United Liberty

Thanks to former President Bill Clinton, one of the obstacles facing Hillary’s appointment to Secretary of State has been removed.  Despite promises of anonymity to some of the contributors to the William J Clinton Foundation he started, Bill has agreed to disclose his list of donors.

wsj.com- He’ll also refuse donations from foreign governments to the Clinton Global Initiative, his annual charitable conference, and will cease holding CGI meetings overseas.

It is natural, in an age of bailouts and government intervention, to denounce the actions being taken “for our own good” by the President and Congress, and write at length about what we shouldn’t be doing. It is my view that people look entirely too much to the government in general and the President in particular to solve problems and fix things. However, with the prevelance of that mindset, I would like to submit some ideas, for a change of pace, about what positive things a new President of the United States could and should do, given how little power under the Constitution the President has to make bold changes in policy. We can call this “what I would do if I were the new President”.

Many of us are watching with great interest to see how things are shaping up with likely appointments for the new Obama Administration. Given all the talk about “change” in this election, one would hope that the appointments would indicate some definite moves away from the status quo. Obviously the President’s powers to change much of anything are quite limited by the Constitution (not that this has mattered so much to recent Presidents), with foreign policy being the area of greatest potential for change. An initial look at Obama’s likely appointments in matters of foreign affairs and national security leads this writer to question just how much change, if any, will occur in the conduct of foreign affairs.

All signs are pointing towards a Obama Cabinet divided between two heavyweights, Senator Hillary Clinton and Governor Bill Richardson. The inclusion of either is not a surprise when each situation is looked at individually, but bringing both together the resulting combination is bound to bring about epic intra-administration ideological and power struggles. For example one of Clinton’s top surrogates James Carville said (to the NYT) in regards to Richardson’s Obama endorsement earlier this year-

“Mr. Richardson’s endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic,”

Obama’s apparent Attorney General pick follows a pattern of tapping established Democrats and veterans of the Clinton administration:

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former Clinton Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder is President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for the position of attorney general, according to two prominent Democrats involved in transition matters.

Holder, who is still being vetted, has indicated he will accept the job if it is offered, the sources said.

If confirmed, Holder would be the first African-American to lead the Justice Department.

President Elect Barack Obama is considering putting a laptop on the most powerful desk in the world.  He may be the first President to do so.  I have mixed feelings about this because I would not be able to function without Gmail.  He also may have to give up his Blackberry.

Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State?:

As Administration transition begins to kick into high gear I wanted to keep readers up to date on some of the latest Obama news- some negative, some to maybe to make a point, and some that is just interesting or funny.

According to Glenn Beck, who as recently moved from CNN Headline News to Fox News (which he will premier at in January), MSNBC had the audacity to:

Here is a very interesting analysis sent to me regarding how the presidential election resembles a job interview:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — We’ve just completed the world’s longest job interview, otherwise known as the presidential election. Watching an election is a fabulous way to learn what NOT to do in a job interview, regardless of your political affiliation. Here are some things NOT to do if you’re up for “election” in a new job.

Exit polls in the 2008 election show that John McCain lost the Hispanic vote almost 3-1. Among recent immigrants, Obama’s dominance was even greater. This comes in spite of the fact that John McCain led the charge for amnesty for illegal aliens and has been rated as worse on the immigration issue than Obama. Actually, Obama’s calls for preferring citizens over illegal immigrants in hiring may have made a difference with activists who have called for more control of the border.