This is a really good fit I think. Commerce probably has as much foreign affairs (international trade) work as anyone outside of State and Defense and as much domestic impact on energy policy as the energy Department. They also have economic development and minority business responsibilities, which will be heavily used in the upcoming stimulus packages. By the quirks of bureaucracy, they also have NOAA, which has a major role in the climate change research and anadromous and marine endangered species and habitat management. Not to mention, all the techy/science stuff from patents and standards and the reform of the economic statistical reports that have been corrupted by the Bush administration. And then there is the 2010 Census, which is incredibly important to our government. Commerce is kind of a catch-all department and Richardson seems to have the kind of experience and knowledge to handle most of the responsibilities. Again, I think he's a good fit here.
Richardson seems like a good choice. He certainly has a lot of Cabinet experience. You make a good argument for him.
If you can assume the hierarchy was considered in the Presidential Succession Act then it looks like this: 1 Vice President and President of the Senate D 2 Speaker of the House of Representatives 3 President pro tempore of the Senate 4 Secretary of State 5 Secretary of the Treasury 6 Secretary of Defense 8 Secretary of the Interior 9 Secretary of Agriculture 10 Secretary of Commerce 11 Secretary of Labor 12 Secretary of Health and Human Services 13 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 14 Secretary of Transportation 15 Secretary of Energy 16 Secretary of Education 17 Secretary of Veterans Affairs 18 Secretary of Homeland Security http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_line_of_succession
Hmm, there is an growing online petition urging Obama not to nominate Bill Richardson to be a cabinet member because of Richardson's handling of Wen Ho Lee case during the Clinton administration. http://www.petitiononline.com/GovBillR/petition.html Clearly, Obama's pledge to reach out to Asian Americans if elected is put to test.
No doubt. Financial stability, a sane foreign policy, education reform, infrastructure improvements, restoration of human and civil rights, etc., won't mean one whit if he doesn't address the Wen Ho Lee matter.
The beauty of Obama is that he's not dependent on any of these nonsense interest groups and doesn't have to bend to their every idiotic gripe. That applies to everyone from the Asian community to the United Auto Workers.
It could; but if Richardson's the best person for the position, he should go there - regardless of the whining of an interest group that is more concerned about itself than anything else.
There are literally thousands of grievances out there and some come with large constituencies. If a President-elect let those drive his decisions, he'll be a failure. Of course it could happen without Richardson, but the reason for not putting him at Commerce is that he would not be the best person. The reason not to use to not put him at Commerce if you indeed think he's the best guy is because people are upset about how the Wen Ho Lee thing was handled. For the record, I thought it sucked. I also was very much against Bill being President. I do think he is a flawed but talented politician and manager. I think he would do well at Commerce.
