“Put nothing in writing, ever”
posted at 4:46 pm on July 9, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
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Mark Tapscott reports on what should be the defining quote of the Hopenchange Administration. Climate Czar Carol Browner got a little too much into czar character when she told the Auto Industry Task Force to leave no record of the negotiations, or for that matter, no record of anything at any time. How many of those who voted for Barack Obama’s campaign figured on hearing this?
Carol Browner, former Clinton administration EPA head and current Obama White House climate czar, instructed auto industry execs “to put nothing in writing, ever” regarding secret negotiations she orchestrated regarding a deal to increase federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-WI, is demanding a congressional investigation of Browner’s conduct in the CAFE talks, saying in a letter to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-CA, that Browner “intended to leave little or no documentation of the deliberations that lead to stringent new CAFE standards.”
Federal law requires officials to preserve documents concerning significant policy decisions, so instructing participants in a policy negotation concerning a major federal policy change could be viewed as a criminal act.
If this broke federal law, then Congress should demand Browner’s resignation. Even if it didn’t, the intent of the law is to keep both the people and Congress informed of executive-branch development and enforcement of policy. Browner’s admonition didn’t intend to keep information from the people, though, but from hostile members of Congress.
Democrats howled when Dick Cheney met in private with energy producers (as well as environmental groups) when developing the Bush administration’s first attempt at energy policy in 2001. They took the Bush administration to court to release the records of the meetings, and they griped about it for years afterward. Eventually they strengthened the law on transparency, which directly relates to Browner and the AITF, which exercises unprecedented power over private-sector manufacturers.
If we needed transparency at any time, we need it even more in the Age of Czars, whose power is almost unchallengeable within the system. The Obama Hope and Change response? “Put nothing in writing, ever.” That must be the new translation of Vero possumus, right?
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Tom_Shipley says: That’s a great idea!
lorien1973 on July 9, 2009 at 4:48 PM
Paging Dr. Inhofe…
Kid from Brooklyn on July 9, 2009 at 4:48 PM
But she’s a czar; she’s immune to answering to anyone. /s
yogi41 on July 9, 2009 at 4:49 PM
Why write it down, when they won’t read it anyways?
lorien1973 on July 9, 2009 at 4:49 PM
Sorry cons
this is good to stop blackmail of corporate greed
and carbon
Pony
/getalife/g0tmylifeback
blatantblue on July 9, 2009 at 4:49 PM
Change…
ladyingray on July 9, 2009 at 4:49 PM
The rules are different for Czars.
conservative pilgrim on July 9, 2009 at 4:49 PM
I’m thinking of a number..a number between $1.999 trillion and $2.001 trillion.
jukin on July 9, 2009 at 4:50 PM
Slack-jawed.
Obama is begging for impeachment hearings.
MadisonConservative on July 9, 2009 at 4:50 PM
This just in Claude Rains still shocked
LincolntheHun on July 9, 2009 at 4:50 PM
Oy. Funny and sadly true.
conservative pilgrim on July 9, 2009 at 4:50 PM
(comment spoken verbally)
WashJeff on July 9, 2009 at 4:51 PM
Should.
Won’t.
Our Congress is infested with corrupt and incompetent Democrats.
Nothing positive, effective or ethical ever happens when Democrats are in charge.
NoDonkey on July 9, 2009 at 4:51 PM
Browner should read up on what fate befell the Romanovs.
NoDonkey on July 9, 2009 at 4:52 PM
AnnieCA, let me write your comment for you:
Aw, c’mon, she wasn’t trying to hide anything. We need to stop using so much paper to save trees to save the planet!
PastorJon on July 9, 2009 at 4:53 PM
No evidence left behind.
JohnJ on July 9, 2009 at 4:53 PM
These jerks just do what they want
whatever they want
blatantblue on July 9, 2009 at 4:54 PM
If this broke federal law, then Congress should demand Browner’s resignation, except she is a DemLALALALALALALALALALAALALALALALALALALALAALALALALALALALALALAALALALALALALALALALAALALALALALALALALALAALALALALALALALALALAALALALALALALALALALA – CANTHEARYOUCANTHEARYOUCANTHEARYOUCANTHEARYOUCANTHEARYOUCANTHEARYOUCANTHEARYOUCANTHEARYOUCANTHEARYOU!!
drunyan8315 on July 9, 2009 at 4:55 PM
If they were proud of what they were doing and thought it’d honestly help this country; you’d think they’d want a complete record of it so they could take credit for it the rest of their lives.
Oh….
I see.
lorien1973 on July 9, 2009 at 4:55 PM
This is why BO uses Czars for his dirty work…
d1carter on July 9, 2009 at 4:55 PM
Let’s see …
A Republican (Sensenbrenner) sent a letter to someone who co-wrote cap and trade (Waxman), demanding a congressional investigation of a czar who answers to no one (Browner).
Is that right?
Move along, folks … nothing to see here.
VibrioCocci on July 9, 2009 at 4:55 PM
I was going to comment, but then feared someone might read it.
kirkill on July 9, 2009 at 4:56 PM
Anyone see the head photo on drudge?
blatantblue on July 9, 2009 at 4:56 PM
Alternatively, just use personal email accounts to sidestep public disclosure laws, as the palin administration did.
benny shakar on July 9, 2009 at 4:56 PM
Earl Long, Huey Long’s brother, issued an authoritative dictum on minimalist communication for crooked pols that the Blagojevichs and Jeffersons were too sloppy to study: “Don’t write anything you can phone. Don’t phone anything you can talk. Don’t talk anything you can whisper. Don’t whisper anything you can smile. Don’t smile anything you can nod. Don’t nod anything you can wink.”
rishika on July 9, 2009 at 4:56 PM
There had better be an investigation, followed by her resignation. This is intolerable.
Vashta.Nerada on July 9, 2009 at 4:56 PM
Yes! Ed really needs to make a caption contest!
lorien1973 on July 9, 2009 at 4:57 PM
Waxman has already scheduled the hearing for the day after he wins the Miss America contest.
He’s all ready for the bikini competition.
NoDonkey on July 9, 2009 at 4:57 PM
Schwing!
Of topic, but what the heck.
Mr. Joe on July 9, 2009 at 4:57 PM
But Democrats have our best interests at heart, they don’t need supervision; the adults are in charge.
/whiny lefty.
rbj on July 9, 2009 at 4:57 PM
Well, at least this proves they’re aren’t Nazi’s, who were fanatical in documenting everything.
There is no fear in documenting everything, even crimes, when you believe no one will be able to punish you, beause you won.
Browner’s action would indicate 2 things:
1) She knows what was discussed was wrong, and possibly illegal;
2) She doesn’t believe Obama has the power to keep it hidden forever, and it could come back to bite her and others in the ass.
Transparency. Let’s get Jake Tapper to ask Gibbs how the White House would define that word. Are they using Websters or Obamas lexicon?
BobMbx on July 9, 2009 at 4:57 PM
Do our (s)elected representatives undergo surgery to have their scruples, morals, beliefs, values, and anything that makes a human being decent before they take office?
VibrioCocci on July 9, 2009 at 4:58 PM
So transparent that you can see right through them.
[Off Topic]
You know that “SPONSOR A MILE…” advertisement on the side bar? At first look it looks like it says “SPONSOR A MILF…”. Sorry for the language :o)
FontanaConservative on July 9, 2009 at 4:58 PM
How many of the care?
That’s what I think is more important.
/BDS
bluelightbrigade on July 9, 2009 at 4:58 PM
Clarification: Obama’s Czars have a different set of rules.
conservative pilgrim on July 9, 2009 at 4:59 PM
blatantblue on July 9, 2009 at 4:56 PM
Yes! Ed really needs to make a caption contest!
lorien1973 on July 9, 2009 at 4:57 PM
He’d better…every thread is getting hijacked…
ladyingray on July 9, 2009 at 4:59 PM
Yah, the ‘rats will get right on this, just as soon as they have wrapped-up their intensive investigations of Rangel, Dodd, Jefferson, Pelosi, Reid etc. etc. etc.
Bishop on July 9, 2009 at 4:59 PM
and never write anything down
Tazz 55 on July 9, 2009 at 4:59 PM
How did they get this quote? Did she put it in writing?
Gaunilon on July 9, 2009 at 4:59 PM
“stimulus”
“we found WMD”
“let me seize THOSE assets”
blatantblue on July 9, 2009 at 5:00 PM
Now we know why he likes taking those trips abroad.
bluelightbrigade on July 9, 2009 at 5:00 PM
For the love of AllahPundit! No pictures please!
FontanaConservative on July 9, 2009 at 5:00 PM
I’m laughing as vomit shoots from my nostrils!
VibrioCocci on July 9, 2009 at 5:00 PM
The only transparent about Obama’s administration is that this is no surprise.
gwelf on July 9, 2009 at 5:00 PM
Anyone see the head photo on drudge?
blatantblue on July 9, 2009 at 4:56 PM
Ed already commented about it in the healthcare thread. It’s going to be incorporated into the QOTD. Caption contest anyone? I can’t wait!!!
txag92 on July 9, 2009 at 5:00 PM
If this broke federal law,
then Congress should demand Browner’s resignation.,then she should be investigated, charged, indicted and tried in federal court.Oldnuke on July 9, 2009 at 5:01 PM
The most transparent administration EVAH.
1921 C DRUM on July 9, 2009 at 5:02 PM
Ed already commented about it in the healthcare thread. It’s going to be incorporated into the QOTD. Caption contest anyone? I can’t wait!!!
txag92 on July 9, 2009 at 5:00 PM
I already won. I won.
blatantblue on July 9, 2009 at 5:02 PM
I’m seeing Overreach just about everywhere in this Demon.. I mean Democrat controlled Congress and WH.
Absolutely no restraint. Unbridled arrogance.
I hope they keep it up too. People are gonna get so sick of their shidt that 2012 will yank the Demon.. I mean Democrats pants down and their collective “Bo Bo’s” are gonna ache for decades.
I hope.
44Magnum on July 9, 2009 at 5:02 PM
Yes. Ed is torturing us by making us wait for QOTD. (See Senate Doctors Show thread)
Ed, we will still love you if you change your mind and have a caption contest. :-)
conservative pilgrim on July 9, 2009 at 5:02 PM
I wonder if Barry remembers what the Bolsheviks did to the czars. Oh, the irony that they’re now bringing them back.
patriette on July 9, 2009 at 5:02 PM
Vashta, meet President Obama and todays DEM party..Investigation??
ROFLMAO…
Jeff from WI on July 9, 2009 at 5:03 PM
This should be used for Media related threads :D
FontanaConservative on July 9, 2009 at 5:04 PM
I guess it isn’t possible to have pictures of these people that won’t induce nightmares.
Cindy Munford on July 9, 2009 at 5:05 PM
What good is a memory hole, if there’s nothing to put down it?
OhEssYouCowboys on July 9, 2009 at 5:05 PM
I already won. I won.
blatantblue on July 9, 2009 at 5:02 PM
Calm down young man or I’ll send you to your room.
txag92 on July 9, 2009 at 5:05 PM
The Examiner gets something dead wrong here. They admit that this story was first broken by the NY Times, so I looked at the original story:
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/05/20/20greenwire-vow-of-silence-key-to-white-house-calif-fuel-e-12208.html
This story makes it clear that the line “put nothing in writing, ever” comes from Mary Nichols, the head of the California Air Resources Board.
I’m not saying this substantially changes the larger point. If Nichols and Browner were trying to get around transparency rules, they should be held to account.
But it’s awfully odd that the Examiner can’t correctly identify the source of the key line, when it’s clearly stated in the NY Times artic.
orange on July 9, 2009 at 5:05 PM
Congress wants plausible deniability. And it works; I certainly believe they have no idea what’s going on.
hawksruleva on July 9, 2009 at 5:05 PM
http://ace.mu.nu/archives/289515.php
Gotta love Ace of Spades
“He’s even got “boner leg.”
LincolntheHun on July 9, 2009 at 5:05 PM
Eliot Ness and the Untouchables could take down this corrupted government
Jeff from WI on July 9, 2009 at 5:06 PM
‘So THAT’S what an arse is supposed to look like’.
HornetSting on July 9, 2009 at 5:06 PM
No controlling precedent! No controlling precedent!
OhEssYouCowboys on July 9, 2009 at 5:06 PM
Fire inspector generals, secret negotiations, dump pages of additions into bills at the last second, passing bills no one reads.
Just how I learned about government in Social Studies.
Thunderstorm129 on July 9, 2009 at 5:07 PM
Obama is making Nixon look like a saint
Jeff from WI on July 9, 2009 at 5:07 PM
Do these folks really believe we are dogs and cats? Fetch, roll over, here is some catnip for amusement? Or is it that they don’t care. That they are immune to a knock on their door and the flash of a badge? I just don’t get it.
Limerick on July 9, 2009 at 5:08 PM
…..Those that voted for the ‘won’ are not as smart as my cat OR my dog.
HornetSting on July 9, 2009 at 5:10 PM
What, a woman not fainting at the sight of the Messiah??!!
Better question, how’d the SS let her get that close?
Jeff from WI on July 9, 2009 at 5:10 PM
Isn’t it against Federal Law to hold official meetings WITHOUT keeping some sort of transcript/notes of said meeting?
Skywise on July 9, 2009 at 5:10 PM
Must be more if that New Kind of Politics that O! palavered on about during the campaign…
After all, it’s the Chicago way!
RocketmanBob on July 9, 2009 at 5:11 PM
We support this abortion of a government? Why? Who the hell has the nads to tell me that we have to toe the line? Be civil? Not get squirrel on crack crazy?
Limerick on July 9, 2009 at 5:11 PM
…Better question, How many bars of soap are going in Sasqutach’s sock when SHE sees that pic?
HornetSting on July 9, 2009 at 5:11 PM
The administration of transparency. Isn’t that just something.?!
4shoes on July 9, 2009 at 5:12 PM
^^Hehe … I think Ed is very cute.
He still believes there is a functioning Constitution in this country. He’s so silly.
Let me tell you a secret …
The “Czars” are beyond the Constitution. And here’s another news flash – Obama owns the White House, Congress, and the Press. What makes you think he would ever fire one of his own? Who has he fired thus far? I’m not aware of anyone. Obama knows that once he fires one crony – then the real Republicans will go after others.
HondaV65 on July 9, 2009 at 5:12 PM
Michelle gonna put on her fightin face tonight.
VibrioCocci on July 9, 2009 at 5:12 PM
I think we need to be fair about this. Browner is only saying this because she is illiterate. She’s taking adult reading classes at night … what more do you people want??
progressoverpeace on July 9, 2009 at 5:12 PM
If you don’t worry about paying taxes, why worry about federal records laws.
Jeff from WI on July 9, 2009 at 5:13 PM
What a loser this guy is. For the younger men and women here at HA, I’m gonna let you in on a long-held manly secret.
First, examine Sarkozy’s posture and expression. Here is a man expert at “gazing at the ladies”. His examination of the young lady in purple is already complete and he is ready for the next serendipitous meeting. His pose does not give a clue about his recent voyeurism.
Obama, on the other hand, plays this as a rank amateur. Notice the obvious head-turn and the goofy posture.
Here’s the secret: NEVER turn your head as the young lady walks past. Notice how Sarkozy has positioned his entire body at an angle which gives him a good field of view and does not reveal the current activity. Contrast this with Obama, who has basically yelled out loud to everyone, including the young lady, “Hey, I’m looking at your butt!”
Fumbler. He can’t even girl-watch properly.
Guys, this is secret #1 to enjoying the pool or the beach when your significant other is around. Never…ever…turn the head. If the view is just that good, and the urge is irresistible, just do this. Get up, ask the significant other if she would like a drink or a snack, and then manuever into the most advantageous viewing position as you walk aimlessly looking for the drink stand.
BobMbx on July 9, 2009 at 5:13 PM
Wait…I thought all the illiterates got Treasury jobs?
gwelf on July 9, 2009 at 5:14 PM
Well, I guess we know he is an “ass” man. I love the guy next to him.
BetseyRoss on July 9, 2009 at 5:15 PM
BobMbx on July 9, 2009 at 5:13 PM
LOL..Shut Up…don’t give away secrets!
Jeff from WI on July 9, 2009 at 5:15 PM
Petty power hungry people. Not only are they too big for their britches, they are inept. There is something kind of pathetic about an incompetent heavy.
Terrye on July 9, 2009 at 5:15 PM
Schwing!
Mr. Joe on July 9, 2009 at 5:16 PM
Good ol’ Sarkozy. Let me show you how to check it out with class.
LastRick on July 9, 2009 at 5:16 PM
Some things need no words.
Mr. Joe on July 9, 2009 at 5:17 PM
+1
And my one-finger gesture to this joke of an administration given physically.
Roc on July 9, 2009 at 5:17 PM
No, no, no. The innumerates and tax cheats are at Treasury. The Washington junta is very specific about matching the candidates to the fields they are specifically unqualified to be in. You can’t just throw any idiot in any position. You need to put each moron in the position in which he or she will do the most damage.
progressoverpeace on July 9, 2009 at 5:17 PM
I think we already knew that.
LastRick on July 9, 2009 at 5:17 PM
Obama: “Why Kate, You’re not wearing a bustle. How lewd.”
Jeff from WI on July 9, 2009 at 5:18 PM
Let ME let you in on a little secret….wives know your little tricks, BobMbx. You’re not fooling anyone. Each glance costs you another zero. :0
HornetSting on July 9, 2009 at 5:18 PM
Where the FRAK are the GOP leaders handing out fact sheets to the press? Don’t tell me the MSM won’t care. You get enough of the GOP jumping up and down they(MSM) are going to blanch and run the story, even if a biased one.
Without leadership the citizens are going to turn into mobs. Is this what the GOP wants? If so the gawddamned mob isn’t going to care if you are red or blue.
Limerick on July 9, 2009 at 5:19 PM
We Won…
right2bright on July 9, 2009 at 5:20 PM
Actually, I think Sarko is looking at The Precedent making a fool of himself with such an obvious leer.
progressoverpeace on July 9, 2009 at 5:20 PM
Was this the missing 15th item that all guys must be able to do from yesterday?
WashJeff on July 9, 2009 at 5:20 PM
Look at the photo closely, it looks like Michele is right behind him and has him by the ear.
thomasaur on July 9, 2009 at 5:20 PM
LastRick on July 9, 2009 at 5:17 PM
BetseyRoss on July 9, 2009 at 5:20 PM
http://arkjournal.com/uploaded_images/Michelle-No-Belle-739004.jpg
Tazz 55 on July 9, 2009 at 5:21 PM
Great job, HotAirHeads. We have George III on steroids and all you can do is chase tail.
FU
Limerick on July 9, 2009 at 5:22 PM
Don’t tell me words don’t matter!
christene on July 9, 2009 at 5:23 PM
That may be true, but at least you get a drink and a snack, eh?
BobMbx on July 9, 2009 at 5:23 PM
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