MCFEATTERS: More czars are born

OPINION:

COMMENTARY:

For a country that fought a long war to shed itself of royalty - the Declaration of Independence goes on at length about how awful King George III was - we seem to be heavily staffing our government with czars. The idea of a government czar is not new. President Nixon is believed to have appointed the first, William Simon, as energy czar in 1973, with a mandate to combat soaring gasoline prices and, of course, we’ve seen how well that’s worked out for us.

The Russian title of czar, derived from the German “kaiser,” which in turn is derived from the Roman “caesar,” is intended to convey absolute authority and imply to the public that, this time, things really are going to get done.

In Washington, this is thoroughly misleading. A czar is less than a Cabinet secretary and more than a staffer and - much to the fury of Sen. Robert C. Byrd, West Virginia Democrat, a noted stickler - doesn’t need Senate confirmation, which saves the White House all kinds of hassle.

But in the nation’s capital, a job isn’t much unless it controls appropriated funds, and the czars don’t have their own appropriated budgets. The title of czar, nevertheless, is a lot sexier than deputy associate undersecretary.

President Obama seems even more entranced by czars than most presidents. Just this week, the Obama administration named Alan Bersin as the border czar to combat violence and illegal immigration along the Mexican border. As a former federal prosecutor and big-city - San Diego - schools superintendent, he should be tough enough for the job.

The drug czar, officially the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, goes back to 1982, and Mr. Obama has named one. He is former Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske.

Mr. Obama inherited a czar from former President George W. Bush and chose to keep him. Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute’s real title is deputy national security adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan, but it was quickly shortened to “war czar.”

Carol M. Browner is Mr. Obama’s climate czar, charged with coordinating climate and energy policy within the White House.

Nancy-Ann DeParle is the health czar. She supposedly coordinates health care policy for the White House, but her real job is to get Mr. Obama’s health care reform plan passed when he comes up with one.

Adolfo Carrion Jr. is head of the White House Office of Urban Affairs and thus ex officio the urban affairs czar.

Mr. Obama almost had a performance czar, management consultant Nancy Killefer, but she withdrew her candidacy because of a tax problem. As chief performance officer, she would have been charged with making government more effective and efficient. No one is surprised that a replacement has yet to be named.

Paul Volcker almost became the car czar, charged with saving the domestic auto industry, until Mr. Obama backed off the idea. Instead, the president made Mr. Volcker his economics czar. The former Federal Reserve chairman has been handed uphill tasks before. He was charged with ending the stagflation of the 1970s, saving Social Security, improving government service and cleaning up corruption at the United Nations. He describes himself as the patron saint of lost causes.

Mr. Obama’s critics have been debating whether he is a secret socialist or, heaven forfend, a closet communist. The czar thing suggests he is more of a monarchist.

At the least, the emergence of this ancient Russian title in the thickets of U.S. government bureaucracy has settled once and for all this burning issue: It’s spelled “czar” and not “tsar.”

Dale McFeatters is a columnist for Scripps Howard News Service.