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Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Appointments Lacking

As a former community organizer, I would have thought that President Obama would have been keenly aware of the importance of organization (Obama Team Lacking Most of Top Players, New York Times, August 24, 2009: A1, A12). Without having your political supporters in place throughout the agencies, it is very hard to get your policies translated down the hierarchy into operational goals and into action.

Unless appointees committed to your agenda are in place, the culture of each government department will continue to be that of his predecessor. This is not a happy situation for the President or the nation.

I think this lack of successful placements has much to do with the lassitude that Paul Krugman complains about in his column (All the President's Zombies, New York Times, August 24, 2009: A7). Though I must add that choosing the very people who were instrumental in dismantling the New Deal banking restrictions to senior economic positions almost guarantees a continuing commitment to that losing course of action. There is lots of social science research to demonstrate that. The President should bring in new brooms there as soon as possible.

Sent to New York Times

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