food and Drug \t\t\tAdministration had a sub-par performance in 2009.\u00a0 The agency\u2019s Center for Drug Evaluation and \t\t\tResearch approved just 24 new drugs and biotech medicines last year\u2014roughly \t\t\ton par with its performance in the final year of the Bush administration, but \t\t\twell below recent highs of 53 in 1996 and 39 in 1997.\u00a0 In other areas, the FDA\u2019s new leadership \t\t\thas taken a \u201cget tough\u201d attitude with manufacturers that will do nothing to \t\t\timprove safety, but could deprive consumers of useful products and \t\t\tinformation.\u00a0 For example, in April, \t\t\tthe agency informed drug manufacturers that their use of \u201csponsored link\u201d ads \t\t\ton search engines such as Google and Yahoo! were unlawful because the \t\t\t70-character links did not present the same encyclopedic risk information \t\t\trequired of conventional print advertisements\u2014even though the links directed \t\t\tusers to a page containing the full risk disclosure.<\/p>\n<p>In May, the FDA issued a warning letter to General \t\t\tMills that labels on boxes of Cheerios indicating that consumers could lower \t\t\ttheir cholesterol by eating the whole grain cereal turned the product from a \t\t\tfood into a medical drug.\u00a0 And, in July, \t\t\tPrinciple Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein recommended imposing strict \t\t\tlimits on the use of certain antibiotics in livestock production.\u00a0 The appointment of so-called consumer \t\t\tadvocates such as Sharfstein and Assistant Commissioner for Policy Peter \t\t\tLurie suggest one reason why the new FDA leadership has been taking a \t\t\tneedlessly antagonistic regulatory approach.\u00a0 \t\t\tSimilarly, the appointment of Ralph Tyler, an attorney with no food \t\t\tand drug law experience, to serve as FDA chief counsel, bodes poorly for \t\t\tconsumers and manufacturers alike.<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\" width=\"90%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"5%\"><strong>F<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Immigration and Customs Enforcement \u2013 <\/strong>John T. Morton, Assistant Secretary<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>&#8220;<\/td>\n<td><strong>U.S.<\/strong><strong> Citizenship and Immigration Services<\/strong> <strong>\u2013<\/strong> Alejandro Mayorkas, Director<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Grader: <strong>Alex \t\t\tNowrasteh<\/strong>, Policy Analyst<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Immigration and Customs \t\t\tEnforcement (ICE) and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services \t\t\t(USCIS) receive an F for enforcing America\u2019s self-destructive \t\t\timmigration policies.\u00a0ICE and USCIS have the impossible task of \t\t\tseparating immigrants from economic opportunity, and have failed spectacularly.\u00a0The \t\t\tcost per apprehension of illegal immigrant on the border is up by 1,041 \t\t\tpercent since 1992, and the number of illegal immigrants only seems to dip in \t\t\tresponse to recessions.\u00a0When our immigration laws are confronted with \t\t\tthe economic realities of mass immigration, ICE and USCIS end up with egg on \t\t\ttheir faces and taxpayers with a hole in their pockets.<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\" width=\"90%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"5%\"><strong>F<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Department of Interior \u2013 <\/strong>Ken Salazar, Secretary<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><div style=\"float:right;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=Ken+Salazar&amp;iid=5325279\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/b\/c\/6\/c\/Chu_Vilsack_And_1a6e.jpg?adImageId=9450604&amp;imageId=5325279\" width=\"100\" height=\"146\" border=0  \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:left;height:0px;overflow: hidden;\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\"><\/script><em>Grader: <strong>R.J. \t\t\tSmith<\/strong>, Senior Environmental Scholar<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, Interior \t\t\tSecretary Ken Salazar and the host of environmentalists who have filled key \t\t\tslots appear determined to continue to expand the amount of federal land \t\t\townership through the acquisition (and regulation) of private lands\u2014supporting the creation of ever more National Parks, \t\t\tNational Monuments, National Wildlife Refuges, National Heritage Areas, \t\t\tNational Trails, and Wild and Scenic Rivers.\u00a0With the poor record of\u00a0stewardship \t\t\ton so many of the federal lands, one would hope for some demonstrated ability \t\t\tto care for what they already have, in place of endless acquisition as a \t\t\tseeming end in itself.<\/p>\n<p>And while DOI \t\t\tis\u00a0reducing private land ownership, it is also locking up millions of \t\t\tadditional\u00a0acres of existing federal lands in Wilderness Areas, which \t\t\tcan never be used and\u00a0most of which have never even been inventoried for \t\t\ttheir potential contributions to national survival.\u00a0 Additionally \t\t\tthe\u00a0U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is in the process of listing more and \t\t\tmore species of plants and animals as threatened or endangered regardless of \t\t\tthe facts as well as designating ever-larger critical habitats for listed \t\t\tspecies.\u00a0DOI is supporting efforts of environmentalists to not only \t\t\tclose areas of known fossil fuel deposits to exploration and development, but \t\t\tis also opposing the creation of alternative wind and solar\u00a0energy farms \t\t\tbecause they might impact endangered species and their habitat\u2014or harm \u201cviewsheds\u201d \u2014thus \t\t\tmaking doubly sure that America has neither non-renewable nor renewable \t\t\tenergy supplies for the future.\u00a0Such policies harm the land, the \t\t\tresources, the wildlife and the American people.\u00a0How could one do worse?<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\" width=\"90%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"5%\"><strong>F<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Department of Justice \u2013 <\/strong>Eric Holder, Attorney General<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><div style=\"float:right;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=Eric+Holder&amp;iid=7540668\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/d\/f\/5\/4\/Financial_Crisis_Inquiry_e06b.JPG?adImageId=9450666&amp;imageId=7540668\" width=\"141\" height=\"100\" border=0  \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:left;height:0px;overflow: hidden;\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\"><\/script><em>Grader: <strong>Hans \t\t\tBader<\/strong>, Senior Attorney<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Justice Department is \t\t\tdeeply politicized, putting partisanship before its legal responsibilities \t\t\tand the Constitution. It has failed to enforce federal voting rights laws \t\t\tlike UOCAVA that protect the right of military service members to vote, \t\t\tresulting in many of them receiving absentee ballots to late to vote in close \t\t\tcongressional races, like the special election for New York\u2019s 20<sup>th<\/sup> congressional district.\u00a0 The obvious result of this is to put critics of \t\t\tthe administration, who are disproportionately backed by military voters, at \t\t\ta disadvantage in every election.\u00a0 It dropped a voter-intimidation case \t\t\tafter career justice department had already won the case and obtained a \t\t\tdefault judgment, shielding from punishment an Obama poll watcher and Philadelphia democratic \t\t\tofficial who used a nightstick and racial epithets to intimidate voters, and \t\t\twho belonged to the anti-Semitic, racist New Black Panther Party.\u00a0 It \t\t\tthen thumbed its nose at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, by refusing to \t\t\tcomply with a subpoena issued by the Commission in its investigation of the administration\u2019s \t\t\tactions.\u00a0 It overturned a legal opinion by David Baron, a liberal \t\t\tJustice Department attorney hired under the Obama administration, when he had \t\t\tthe temerity to point out the inconvenient truth that giving D.C. a congressman, \t\t\tas Obama advocates, would violate the Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>The Justice Department has \t\t\texpanded the use of Miranda Warnings in Afghanistan \u2014even though they are not constitutionally required and \t\t\timpede investigators.\u00a0 Yet it argues in court briefs that detainees \t\t\tsubjected to torture have no redress under the U.S. Constitution.\u00a0 It is \t\t\teroding civil liberties by re-prosecuting in federal court teenagers \t\t\tacquitted of a hate crime in state court, even though testimony in the state \t\t\tcase supported the jury\u2019s not-guilty verdict by pointing to a different \t\t\tculprit.\u00a0 It failed to take steps to cut off funds to ACORN, a political \t\t\tally of the President, despite ACORN\u2019s being caught on video promoting \t\t\tmortgage fraud and other criminal activity, and the existence for years of \t\t\tfederal statutes debarring contractors who engage in fraud.<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\" width=\"90%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"5%\"><strong>D<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Department of Labor \u2013 <\/strong>Hilda L. Solis, Secretary<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><div style=\"float:right;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=Hilda+L.+Solis&amp;iid=6856426\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/f\/8\/b\/4\/Obama_Administration_officials_6367.JPG?adImageId=9450700&amp;imageId=6856426\" width=\"110\" height=\"100\" border=0  \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:left;height:0px;overflow: hidden;\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\"><\/script><em>Grader: <strong>Ivan \t\t\t\t\t\tOsorio<\/strong>, Editorial Director<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis gets a low grade for \t\t\t\t\t\tshifting the focus of the Department of Labor to run once again as if it \t\t\t\t\t\twere the Department of <em>Organized <\/em>Labor. Since taking office, she has \t\t\t\t\t\tworked with union bosses to promote organized labor\u2019s agenda, including \t\t\t\t\t\tundermining efforts to improve union financial disclosure. However, one \t\t\t\t\t\tmitigating factor is the fact that the department\u2019s searchable database for \t\t\t\t\t\tunion LM-2 reports remains online (the database was made available online \t\t\t\t\t\tby Solis\u2019s predecessor, Elaine Chao).<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\" width=\"90%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"5%\"><strong>C-<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Office of Management and Budget \u2013 <\/strong>Peter Orszag, Director<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><div style=\"float:right;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=Peter+Orszag&amp;iid=7542923\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/2\/0\/b\/a\/Peter_Orszag_listens_da2e.JPG?adImageId=9450743&amp;imageId=7542923\" width=\"100\" height=\"150\" border=0  \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:left;height:0px;overflow: hidden;\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\"><\/script><em>Grader: <strong>Ryan \t\t\tYoung<\/strong>, Journalism Fellow<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Spending and deficits are \t\t\tfar higher than under President George W. Bush, himself a big spender. But \t\t\tObama can\u2019t be given all the blame. The bailout and stimulus spending \t\t\tprograms that caused much of the fresh red ink got their start under Bush. In \t\t\ta potentially positive regulatory development, the number of pages in the \t\t\tFederal Register decreased from 79,435 in 2008 to 69,676 in 2009. Of course, \t\t\tthe contents of those pages matters more than how many of them there are. And \t\t\ton that front, the new administration is business as usual.<span style=\"font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\" width=\"90%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"5%\"><strong>F<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Public Company Accounting \t\t\tOversight Board \u2013<\/strong> Daniel L. Goelzer, Acting \t\t\tChairman<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><em>Grader: <strong>John \t\t\tBerlau<\/strong>, Director of the Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, created \t\t\tby Sarbanes-Oxley to implement its rules, gets an F. It has done nothing to \t\t\tsimplify the rules that Republicans and Democrats have called overly \t\t\tburdensome to small public companies. And this year when bonuses in the \t\t\tprivate sector were under so much scrutiny, the PCAOB raised the salary of \t\t\tits chairman to almost $700,000 a year.<\/p>\n<p>However, it is important to note that Obama cannot be \t\t\theld accountable for any of the PCAOB&#8217;s actions, since the PCAOB&#8217;s \t\t\tunconstitutional structure prevents the President from exercising any control \t\t\tthrough either the appointment or removal process. Despite our disagreement \t\t\twith the Obama administration,\u00a0in a pending Supreme Court case, CEI has \t\t\targued for his and future administrations to have the necessary \t\t\tconstitutional controls over this agency so that they can be held politically \t\t\taccountable for its actions, good or bad.<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\" width=\"90%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"5%\"><strong>D<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Securities and Exchange Commission \u2013 <\/strong>Mary L. Schapiro, \t\t\tChairman<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><div style=\"float:right;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=Mary+L.+Schapiro&amp;iid=4361399\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/7\/7\/a\/8\/Senate_Holds_Hearing_a2bd.jpg?adImageId=9450834&amp;imageId=4361399\" width=\"100\" height=\"128\" border=0  \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:left;height:0px;overflow: hidden;\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\"><\/script><em>Grader: <strong>John \t\t\tBerlau<\/strong>, Director of the Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The reason\u00a0the SEC\u00a0does not get an F is \t\t\tbecause its Chairman Mary Schapiro, appointed by President Obama last year at \t\t\tthe beginning of his administration, has made going after major investor \t\t\tfraud a key priority. She has brought on\u00a0law enforcement experts and \t\t\tshifted enforcement resources from trivial headline-grabbing investigations \t\t\tsuch as the alleged backdating of stock options, which caused little harm to \t\t\tshareholders\u2019 bottom lines, into seeking out Madoff-like Ponzi schemes. \t\t\tContrary to press accounts, the SEC was not inactive during the Bush \t\t\tadministration, but focused on the wrong enforcement priorities. It threw the \t\t\tbook at Martha Stewart for trivial charges, but ignored warnings about Bernie \t\t\tMadoff and other fraudsters (as the agency had also done with regard to \t\t\tMadoff, to be fair, under the Clinton \t\t\tadministration).<\/p>\n<p>However other actions of the Obama-Schapiro SEC have \t\t\tgreatly undermined shareholder well-being. Schapiro brought back the \t\t\twidespread use of corporate penalties to punish shareholder fraud. But \t\t\tpenalties on the corporation, rather than\u00a0individual bad actors in the \t\t\tcompany, have the effect of punishing the very shareholders the fraud was \t\t\tcommitted against. The money to pay the penalties is taken from \t\t\tthe\u00a0corporate treasury, which ultimately belongs to the ordinary \t\t\tshareholders of the company. Thus, shareholders end up being penalized twice \t\t\tfor the fraud: once when the corporate executives misuse a company&#8217;s money \t\t\tand again when the corporate penalty further reduces the assets that belong \t\t\tto all shareholders.<\/p>\n<p>Schapiro also gets this bad grade for, over the \t\t\tobjection of the two Republican commissioners, overriding 150 years of state \t\t\tcorporate law to mandate that companies list shareholder nominees on the same \t\t\tballot with their own. These proposed \u201cproxy access\u201d rules would let special \t\t\tinterests with agendas and shares of stocks, such as union pension funds and \t\t\tenvironmental groups, use the director nomination process as a wedge against \t\t\tmanagement to promote political agenda items that are contrary to the interests \t\t\tof ordinary shareholders.<\/p>\n<p>And Schapiro failed shareholders and entrepreneurs \t\t\twhen she refused to extend an exemption from the Sarbanes-Oxley \u201cinternal \t\t\tcontrol\u201d auditing mandates to the very smallest public companies. At a time \t\t\twhen President Obama and Republicans are worries about small business growth \t\t\tand the ability to create jobs, this will severely limit these companies \t\t\tability to grow. And Sarbanes-Oxley, despite costing the economy more than $1 \t\t\ttrillion according to University of Minnesota economist Ivy Zhang, did \t\t\tlittle\u00a0for shareholders in\u00a0preventing fraud in the subprime crisis. \t\t\tThis action may be mitigated by bipartisan actions in Congress to create a \t\t\tpermanent exemption for these smaller companies. This measure was inserted \t\t\tinto the financial regulation bill that passed the House in December, with \t\t\tthe Obama administration&#8217;s limited support. But it still needs to clear the \t\t\tSenate. Schapiro should heed this bipartisan\u00a0action and continue to \t\t\textend this exemption so vital for entrepreneurs and shareholders\u00a0from \t\t\tthis law that was rushed through after Enron and signed by President Bush in \t\t\t2002.<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\" width=\"90%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"5%\"><strong>F<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Department of Transportation \u2013 <\/strong>Ray LaHood, Secretary<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><div style=\"float:right;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=Ray+LaHood&amp;iid=6970174\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/b\/a\/2\/8\/Transportation_Sec_LaHood_3f30.jpg?adImageId=9450920&amp;imageId=6970174\" width=\"100\" height=\"150\" border=0  \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:left;height:0px;overflow: hidden;\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\"><\/script><em>Grader: <strong>Sam \t\t\tKazman<\/strong>, General Counsel<\/em><\/p>\n<p>For proposing, in \t\t\tconjunction with EPA, to raise vehicle fuel economy\u00a0standards to even \t\t\tgreater levels, despite the overwhelming evidence that such standards kill \t\t\tpeople by causing cars to be made smaller and lighter.\u00a0Downsizing may \t\t\tsqueeze more mpgs out of a car, but it also reduces crashworthiness.\u00a0When \t\t\tpassenger car standards were at 27.5 mpg several years ago, the National \t\t\tAcademy of Sciences estimated that they contributed to about 2,000 traffic \t\t\tdeaths per year.\u00a0 As those standards are pushed up by DOT and EPA, that \t\t\tdeath toll will only climb, with nary a peep out of the agency whose alleged \t\t\tjob is to promote traffic safety.<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\" width=\"90%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"5%\"><strong>D<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Department of Treasury \u2013 <\/strong>Timothy F. Geithner, Secretary<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><div style=\"float:right;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=Timothy+F.+Geithner&amp;iid=3654217\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/d\/e\/7\/3\/a3.JPG?adImageId=9450988&amp;imageId=3654217\" width=\"100\" height=\"115\" border=0  \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:left;height:0px;overflow: hidden;\"><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\"><\/script><em>Grader: <strong>Wayne<\/strong><strong> Crews<\/strong>, Vice President for Policy<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In a libertarian world of civil rather than political society, \t\t\tthe Treasury Department would pay the modest bills of a constitutionally \t\t\tlimited government.\u00a0 It\u2019s true that Congress holds the purse strings; \t\t\tbut during an economic and financial crisis rooted in already-gargantuan \t\t\tgovernment that \u2013 despite the news reports \u2013 has regulated money, credit and \t\t\tinterest rates many decades, a sane Treasury\u2019s vision for leadership and \t\t\trecovery would rule out seducing Congress with yet more elaborate and larger \t\t\tpurses (with elastic seams besides). This Treasury Department has compounded \t\t\tthe \u201cNASCAR\u201d bailouts, helps inflate a silly \u201cgreen energy\u201d bubble, and \t\t\tstands at the podium cheerleading the idea of regulating the private-sector \t\t\tsalaries among other priestly interventions in one formerly free endeavor \t\t\tafter another.\u00a0But creating ficticious economies through political means \t\t\tis nothing new; we\u2019re experiencing the fruits of this key governmental \t\t\tfunction now.\u00a0I want to give Treasury an \u201cF\u201d for standing by as the 2009 \t\t\tdeficit topped an incomprehensible $1.6 trillion last year amid this self-serving \t\t\torgy, a political spending phenomenon unrelated to the requirements of \t\t\teconomic recovery.<\/p>\n<p>However, Treasury gets only a \u201cD\u201d because it inherited from \t\t\tPresident Bush what was already the largest government on Planet Earth ($3 \t\t\ttrillion) a behemoth it had few complaints about financing.\u00a0We can argue \t\t\tit \u2018till the whiskey\u2019s gone, but there\u2019s no question that under President \t\t\tObama, Treasury has been instrumental in extending and \u201ccustomizing\u201d a \t\t\tStimulus to Nowhere already making a beeline for the cliff\u2019s edge, and things \t\t\tcould have been otherwise. Federal interventions are so extensive that civil, \t\t\tvoluntary society as opposed to administered society may never quite recover \t\t\tin this particular geographical area of the world during any of our \t\t\tlifetimes.<\/p>\n<p>Since \t\t\tit insists upon doing more than keeping the books, to get an \u201cA,\u201d the U.S. \t\t\tTreasury Department must take a leadership role in removing obstacles to \t\t\tcorporate and small business innovation like tax and capital gain \t\t\tliberalization, and help expand economic deregulation on a massive \t\t\tscale.\u00a0 Apart from paying the government\u2019s own light bill, Treasury\u2019s \t\t\tleadership is only valuable when it prioritizes wise and honest alternatives \t\t\tto spending yet more stimulus money that it doesn\u2019t have. It can take a lead \t\t\trole in expanding ideas like privatization, liberalizing America\u2019s network \t\t\tindustries like electricity and telecommunications (it will surprise few that \t\t\tthe latter is being newly regulated rather than deregulated), simplifying \t\t\ttaxes, explaining why a VAT is disastrous, and much more.\u00a0The U.S. \t\t\tfederal government buys us far too much misery with the $4 trillion it now \t\t\tspends annually; I almost wish it were more Machiavellian rather than just \t\t\tcrazy. Freedom and liberty cost less than this, America.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"tag\" href=\"http:\/\/cei.org\/\" > CEI<\/a> is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest group that studies the intersection of regulation, risk, and markets.<\/p>\n<div id=\"_mcePaste\" style=\"overflow:hidden;position:absolute;left:-10000px;top:0;width:1px;height:1px;\">\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\" width=\"90%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;\"><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Posted in 111th Congress, 2008 Elections, Barry Soetoro (aka Barack Hussein Obama), Demo-gogues, Democrats, Liberals, Marxists, News and Views, Politicians for the Destruction of America Tagged: CEI (Competitive Enterprise Institute), Ed <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/gocomments\/papundits.wordpress.com\/30258\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/comments\/papundits.wordpress.com\/30258\/\" \/><\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/godelicious\/papundits.wordpress.com\/30258\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/delicious\/papundits.wordpress.com\/30258\/\" \/><\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/gostumble\/papundits.wordpress.com\/30258\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/stumble\/papundits.wordpress.com\/30258\/\" \/><\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/godigg\/papundits.wordpress.com\/30258\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/digg\/papundits.wordpress.com\/30258\/\" \/><\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/goreddit\/papundits.wordpress.com\/30258\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/reddit\/papundits.wordpress.com\/30258\/\" \/><\/a> <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/stats.wordpress.com\/b.gif?host=papundits.wordpress.com&#038;blog=174708&#038;post=30258&#038;subd=papundits&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1\" \/><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CEI Grades the Performance of Cabinet and Agency Heads By CEI Staff Washington, D.C., January 20, 2010\u2014One year ago today, Barack Obama took the oath of office as President of the United States. Since then, he and his appointees have had the opportunity to begin implementing their policy agenda, with notable results throughout the federal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4200,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225344\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}