Obama and the Pay Czar

This is unbelievable.

Even when Obama is out of the country he's expanding his powers as president and operating outside the Constitution.

The guy is appointing ANOTHER czar -- "Special Master for Compensation" (aka pay czar).

Isn't that a goofy name?

From the Wall Street Journal:

The Obama administration plans to appoint a "Special Master for Compensation" to ensure that companies receiving federal bailout funds are abiding by executive-pay guidelines, according to people familiar with the matter.

The administration is expected to name Kenneth Feinberg, who oversaw the federal government's compensation fund for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, to act as a pay czar for the Treasury Department, these people said.

Mr. Feinberg's appointment could be announced as early as next week, when the administration is expected to release executive-compensation guidelines for firms receiving aid from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. Those companies, which include banks, insurers and auto makers, are subject to a host of compensation restrictions imposed by the Bush and Obama administrations and by Congress.

Wall Street has been anxiously awaiting more details on how the rules will be applied. "The law is confusing and a bit ambiguous, and so we're looking for certainty as to how to structure pay incentives," said Scott Talbott, senior vice president of government affairs for the Financial Services Roundtable, a trade association.

The move comes amid a series of sometimes-overlapping efforts to curb pay at financial firms following perceived industry excesses that led to the lending boom and bust.

This is troubling on two fronts.

There's that czar issue. In a week's time, Obama created three new positions -- a cyber czar, a Great Lakes czar, and a pay czar.

Obama continues to employ the strategy of appointing czars to avoid accountability and increase his personal power.

One more time:
Robert Byrd considers Obama's addiction to czars to be dangerous.

Robert Byrd, the longest serving senator in history, criticized President Obama's appointment of numerous White House advisors, also called "czars," saying the presence of the czars gives the president too much power.

These czars report directly to Mr. Obama and have the power to shape national policy on their subject area. So far, Mr. Obama has recruited czars on health reform, urban affairs policy, and energy and climate change. Unlike Cabinet secretaries, they do not have to be approved by Congress.

In a letter to Obama on Wednesday, Byrd, a Democrat, said that the czar system "can threaten the Constitutional system of checks and balances," Politico reported. Byrd added that oversight of federal agencies is the responsibility of officials approved by the Senate.

"As presidential assistants and advisers, these White House staffers are not accountable for their actions to the Congress, to cabinet officials, or to virtually anyone but the president," Byrd wrote. "They rarely testify before congressional committees, and often shield the information and decision-making process behind the assertion of executive privilege. In too many instances, White House staff have been allowed to inhibit openness and transparency, and reduce accountability."

Byrd has been a longtime critic of policies that concentrate power in the executive branch.

ENOUGH WITH THE CZARS!

Obama keeps growing government and his power, circumventing Congress and, as Sen. Byrd says, threatening the "Constitutional system of checks and balances."

Beyond this czar problem, there's the whole thing about there being a "Special Master for Compensation."

Is this still America?

We're back in the USSR.