What is a czar?

What is a czar? A wily leader that became famous in Russian government. Ivan the Terrible famously crowned himself a “Czar” in the mid-1500s. At the end of his tenure, Ivan the Terrible was shot by his own government.

Then of course, there was Czar Nicholas II, who was taken into custody along with his family in 1917 after poorly ruling the Russian people. However, by 1918 the Russians began fearing retribution for Nicholas II and the new government shot and killed the Czar’s entire family, including his children, and a few servants for good measure.

The dictionary describes a czar as;
1. An Emperor or king
2. An Autocratic ruler or leader
3. Any person exercising great authority or power in a particular field

Very interesting.

What’s next in the world of czars? Just in time for the upcoming holiday season is the “Czar Obama Russian Nesting Doll 5pc. 5” tall and available in a limited edition.” This is no joke; the Golden Cockerel has been in business since 1993 and is offering the Obama on a Russian nesting doll, dressed in Russian folk costume.

Fast forward to the present, Obama has currently appointed more than 20 czars. Apparently the cabinet members are not able to multitask because the president feels he needs more detailed advice.

What most people do not know is that a czar is appointed by the president, answers only to the president and is not accountable to either the Judicial or Legislative part of the government. If they are trotted out to Congress to testify, they will be able to invoke executive privilege and remain silent.

Many of Obama’s freshly-minted czars are managing multi-billion dollar budgets with no oversight. The taxpayer must trust that the czar and the president are looking out for their interests responsibly.

Here is a sampling of President Obama’s current czar list; drug czar, border czar, urban czar, regulatory czar, stimulus-accountability czar, TARP czar, faith czar, infotech czar, non-proliferation czar, Terrorism czar, Guantanamo-closure czar, Iran czar, Middle East czar, Afghanistan czar, Pakistan czar, bank-bailout czar, car czar, cyber-security czar, Great Lakes czar, health-care reform czar and finally a Special Master for Compensation Czar or pay czar.

Which brings up the question, how much do these czars make? That you would have to ask the White House and so far they are not letting anyone in on the taxpayer cost.

Many experts believe that the Obama Czar conundrum will not solve any of America’s problems, but that the czars only add another cumbersome layer to an already overly-slow bureaucrat process.

Some in Washington like Senator John McCain-R AZ says; “Obama has more czars than the Romanovs.” They ruled Russia for more than three centuries.

While it’s anyone’s guess as to how the czars will actually workout in the Obama administration, one thing is for sure- it never seems to end well for the czars.

For more information about the Obama Nesting Doll head to www.goldencockerel.com