Halt Obama

More than any other president, Barack Obama has vested extraordinary authority in individuals not confirmed by the Senate – his so-called Czars – in contravention of Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution. He must take responsibility for them.

• There are currently more than 30 Czars – responsible for initiating and overseeing policy on everything from AIDS to Weapons – with the president preparing to appoint more. There is controversy surrounding and concern about these powerful and largely unaccountable officials. In the past 4 months, 3 have resigned under a cloud
• Many of the Czars have views repugnant to the American people and which undermine the Republic. Van Jones, who recently resigned as Green Jobs Czar, signed a statement calling for an investigation to determine if President George W. Bush colluded in the 9/11 attacks.
• A number have shown a disturbing affinity for America’s enemies. FCC Diversity Czar Mark Lloyd has praised Venezuelan Marxist Hugo Chavez’s “democratic revolution.” Chavez has used the power of his office to silence media critics of his regime.
• Some have demonstrated an appalling ignorance of and/or hostility toward the United States Constitution.  In a 1977 book, Science Czar John Holdren stated that “population-control laws, even including laws requiring compulsory abortion, could be sustained under the existing Constitution.”
• Certain Czars have shown a propensity to exercise  the power of government to the detriment of First Amendment freedoms. In a 2002 book, Regulatory Czar Cass Sunstein talked about the drawbacks of unlimited choices on the Internet and suggested having government require political sites to link to those with opposing views.
• The Czars’ statements and actions to date indicate an intent to undermine the free market, free speech and democracy. Lloyd plans on using exorbitant fines to punish broadcasters who fail to offer “diverse programming,” in an effort to force conservative talk-shows off the airwaves.

Therefore, we the undersigned call for:

1. The immediate resignation of Mark Lloyd, John Holdren and Cass Sunstein
2. Congress to hold hearings on the entire system to determine if these positions are necessary and constitutional
3. A Congressional investigation to examine the documented views of individual Czars, to determine if they might exercise their power in such a way as to pose a danger to a free people
4. Senate confirmation of current and future Czars, assuming Congress decides to maintain the current system.

Signed,

Please sign this petition by entering your name, city and state in the comments below.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 at 4:42 pm and is filed under #1 Take Action, Petitions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.