Nancy Killefer - Chief Performance Officer announced!!! with video

as reported by The Huffington Post January 7, 2009. WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama said Wednesday that reforming massive government entitlement programs _ such as Social Security and Medicare _ would be "a central part" of his effort to control federal spending.

Obama made the pledge but provided few details as he named Nancy Killefer as his administration's chief performance officer, creating a new White House position aimed at eliminating government waste and improving efficiency.

Noting that the Congressional Budget Office had just estimated he would inherit a $1.2 trillion federal deficit for fiscal 2009, Obama promised to cut unnecessary spending.

"We expect that discussion around entitlements will be a part, a central part of those plans," Obama said. "And I would expect that by February in line with the announcement of at least a rough budget outline we will have more to say about how we're going to approach entitlement spending."

For the first time, Obama gave a ballpark price tag for his massive economic plan aimed at generating jobs and jolting the country out of recession. Aides have said it could cost as much as $775 billion over two years. Outside economists have suggested as much as $1.2 trillion would be needed.

"We expect that it will be on the high end of our estimates but will not be as high as some economists have recommended because of the constraint and concerns we have about the existing deficit," Obama said.

At the brief news conference, Obama also deferred to President George W. Bush on the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Even as he's delved into domestic issues, Obama has refrained from commenting on the conflict and has insisted that he would allow the current chief executive to deal with foreign policy matters until the Jan. 20 inauguration.

"We can't have two administrations running foreign policy at the same time. We simply can't do it," Obama said. "The silence is not as a consequence of a lack of concern. In fact, it's not silence. ... I've explained very clearly what institutional constraints I'm under when it comes to this issue."

Still, Obama said he was "deeply concerned" about the conflict. He also offered assurances that he was being briefed consistently on the issue and his national security team was "up to speed."

As he named Killefer, Obama promised to scour the federal budget to eliminate what doesn't work and improve what does to "put government on the side of taxpayers." He said: "We can no longer afford to sustain the old ways when we know there are new and more efficient ways to getting the job done."

Killefer, a director of a management consulting firm who previously served as an assistant secretary of the treasury under President Bill Clinton, will work with federal agencies to set performance standards and hold agency managers accountable for progress.

Obama pledged during the campaign to form a White House SWAT team of sorts _ led by a chief performance officer who would report directly to him _ to work with agency leaders and the White House budget office to improve federal programs and services.

Yet, even as he announced the post that's also aimed at spending taxpayer money more efficiently, Obama was spending his first week in Washington promoting his mammoth economic stimulus plan _ much of which will be new spending aimed at creating jobs and stoking the troubled economy.


Lets get some feedback on this subject. Tell me what you think about Obama's plans?

Have a Ball

January 07, 2009 - Ann Coulter appeared on the TODAY show today. The Conservative author speaks out about unwed mothers, ‘B. Hussein’ Obama. there was some obvious animosity between Ann and Matt Lauer because of a cancellation of her appearing on the TODAY show. Her cancellation was "to make way for a live report from Israel on the conflict in Gaza by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair" -according to Lauer. Coulter countered that TODAY could have given her a different time slot. Lauer accused her of saying, “The mainstream media hates conservatives.” “I didn’t say that,” Coulter said. She admitted that she agrees with the sentiment, “but I have much more colorful language.” “The point is, I was canceled twice,” Coulter rejoined, referring to a second scheduled appearance on Tuesday with Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford in the show’s fourth hour that was also dropped.

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Naked Skier

JANUARY 6--Smoking gun website reported that a 48 year old male skier at Colorado's ritzy Vail resort was left dangling upside down and pantsless from a chairlift last Thursday morning. the incident happened on January first. This happened after the skier and a child got on the high-speed lift in Vail's Blue Sky Basin. the skiier fell through a gap supposedly because the fold-down seat was not in the lowered position. His right ski got stuck in the rising chairlift, and that kept him upside down because his boot didn't dislodge from its binding. The Skyline Express lift was stopped shortly after the incident. The man stuck for about 15 minutes before Vail personnel backed the lift up and got him out of the chair. Supposedly the skier was not injured. The press release did not explain how the mishap occurred, only that "the man was caught on the chair."

We'll see if this leads to litigation. I think its very likely that the man will find some way or reason to sue for this incident. What a shame it is how people cling to every chance they can get money for something. The incident was probably the skiiers fault to begin with. get more at http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0106091vail1.html

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