Posted on 10/05/2009 8:42:32 AM PDT by sbpublicaffairs
The Senate Judiciary Committee will be conducting an inquiry into the role and proper function within government played by czars and czardines and the wisdom of allowing unconfirmed, unvetted individuals to control a trillion dollars of taxpayer money without being subject to Congressional oversight. High time too.
While some czars follow the traditional Congressional vetting process, and their budgets undergo the traditional authorization and appropriation funding process, some do not. Some czars have enormous budgets and enormous responsibilities; some have modest budgets and modest responsibilities, and some have neither budget nor responsibilities.
Czars, such as the Drug Czar, Gil Kerlikoske --Office of National Drug Control Policy, have enormous budgets, enormous responsibilities and are vetted by both White House and Congress. For example, in 2009, the Drug Czar had a budget of over $16 Billion dollars and reported to Congress multiple times. Ken Feinberg, the Pay Czar, is another such czar.
What do czars cost? Czars need office staff. The average, annual cost of a government employee, including benefits, is approximately $165,000. Some czars have upwards of 300 employees, and the staff needs office space. Regionally, office space may cost a bit less, but in DC, the going rate will be approximately $25/sq. foot. If the various government employee unions have anything to say about the office environment, (and they usually do) there is a minimum square footage considered essential for each government employee.
(Excerpt) Read more at federalnewsradio.com ...
I certainly wouldn’t mind the concept of a czarina if she was attractive and had soft silky shoulders and a lovely neck! LOL! Sarc/
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