By Meagan Wiseley – University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Despite continued threats to the security of the global cyber infrastructure, Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Monday that she is opposed to the Obama administration appointing a cyber security coordinator, or “cyber czar.”

“We don’t need yet another White House czar. A czar would conflict with statutory duties established elsewhere,” Collins said.

Instead, Collins favors a cyber security “center” within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS would appoint a director for the center, and the director would report both to the DHS on a day to day basis, and act as the head adviser to the President on cybersecurity.

“Effectively managing government cybersecurity is going to require more than a few staff crammed into a cubicle in the depths of the White House,” said Collins.

Last Friday, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano opened the DHS’s National Cybersecurity and Communications Coordination Integration Center, which acts as a 24-hour coordinated watch and warning center to bolster cyber information sharing and incident response.

Collins said that despite its effort to manage cyber security, the DHS “still lacks the authority and resources it needs to secure our federal and private sector networks.”

She says her “center” proposal must work in accordance with law enforcement and intelligence agencies, the U.S. military and private owners and operators of critical cyberspace infrastructures.

“It is vitally important that we build a strong public-private partnership to protect cyberspace, a vital engine of our economy, our government, our country and our future,” Collins concluded.

In light of Anthony “Van” Jones’s resignation over the weekend, many are questioning why President Barack Obama has appointed so many czars to serve in his administration.

Bob Rinear, founder and publisher of InvestYourself.com and the Financial Intelligence Report, says the United States should pay attention to its administrative spending.

“When you look at the U.S. budget, obviously anyone that’s been paying even a little bit of attention knows that we’re in quite a mess… running trillion dollar deficits for as long as the eye can see,” Rinear says.

He says that while it seems newly-created cabinets and commissions aren’t a big deal, they can end up becoming a big chunk of the budget.

“Every time they…start something like this, it grows, and grows, and grows and pretty soon, it makes up an awful lot of the daily budget,” Rinear says. “So we do need to keep an eye on this, as far as how much of these czars do cause federal deficits anyway.”

“Just because you’re a President doesn’t mean that you’re the smartest person on Earth,” Rinear says. “You need input, and you need advice, and you need questions and answers from other intelligent people.”

“Czars” are special advisers to the President and can be commissioned for any department. Much of the controversy surrounding Presidential appointees, or czars, is that they do not require Senate confirmation and are not subjected to Congressional oversight.

Rinear says czars, though not elected by the public, can play an influential role from a policy-shaping standpoint. The problem with this, he says, is that taxpayers fund their salaries, but don’t know much about them.

“Let’s just go to Van Jones, for a minute,” Rinear says. “He was the special advisor on green jobs. So he was going to be very, very influential on shaping the greening of America. And yet, when we found out some of the things that he said and stood for in the past, enough people didn’t like it, that he had to get shook out.”

Jones, the former special advisor for green jobs in the White House Council for Environmental Quality, resigned under pressure late Saturday because of controversial statements about Republicans, and what critics are calling extremist views.

Under the Obama administration, an estimated 32 czars have been appointed and with Jones gone, 31 special advisors now remain.

The Obama administration hasn’t named a replacement for “Van” Jones.

Former District of Columbia Councilman Kevin Chavous says if the Scholarships For Opportunity and Results Act (SOAR) does not pass, students who would benefit from it will be sent back to underperforming public schools. He adds that it is time for the administration to put up or shut up. (0:31)

 

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By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

Financial industry leaders were in agreement Friday that the Obama administration’s proposed financial regulatory reform is necessary, noting that the reform will renovate and strengthen the financial marketplace and many of its regulations. During a Committee on Financial Services hearing Friday, many of the panelists applauded the administration’s proposal.

“We fully support the Administration’s five key principles for strengthening consumer protection-transparency, simplicity, fairness, accountability, and access-and we are pleased to see the Chairman carry these principles forward as he works to fill the regulatory gaps to protect consumers,” said Diahann Lassus on behalf of the Financial Planning Coalition.

Other panelists highlighted the administration’s “diagnosis of the deficiencies” of the current financial framework. They said it is outdated and some aspects have led to confusion and inefficiencies for years now.

Regulations received much attention with panelist Robert Nicholas, President and COO of Financial Services Forum, saying the framework as it currently stands, “undermines regulators’ ability to ensure institutional and systemic safety and soundness-helping to create the opportunity for, and exacerbating, the current financial crisis.”

Committee member Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) noted a survey by ShareOwners.org that sites 58 percent of investors are now “less confident in the fairness of the financial markets” than they were one year ago. He noted that a major reason for the lack of confidence is due to the failure of regulators.

“We must enact strong new laws,” said Kanjorski.

Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Ks.) accuses Congress and the Obama administration of using Americans’ tax dollars to go on a spending spree. She also discusses how her constituents in Kansas are fed up with the spending. (0:18)

 

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Senator John Barrasso (R-Wy.) says Washington needs to re-think it’s energy strategy. The solution, he says, isn’t to use more taxpayer dollars to fund new energy policies. (:21)

 

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Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-Va.) deplores the lack of institutional frameworks as more and more bail-outs are issued by the Obama administration. Capito believes that as a consequence, holding companies are not made responsible for bankruptcy. (0:21)

 

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By Jonathan Bronstein, Talk Radio News Service

As Iraqi security has improved, the situation security in Afghanistan has become increasingly unstable. The Obama Administration recently pledged to increase the amount of soldiers stationed in Afghanistan by 30,000, but critics claim that the only way to improve Afghan security is by cultivating the security forces themselves, not by adding more American soldiers.

Today, the United States Institute for Peace stated some of their alternative policies because they believe that a surge will inevitably fail.

One of the main problems with the Afghan police force presently, according to Ali Jalali, the Interior Minister of Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005, is that the public does not trust the police. He cited an example where Afghan police officers at a checkpoint were armed only with rocket-propelled grenades, which intimidated the public. “Police is not only to protect people, but also they are responsible to protect the population and the rule of law,” he said.

The Afghani police system established after 2001 was ineffective because the financial resources were not given, and their role as protectors of the law mixed with the need to stop insurgents, Jalali said, adding that when the army and police have common goals, neither institution does their job effectively.

“Police should fight crime,” Jalali said. He would like to see police divided into two groups – traditional police and paramilitary police. Traditional police would patrol the streets and enforce the rule of law, whereas paramilitary police would patrol the borders and aid in fighting terrorists, he said.

Afghan security forces also suffer from a lack of training. Karen Hall, the Afghanistan Police Program Manager for the U.S. State Department, said that 75 percent of the Afghan military is illiterate.

“How can a police officer function if they can not fill out a police report, if they can’t effectively communicate to prosecutors what crimes an individual committed,” said Hall.

The casualty rate for Afghan police is three times as high as the Afghan military. Hall believes that this is the direct result of ineffective training mixed with a dramatic lack of funding during the beginning of the war in 2002. Afghan security forces received less than $1 billion dollars from the U.S., from to 2002 to 2005, the Afghan military received more than $16 billion per year.

Both Jelali and Hall agreed that the only way for at true victory in Afghanistan is dependent on how well the Afghan security forces can patrol their own nation. But the coalition forces have only deemed 12 of the 40 districts in Afghanistan independent and safe, Hall said.

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

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House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio)
Photo by Michael Ruhl

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) called congressional voting cards “the most dangerous credit card in the history of the world”, because then enable Congress and the president to engage in reckless spending. This was not Boehner’s first criticism of Obama, but his statement came on the 101st day of the Obama Administration, a time which Boehner has criticized as being pock marked with excessive borrowing, reckless spending and a massive growth in government.

Boehner said that Democrat’s “record on spending and debt is staggering, but our economy is growing weaker, and it’s not going to get any better by growing the size of the government here in Washington.”

Boehner believes that the Democratically controlled Congress has enabled and contributed to the recklessness, and thinks it is up to the Republicans to put a stop to it. Republicans must be “the party of better solutions” if they are going to stand up to the Democrats in Congress, Boehner said, adding that he hopes Democrats will be committed to a bipartisan policy approach..

Citing the elections of 2008, Boehner said “out brand has been tarnished”, but to help the party serve the American people, Republicans must stand up to the Obama Administration when disagreements arise, and to offer alternative solutions.

Leader Boehner applauded President Obama on his strategy towards Afghanistan and Iraq, but showed concern at Obama’s greater national security policy.

“The big question continues to be: what is the Administration’s overarching plan to fight terrorism? Judging from their recent decision to release 30 terrorist detainees with no plan on where to put them, it continues to beg the question,” referring to Obama’s closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center without knowing where the detainees will be sent.

by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

At a discussion titled, “The Future of Northeast Asia’s Peace and Security: The Obama Administration’s Emerging Korea Policy,” Han Duk-soo, the Republic of Korea Ambassador to the U.S. addressed North Korea’s Sunday missile attack. He said that the six-party talks should be promoted and that it is at present the only alternative to the peaceful denuclearization of North Korea. (01:54)

 

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