We don't need another Obama czar

In case you missed it, President Barack Obama's American Jobs Act creates another czar.

What?

That's right. But wait, there's more...

It's not just a new czar - it's an entire new agency. And one that duplicates existing federal agencies already in place. Can you say 'stuck-on-stupid'?

American Infrastructure Financing Authority (AIFA) will be the name, complete with staff, office space, computers and phones and desks, etc.., etc..., etc.... And don't forget its 7-member board!

And what, exactly, is this new agency supposed to do? Well, this article spells it out nicely - including the duplication:

All of the infrastructure projects and tasks identified to be performed by Obama’s new Czar are already the responsibilities of the Senate-confirmed heads of Department of Transportation, the U.S. General Services Administration and the Department of Energy.

Some of these tasks are:

"oversee entering into and carry out contracts, leases, cooperative agreements or any other transactions as are necessary"

to approve the acquisition, lease, pledge, exchange and disposal of real personal property

to review all financial assistance packages to all eligible infrastructure projects" which includes “any non-Federal transportation, water, or energy infrastructure project, or an aggregation of such infrastructure projects, as provided in this Act.

the construction, alteration, or repair, including the facilitation of intermodal transit, of the following subsectors:

· Highways or roads.

· Bridges.

· Mass transit.

· Inland waterways.

· Commercial ports.

· Airports.

· Air traffic control systems.

· Passenger rail, including high-speed rail.

· Freight rail systems.

· Waterwaste treatment facilities.

· Storm water management systems.

· Dams.

· Solid waste disposal facilities.

· Drinking water treatment facilities.

· Levees.

· Open space management systems.

· Pollution reduced energy generation.

· Transmission and distribution.

· Storage.

· Energy efficiency enhancements for buildings, including public and commercial buildings.

Obviously, our president doesn't think the existing agencies can do their jobs or else he wouldn't be proposing to duplicate/replace them. Of course, it could be that he just wants to have political control over all the spending he's proposing rather than run it though the existing agencies with their rules, regulations and congressional oversight. You decide.

Either way, we don't need to create a new agency, a new board and a new czar - that's just plain 'stuck-on-stupid' when everyone, including the President, is talking about raising taxes and cutting spending elsewhere just to pay for this latest stimulus inaccurately called the American Jobs Act.