Cleaning House At Treasury
Subject: Cleaning House At Treasury
From: neal@nealknox.com (Neal Knox)
Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2001 00:02:29 EST
February 6 Neal Knox Report -- "Personnel is Policy" is a Washington truism. No matter what policy is set by the guys at the top, what the government does depends on who is doing the work.
A friend of mine, who was hired from Capitol Hill by the Nixon Administration, was given a rather high level job. Early on, he was shocked by the number of Lyndon Johnson political appointees who Nixon's people left in their old jobs, or allowed to stay in their same agencies if they had managed to transfer into regular civil service jobs (as so many political appointees from every outgoing administration do).
Those Democrat holdovers caused Nixon and gunowners a lot of grief.
I've seen the same thing happen many times over.
Christmas of 1980, after Ronald Reagan was elected, my friend sent me a red tie with little hatchets all over it. The card read: "Now more than ever."
The message was clear: Keep on hacking. (I still wear that tie on special occasions, just to remind me.)
In their eagerness to calm the angry waters of the election, every new Republican Administration makes the huge mistake of leaving some of their worst enemies in place -- both in the agencies and when Republicans take control of Congress.
New committee chairmen and green agency heads too often hold over key Democrat staffers because (1) They are professionals who know their agency or committee's work much better than their new bosses do; (2) They're bright, energetic people; (3) They're often nice folks.
Those are the very reasons the newcomers need to get rid of them!
Democrats rarely make this mistake because they enjoy
government, understand it, and know how to exercise power. As that same friend, a lifelong Republican, once told me: "Republicans hate big government so much that they're incapable of running it."
There are some people I've been quietly recommending for key positions, but my praising them publicly would probably assure they didn't get the jobs.
So I've asked a few friends to think about who we don't want to see left in place, or anywhere near their old jobs.
Here's a starter list of people who I've been told -- and some I absolutely know -- should be promoted into the private sector, or if they can't be fired, transfered into Lower Slobovia.
Main Treasury
Remove and/or Transfer:
Edsall, Alexandra -- Attorney Advisor, Office of General Counsel
Frenkel, Jonathan -- Senior Policy Advisor, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement
Ginsburg, Susan -- Senior Advisor, Under Secretary for Enforcement
Hicks, Pamela J. -- Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Law Enforcement
Kerner, Francine -- Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement
McHale, Steven -- Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement
Wallwork, Anne -- Policy Advisor, Under Secretary for Enforcement
Wehner, Karen -- Deputy Assistant Secretary for Law Enforcement
Wellington, Claire -- Chief of Staff, Under Secretary for Enforcement
BATF
Remove and/or Transfer
Manfreda, John -- Chief Counsel
Rubinstein, Steven -- Associate Chief Counsel for Firearms
Slattery, Janette -- Attorney Advisor, Firearms and Explosives
If you have any stroke with the Administration, Republican fundraisers or elected officials -- or subscribe to lists that include people who might have stroke -- I suggest you pass these suggestions along.
