Rumors and speculation can end. Fox News is reporting that George W. Bush has indeed tapped Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik to head the Department of Homeland Security.
UPDATE: Scott from Slant Point is disappointed that there wasn't more time for debate and discussion over who could replace Ridge - but still happy with Bush's selection.
President Bush has named his newest cabinet nominee: Carlos Gutierrez, CEO of Kellogg, as Secretary of Commerce.
AP has a short biography of Gutierrez:
Gutierrez, whose family fled Cuba in 1960 when he was 6, joined Kellogg in 1975. Known for having a strong work ethic and a seemingly endless stream of ideas, he worked all over the world for the company before being promoted to president and chief operating officer in June 1998.Last year, Gutierrez received about $7.4 million in total compensation, including salary, bonus and incentive payments, according to a Kellogg proxy statement. He owns or has option rights to 2 million shares of company stock.
Gutierrez, Kellogg's CEO since April 1999, is credited with shaping a major corporate and marketing overhaul at Kellogg, narrowing the company's primary focus to cereal and wholesome snacks and reducing the company's debt.
He is known as a charismatic and approachable executive, widely admired in business circles for reviving a flagging company.
Under Gutierrez, Kellogg's net sales rose from $6.2 billion in 1999 to $8.8 billion last year, a 43 percent increase. Earnings per share increased 131 percent, from 83 cents to $1.92, and cash flow went up 82 percent, from $529 million to $961 million.
It's a scenario that runs from Washington, D.C., to Danbury City Hall. From the Department of Homeland Security to the Connecticut state Senate.It has local Republicans buzzing, e-mails flying and lukewarm denials rolling off the tongues of intrigued politicians.
And it's too good not to share.
It goes something like this:
Connecticut Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, a Democrat, could be named secretary of the Department of the Homeland Security, a department he helped to create.
We can write off the idea as merely political gossip, but the idea is still worthy of discussion. There would be many pros and cons to Lieberman taking that post. Whether the pros outweigh the cons, I'm not sure. Some advantages are obvious. Bush would appear to be "reaching across the aisle" – but Democrats have virtually written off Lieberman anyway, since he supported the war in Iraq. Yet, Lieberman heading Homeland Security would put the Democratic party in a position to artificially place their fingerprints on homeland security successes, and just as easily wipe them off at homeland security failures. With Republicans having an advantage on issues like homeland security and terrorism, is giving Democrats an opportunity to adopt this issue as their own a risk worth taking?
An immediate opportunity this hypothetical appointment offers is the vacancy of Lieberman's seat in the Senate. Whether or not a Republican is electable in Connecticut to the US Senate is questionable... while the state has elected Republican governors in the past, with the scandal that erupted that surrounded Republican Governor John Rowland's causing him to resign, Connecticut voters might be less likely to vote for a Republican to fill the vacancy left by Lieberman.
That being said, my instinct still tells me this is merely a rumor and nothing more.
Earlier this afternoon, Bush made the announcement:
Good afternoon. I'm pleased to announce my nomination of Dr. Condoleezza Rice to be America's Secretary of State. Condi Rice is already known to all Americans, and to much of the world.During the last four years I've relied on her counsel, benefited from her great experience and appreciated her sound and steady judgment. And now I'm honored that she has agreed to serve in my Cabinet. The Secretary of State is America's face to the world. And in Dr. Rice, the world will see the strength, the grace and the decency of our country.
Both Condi and I have been proud to serve with our friend, Secretary of State Colin Powell. He has been one of the most effective and admired diplomats in America's history. Secretary Powell has helped to rally the world in a global war, has helped to resolve dangerous regional conflicts; he's helped to confront the desperate challenges of hunger, poverty and disease. He has been tireless and selfless and principled, and our entire nation is grateful for his lifetime of service.
Newsday is reporting that Sources say White House has ordered new chief to eliminate officers who were disloyal to Bush
Can you believe things like this would happen at the CIA? I mean, that the President would take actions against those who may be disloyal?
Just look at this tyranny:
Administration officials started to argue that CIA was not providing them with "the proper support."Can you believe that? The "proper support". The nerve of some Presidents.
A number of analysts who have challenged or refused to conform to these new policies were demoted, reassigned or sent abroad.Wow. The shame.
Are you outraged yet?
Assuring that CIA briefings coincide with Administration policy and cannot lead policy makers to accuse the Agency of "disloyalty. Analysts must recognize that if they give a briefing which deviates too much from official policy, they may be accused by the Administration officials of being disloyal."Apparently loyalty is a big issue with the President. Could it be loyalty to the President at the expense of loyalty to the country? [cue the scary music]
In fact, an expert says:
"this reorganization ... will institutionalize pandering to policy officials who become spiteful when confronted with bad news concerning their assumptions and decisions."
Are we Americans going to stand by and let this happen?
Apparently so, all of these quotes come from 1994... when President Clinton completely reorganized the CIA.
But those of you on the Left, please don't let a few things like facts get in your way of feigning outrage over Bush's actions.
Looks like its Condi for Secretary of State:
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice will be nominated to replace Colin Powell as secretary of state, ABC News has learned.Senior administration sources confirmed that Rice would be Bush's choice. The news comes just hours after the White House announced Powell had submitted his resignation.
Rice, considered to be one of the president's closest counselors, has served as national security adviser since Bush first took office.
The nomination comes as a sort of birthday present for Rice, who turned 50 on Sunday.
Rice was the first female U.S. national security adviser. If confirmed by the Senate, she would be only the second female and second African-American to be appointed secretary of state.
Colin Powell is resigning as Secretary of State.
Several people have been named as a replacement, including Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. FOX News contributor and former ambassador Mark Ginsberg said Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz may also want the job, but could face trouble getting confirmed because of the troubles in Iraq that he takes the blame for. Sen. Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is also a darkhorse for the job, Ginsberg said.
Energy Sec. Spencer Abraham is also resigning. As are Education Sec. Paige and Agricultural Sec. Veneman.
Any thoughts on replacements for any of them?
Joe Gandleman over at Dean's World tips us off to the housecleaning going on over at CIA:
WASHINGTON — The White House has ordered the new CIA director, Porter Goss, to purge the agency of officers believed to have been disloyal to President George W. Bush or of leaking damaging information to the media about the conduct of the Iraq war and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, according to knowledgeable sources."The agency is being purged on instructions from the White House," said a former senior CIA official who maintains close ties to both the agency and to the White House. "Goss was given instructions ... to get rid of those soft leakers and liberal Democrats. The CIA is looked on by the White House as a hotbed of liberals and people who have been obstructing the president's agenda."
In my view, this is long overdue. After eight years of Clinton in charge of hiring and firing, the CIA (as well as the rest of the Executive Branch) got a heavy dose of liberals, leftists and others who's mindsets are still entirely frozen in the Cold War - incapable of thinking anew and acting anew in the post-9/11 world. Out of frustration with policies they don't agree with, they have been a thorn in the side of the President in fighting the war - they have forgotten that policy is set by the President and his appointees, not by career bureaucrats. The career government employees are merely to carry out policy, and resign if they really believe the policies being pursued are incorrect.
It'll be good, once Goss is done, to have a CIA which is on the same page as the President - and it'll be even better when such transisitions are completed at State and Defense.
The latest member of Bush's cabinet to announce his intentions to resign is Education Secretary Rod Paige.
Education Secretary Rodney Paige has been discussing his departure with the White House, U.S. officials said on Friday, marking another in a series of post-election changes in President Bush's Cabinet."The secretary has been talking with the White House about the best time to move on," said an administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Officials said they could not offer a time frame for when Paige might depart.
Speaking only for myself, I have to say that I'm just shy of being an "open borders" person on the immigration issue. My view is that anyone who wants to come here to work is someone who should be allowed to come here - there is plenty of work to do in this country and the more work that gets done the better off we all are.
I understand, of course, the pitfalls of my position - what we shouldn't have is anyone just wandering across without let or hindrance; we do need strict border controls to ensure we know who is coming in, where they are staying, how long they are staying and what they will do while they are here. We also need to ensure that the small criminal element mixed in with the immigrants and migrant workers is kept out.
We also need to ensure that illegals cannot avail themselves of any of the benefits of American citizenship or legal immigrant/migrant status; no education, health care or welfare benefits should be given out to people who broke our laws to get here. This, I think, is one of the main problems of the illegals which cause people to get up in arms about it - our State governments, especially in places like California, just pour out the benefits to illegals no questions asked, and this just gets under the skin. The absurdity of this is that if I, a resident of Nevada, wished to got to a University of California school, I'd pay out of State tuition - but an illegal who got across the border last week would get in-State tuition. The problem of illegals availing themselves of things which are supposed to be set aside for the law-abiding is an issue which must be addressed conclusively.
We also need to get a bit selective in who is allowed to come in - 25 year old healthy working man or woman; just great...but it's a false charity which then allows that 25 year old to bring in his 90 year old great-grandfather and put him on Social Security the moment he arrives. Come to America if you are a fit person able and willing to work - if you're not, then stay home. I feel for those who are separated from their extended families - but it's part of the price to be paid for coming to the Land of Opportunity.
I bring this up because President Bush has decided to press hard for his guest-worker program in his second term. This has already caused hackles to be raised and it generating some heated opposition in the House of Representatives. I think, though, that the Speaker of the House get's it right:
After hearing from constituents, Republican lawmakers meeting in Philadelphia a month later gave Mr. Rove an earful and said the program sounded like amnesty. Congressional aides yesterday said opposition in the House hasn't changed."For us, it's about our members," said John Feehery, spokesman for House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert. "We have the same members."
Still, he said Mr. Bush should be commended for taking a stand on the issue and the challenge is for Congress to respond somehow.
"The president has been courageous in coming up with a plan to fix a problem. Congress needs to help the president fix the problem," he said.
One way or the other, the issue needs to be met head-on. I'm in favor of the President's guest worker program because it gives us the benefit of a valuable labor source without the drawbacks of illegal immigration. Others are opposed, apparantly on the theory that any immigration and/or guest workers are a threat to American prosperity.
What do you think?
Drudge reports that "Bush has chosen White House counsel Alberto Gonzales to succeed Attorney General John Ashcroft."
Well, it's official... the first two members of the Bush administration to resign did so today. Attorney General John Ashcroft and Commerce Secretary Don Evans.
Ashcroft and Evans have served all four years of Bush's administration, which has been marked by little turnover. Ashcroft said he would remain until a successor is confirmed, which could take months. Evans said he would stay well into January.In a five-page, handwritten letter, Ashcroft told Bush, "The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved. Yet I believe that the Department of Justice would be well served by new leadership and fresh inspiration." Ashcroft, who suffered health problems earlier this year and had his gall bladder removed, dated his letter Nov. 2, Election Day.
Evans, a longtime friend from Texas, wrote Bush, "While the promise of your second term shines bright, I have concluded with deep regret that it is time for me to return home."
Yesterday it was reported that President Bush asked his chief of staff Andy Card to stick around for his second term and Card accepted.
Beginning to put his team in place for his second term, President Bush decided to keep Andy Card as White House chief of staff, retaining an unflappable veteran of the Reagan and first Bush presidencies.Card's first assignment: help the president reshape the administration for the term that begins in January, sorting through possible personnel changes in the Cabinet and elsewhere.
According to a Giuliani spokeswoman, Rudy Guiliani does not want to replace John Ashcroft as Attorney General:
President George W. Bush may soon be looking for a new attorney general, but one prominent figure is apparently out of the running.A spokeswoman for former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said he's not interested in John Ashcroft's job.
Senior aides to Ashcroft said he is likely to resign before Bush is sworn in for a second term on Jan. 20. They said it's possible he would stay on, at least for a short time, if the president asked him to.
Giuliani's spokeswoman said the former mayor of New York is focusing on the success of his consulting firm. He's also considered a possible presidential contender in four years, and some of the controversies he could handle as attorney general could stand in the way of that.
Is there still a place for Giuliani in the Bush Administration? I guess we'll have to wait and see
The AP is reporting that Attorney General John Ashcroft may resign before the inauguration...
Attorney General John Ashcroft is likely to leave his post before the start of President Bush's second term, senior aides said Thursday.Ashcroft, 62, is described as exhausted from leading the Justice Department in fighting the domestic war on terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Stress was a factor in Ashcroft's health problems earlier this year that resulted in removal of his gall bladder.
Ashcroft is expected to resign before Bush's Jan. 20 inauguration, said aides who spoke only on condition of anonymity. They said there is a small chance he would stay on, at least for a short time, if Bush asked him.
The attorney general has not officially informed his staff of his future plans, spokesman Mark Corallo said.
According to the article, possible replacements for Ashcroft "include Ashcroft's former deputy, Larry Thompson, who would become the first black attorney general. Others include Marc Racicot, who was Bush's campaign manager, and White House general counsel Alberto Gonzalez, who would give Bush a notable Hispanic appointment."