Here's what the PResident had to say about Bolten:
“Josh is a creative policy thinker,” Bush said. “He is an expert on the budget and our economy. He is a man of candor and humor and directness. No person is better prepared for this important position.”
No person is better prepared?
Where have we heard that before *cough* Harriet Miers *cough* ?
At first I thought maybe he was the evil spawn of John Bolton.
He's from Office of Budget and Management. Definitely not eye candy. He read "It's Hannukah" at the White House Christmas party. He works closely with Andy Card and Rove already. & this blog says that White House aides are "burnt out" and that this resignation is supposed to help bolster Bush's plummeting poll numbers.
Casey, you TOTALLY beat me to the punch on that one!
If Bush says he's the best man for the job...
LOOK OUT!
One Card Short of a Full Deck
monkey said:
Satisfied with staff?
At a White House news conference last week, Bush was asked about rumors that a shakeup in the White House staff was in the works. Bush said he was “satisfied with the people I’ve surrounded myself with.”
“I’ve got a staff of people that have, first of all, placed their country above their self-interests,” he said at the time. “These are good, hardworking, decent people. And we’ve dealt with a lot. We’ve dealt with a lot. We’ve dealt with war. We’ve dealt with recession. We’ve dealt with scandal. We’ve dealt with Katrina.
“I mean, they’ve had a lot on their plate. And I appreciate their performance and their hard work and they’ve got my confidence,” he said.
Bush said, “I’m satisfied with the people I’ve surrounded myself with. We’ve been a remarkably stable administration, and I think that’s good for the country.”
Monkey
That's because he will never get rid of anything (think Rumsfeld).
monkey said:
So, exactly how have things been going at the Office of Management and Budget these days, anyway?
Hmmm, let's see...
According to the Office's web site, the OMB's "predominant mission is to assist the President in overseeing the preparation of the federal budget and to supervise its administration in Executive Branch agencies. In helping to formulate the President's spending plans, OMB evaluates the effectiveness of agency programs, policies, and procedures, assesses competing funding demands among agencies, and sets funding priorities. OMB ensures that agency reports, rules, testimony, and proposed legislation are consistent with the President's Budget and with Administration policies.
"In addition, OMB oversees and coordinates the Administration's procurement, financial management, information, and regulatory policies. In each of these areas, OMB's role is to help improve administrative management, to develop better performance measures and coordinating mechanisms, and to reduce any unnecessary burdens on the public."
So, ok... we just raised the debt limit (sha, limit, right) to $9 trillion gazzillion... been cutting programs left and right... ok, left... programs that survive are underfunded... we've gone from budget surpluses to deficits as far as the eye can see.
Question Mr. Presidon't: Can we expect more of this fine brand of policy, wisdom and counsel at the White House?
Experience doesn't always make you good.
At least that's been my experience.
monkey said:
Bush Holding Off-The-Record Meetings With Reporters
By Joe Strupp
Published: March 27, 2006
(NEW YORK) In an apparent effort to mend his relationship with the press, President George Bush has been holding off-the-record meetings with White House reporters for the past few days, an apparent first since he took office.
Several correspondents confirmed to E&P either participating in such meetings or being invited to them, noting that at least two have been held in the past week, with one scheduled for Tuesday. Most have lasted more than an hour and at least one took place in Bush's private residence.
"It was very pleasant, he seemed very thoughtful and frank," said Stephan Dinan, a Washington Times reporter and one of about six reporters who took part in a session Monday afternoon. "It was on a wide range of stuff."
Monday's gathering also included reporters from the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, and Cox Newspapers, according to sources.
Several reporters declined to comment on the record, but said they had been called personally by Press Secretary Scott McClellan to participate in the chats, some getting invited just hours ahead of time.
-snip-
Another reporter who had been invited to Tuesday's chat, but declined to be named, said it was obvious Bush was trying to improve his image in the face of dwindling public support. "It says to me they are trying to be more communicative," the reporter said. "It has not been a select group, he is having a few people through there."
(sounds to me like he can't speak coherently ON the record, and his God & Phony Road Show ain't sellin' like it used to, so he's using the backdoor and manipulating the media... again)
monkey said:
CNN QuickMoat
Will President Bush’s decision to replace his chief of staff improve his ratings?
Yes 8% 1043 votes
No 92% 12050 votes
Total: 13093 votes
p.s. Halliburton accused in new wave of overbilling... As much as $56m more in 'unsupported costs
monkey said:
Joshua Bolten joined President George W. Bush's Cabinet on June 30, 2003, when he was sworn in as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
From January 2001 through June of 2003, Mr. Bolten was Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy at the White House.
From March 1999 through November 2000, Mr. Bolten was Policy Director of the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign.
From 1994 to 1999, Mr. Bolten was Executive Director, Legal & Government Affairs, for Goldman Sachs International in London.
During the Administration of President George H.W. Bush, Mr. Bolten served for three years as General Counsel to the US Trade Representative and one year in the White House as Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs. Previously, from 1985 to 1989, he was International Trade Counsel to the US Senate Finance Committee. Earlier, Mr. Bolten was in a private law practice with O'Melveny & Myers, and worked in the legal office of the US State Department. He also served as Executive Assistant to the Director of the Kissinger Commission on Central America.
Mr. Bolten received his AB with distinction from Princeton University.s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (1976) and his JD from Stanford Law School (1980), where he was an editor of the Stanford Law Review. Immediately after law school, he served as a law clerk at the US District Court in San Francisco. During the fall semester of 1993, Mr. Bolten taught international trade at Yale Law School.
U.S. Sen. John McCain - a likely 2008 presidential candidate who once labeled the Rev. Jerry Falwell an “agent of intolerance” - will be Liberty University’s graduation speaker on May 13.
“I was in Washington with him about three months ago,” Falwell said. “We dealt with every difference we have. There are no deal breakers now. But I told him, ‘You have a lot of fence mending to do.’”
Falwell, LU’s chancellor, said McCain, an Arizona Republican, is among the presidential candidates he could support in 2008.
Excellent diary with a lot of background on Andy Card. Someone spent a lot of time in research to pull together links for all his recent activities and quotes.
There's also a first person report from someone who's just spoken with the Emery County, Utah County Clerk, Bruce Funk, who's come under severe pressure for arranging for an independent test of Diebold machines delivered to his office that seemed to be deficient in flash memory/storage.
Bolten himself is a policy guy in a White House sometimes criticized for spending too much time on politics. While overlooked amidst the focus on Iraq and more pressing economic concerns like gas prices, his budget office has racked up some of the White House's relatively rare policy successes over the past few years. They've managed expectations on the deficit and maintained decent ties to Congress. Two years in a row now, they've had some success at eliminating programs or reducing spending outright.
House Republicans say Bolten is better than most, but don't give him the highest marks either. They say the White House left House Reps holding the bag on deficit reduction in the reconciliation bill... failing to pressure the Senate. But they allow as that that may have been more the White House doing than Bolten himself.
Meanwhile, fiscal conservatives who have grown increasingly restless about the pace of government spending will be watching to see who Bush taps to replace Bolten in the budget office. No word yet on who that'll be.
SEAN PENN has a plastic doll of conservative columnist ANN COULTER that he likes to abuse when angry.
The Oscar-winner actor has hated Coulter ever since she blacklisted his director father LEO PENN in her book TREASON. And he takes out his frustrations with Coulter, who is a best-selling author, lawyer and television pundit, on the Barble-like doll.
In an interview with The New Yorker magazine, Penn reveals, "We violate her. There are cigarette burns in some funny places. She's a pure snake-oil salesman. She doesn't believe a word she says."
I will get the ball rolling...
Here's what the PResident had to say about Bolten:
“Josh is a creative policy thinker,” Bush said. “He is an expert on the budget and our economy. He is a man of candor and humor and directness. No person is better prepared for this important position.”
No person is better prepared?
Where have we heard that before *cough* Harriet Miers *cough* ?
Hmmm...
At first I thought maybe he was the evil spawn of John Bolton.
He's from Office of Budget and Management. Definitely not eye candy. He read "It's Hannukah" at the White House Christmas party. He works closely with Andy Card and Rove already. & this blog says that White House aides are "burnt out" and that this resignation is supposed to help bolster Bush's plummeting poll numbers.
http://www.doublespeakshow.com/tag/andy-card
Wouldn't you "retire"?
(from above site)
Card comes to the White House on days off to go bicycle riding with Bush.
Benson is on target today...
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/benson/
Casey, you TOTALLY beat me to the punch on that one!
If Bush says he's the best man for the job...
LOOK OUT!
One Card Short of a Full Deck
Satisfied with staff?
At a White House news conference last week, Bush was asked about rumors that a shakeup in the White House staff was in the works. Bush said he was “satisfied with the people I’ve surrounded myself with.”
“I’ve got a staff of people that have, first of all, placed their country above their self-interests,” he said at the time. “These are good, hardworking, decent people. And we’ve dealt with a lot. We’ve dealt with a lot. We’ve dealt with war. We’ve dealt with recession. We’ve dealt with scandal. We’ve dealt with Katrina.
“I mean, they’ve had a lot on their plate. And I appreciate their performance and their hard work and they’ve got my confidence,” he said.
Bush said, “I’m satisfied with the people I’ve surrounded myself with. We’ve been a remarkably stable administration, and I think that’s good for the country.”
Monkey
That's because he will never get rid of anything (think Rumsfeld).
So, exactly how have things been going at the Office of Management and Budget these days, anyway?
Hmmm, let's see...
According to the Office's web site, the OMB's "predominant mission is to assist the President in overseeing the preparation of the federal budget and to supervise its administration in Executive Branch agencies. In helping to formulate the President's spending plans, OMB evaluates the effectiveness of agency programs, policies, and procedures, assesses competing funding demands among agencies, and sets funding priorities. OMB ensures that agency reports, rules, testimony, and proposed legislation are consistent with the President's Budget and with Administration policies.
"In addition, OMB oversees and coordinates the Administration's procurement, financial management, information, and regulatory policies. In each of these areas, OMB's role is to help improve administrative management, to develop better performance measures and coordinating mechanisms, and to reduce any unnecessary burdens on the public."
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Office_of_Management_and_Budget
So, ok... we just raised the debt limit (sha, limit, right) to $9 trillion gazzillion... been cutting programs left and right... ok, left... programs that survive are underfunded... we've gone from budget surpluses to deficits as far as the eye can see.
Question Mr. Presidon't: Can we expect more of this fine brand of policy, wisdom and counsel at the White House?
Experience doesn't always make you good.
At least that's been my experience.
Bush Holding Off-The-Record Meetings With Reporters
By Joe Strupp
Published: March 27, 2006
(NEW YORK) In an apparent effort to mend his relationship with the press, President George Bush has been holding off-the-record meetings with White House reporters for the past few days, an apparent first since he took office.
Several correspondents confirmed to E&P either participating in such meetings or being invited to them, noting that at least two have been held in the past week, with one scheduled for Tuesday. Most have lasted more than an hour and at least one took place in Bush's private residence.
"It was very pleasant, he seemed very thoughtful and frank," said Stephan Dinan, a Washington Times reporter and one of about six reporters who took part in a session Monday afternoon. "It was on a wide range of stuff."
Monday's gathering also included reporters from the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, and Cox Newspapers, according to sources.
Several reporters declined to comment on the record, but said they had been called personally by Press Secretary Scott McClellan to participate in the chats, some getting invited just hours ahead of time.
-snip-
Another reporter who had been invited to Tuesday's chat, but declined to be named, said it was obvious Bush was trying to improve his image in the face of dwindling public support. "It says to me they are trying to be more communicative," the reporter said. "It has not been a select group, he is having a few people through there."
more...
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002237283
(sounds to me like he can't speak coherently ON the record, and his God & Phony Road Show ain't sellin' like it used to, so he's using the backdoor and manipulating the media... again)
CNN QuickMoat
Will President Bush’s decision to replace his chief of staff improve his ratings?
Yes 8% 1043 votes
No 92% 12050 votes
Total: 13093 votes
p.s. Halliburton accused in new wave of overbilling... As much as $56m more in 'unsupported costs
Joshua Bolten joined President George W. Bush's Cabinet on June 30, 2003, when he was sworn in as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
From January 2001 through June of 2003, Mr. Bolten was Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy at the White House.
From March 1999 through November 2000, Mr. Bolten was Policy Director of the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign.
From 1994 to 1999, Mr. Bolten was Executive Director, Legal & Government Affairs, for Goldman Sachs International in London.
During the Administration of President George H.W. Bush, Mr. Bolten served for three years as General Counsel to the US Trade Representative and one year in the White House as Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs. Previously, from 1985 to 1989, he was International Trade Counsel to the US Senate Finance Committee. Earlier, Mr. Bolten was in a private law practice with O'Melveny & Myers, and worked in the legal office of the US State Department. He also served as Executive Assistant to the Director of the Kissinger Commission on Central America.
Mr. Bolten received his AB with distinction from Princeton University.s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (1976) and his JD from Stanford Law School (1980), where he was an editor of the Stanford Law Review. Immediately after law school, he served as a law clerk at the US District Court in San Francisco. During the fall semester of 1993, Mr. Bolten taught international trade at Yale Law School.
http://stockholm.usembassy.gov/cabbio/bolten.html
McCain to speak at Liberty graduation
By Ron Brown
March 28, 2006
U.S. Sen. John McCain - a likely 2008 presidential candidate who once labeled the Rev. Jerry Falwell an “agent of intolerance” - will be Liberty University’s graduation speaker on May 13.
“I was in Washington with him about three months ago,” Falwell said. “We dealt with every difference we have. There are no deal breakers now. But I told him, ‘You have a lot of fence mending to do.’”
Falwell, LU’s chancellor, said McCain, an Arizona Republican, is among the presidential candidates he could support in 2008.
more...
http://tinyurl.com/gtabz
Nuff Said.
Excellent diary with a lot of background on Andy Card. Someone spent a lot of time in research to pull together links for all his recent activities and quotes.
Check it out here...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/28/132944/390
There's also a first person report from someone who's just spoken with the Emery County, Utah County Clerk, Bruce Funk, who's come under severe pressure for arranging for an independent test of Diebold machines delivered to his office that seemed to be deficient in flash memory/storage.
read the details here...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/28/134521/609
Please recommend it if you find it worthy.
Bolten himself is a policy guy in a White House sometimes criticized for spending too much time on politics. While overlooked amidst the focus on Iraq and more pressing economic concerns like gas prices, his budget office has racked up some of the White House's relatively rare policy successes over the past few years. They've managed expectations on the deficit and maintained decent ties to Congress. Two years in a row now, they've had some success at eliminating programs or reducing spending outright.
House Republicans say Bolten is better than most, but don't give him the highest marks either. They say the White House left House Reps holding the bag on deficit reduction in the reconciliation bill... failing to pressure the Senate. But they allow as that that may have been more the White House doing than Bolten himself.
Meanwhile, fiscal conservatives who have grown increasingly restless about the pace of government spending will be watching to see who Bush taps to replace Bolten in the budget office. No word yet on who that'll be.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3626796/
Pardon me, but I hear Ken Lay could be available.
SEAN PENN has a plastic doll of conservative columnist ANN COULTER that he likes to abuse when angry.
The Oscar-winner actor has hated Coulter ever since she blacklisted his director father LEO PENN in her book TREASON. And he takes out his frustrations with Coulter, who is a best-selling author, lawyer and television pundit, on the Barble-like doll.
In an interview with The New Yorker magazine, Penn reveals, "We violate her. There are cigarette burns in some funny places. She's a pure snake-oil salesman. She doesn't believe a word she says."
http://www3.contactmusic.com/news/index33.htm
Had some Red Bull Energy Drink...Now I'm ready to do this!
I love this idea:
http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/03/28/citizen-action-steps-phase-two/