CNN

I don't think we need to defend any of President-Elect Obama's choices. He won the election. The majority voted for him. Allow the losers to whine among themselves. Nothing the PE does will ever be satisfactory to them. Whine on....

No matter what he does.... MD, Mike in Syracuse, Sweetie, Disillusioned, and ALL the other usual suspects will be RIGHT THERE to poo-poo it without so much as a glance to actually LEARN its goal or intent.

Obama could cure cancer and they would all say... well what about aids...? Obama could then cure cancer 'and' aids... and they would scream.... HE DID IT FOR POLITICAL GAIN...

GEEZ guys..... pace yourselves... its gonna be a looong 8 years for you.

Some of you are so laughable. Obama can't do anything you approve of, can he? You will criticize and ridicule anything and everything he does because you just hate him and cannot accept the fact that he is our President. You want him to fail so badly. And you call yourselves Americans?? Regardless of whether he appoints totally capable people to a position or whether he appoints someone who has the intelligence, but not the experience, but who can learn and listen, doesn't matter to you. You just want to ridicule and lambast him every chance you get. If the guy sneezes you will accuse him of spreading germs. You're just a bunch of sore losers.

To Changing from Bad...
Why don't you get your facts from someone who doesn't lie? The Dems were not in charge the last 6 out of 8 years. You can't stand that the country was run the way you conservatives all said it should be and it was a huge, unmitigated disaster!

mckinsey is a NAZI operation.
she will fit right in to the DC culture.

The naivete of Obama supporters and their non-knowledge of fiscal matters is truly astounding.

Just yesterday Obama said we will have trillion dollar deficits for the next couple of years. I don't know how this woman can change that. She's not president and not a member of Congress. Oh well, good luck to her. She needs it.

Great pick and its about time someone made that postion in govt , (Canada needs it also} ( great job obama)you cannot make everyone happy but not so popular changes shows a great leader .....

Remember the scene in the movie "Dave" where the fake president actually led the cabinet through striking outdated items, line-by-line, from the budget? What a great idea that was - and now PEBO is getting ready to do it! And he needs someone that's basically an outsider (not part of the current congress) to help do it. If the savings are great it will help pay her salary, many times over. I say give it a chance.

I was expecting a new "Secretary Of Change"!

Next will be the Ministry of Silly-Walks.

Well, Obama did say he was gonna bring change to Washington, and now he's proven that he can create new jobs.....OK, just one, but it's a start.

Can't wait to see all the CNN News stories on Joe Biden's kids, should be really juicy stuff!

@The Artful Dodger – If you think this is a third world country, you are simply an ignorant fool. We have no starvation, no cholera epidemics, a fully functioning democracy, no martial law, a free press, low infant mortality, nearly universal literacy...

It is grotesque and an insult to people who actually live in third world conditions to compare the US standard of living to theirs. Just because you've had to cut out one of your daily lattes from Starbucks does not make this a third world country. Grow up, for God's sake.

Rachael, We can't afford to sit – and watch things crumble.

Chief Performance Officer? Man, why didn't he get Dave Ramsey for this. He's Gupta-like.

LOL

She'll need all the luck she can get. Hope proves to be a better than what some predict and I hope we can afford her!

After reading all the negative comments here, I am appalled at the lack

of hope smeared on our country's future. Wake up people and see what

you as individuals can do in spreading a little good will – if not in your

actions, at least in what you choose to share on these pages.

Sincerely.

You can't blame this all on Bush – guess who ran Congress for 6 our of his 8 years in office?

Yep – THE DEMS!!! They were truly the ones in charge, Bush just got blamed for Congress' mistakes and missteps. After all, that's what Republicans are good for, being blamed for the LIBERAL'S MISTAKES!!

We need someone with judgement to analyze the situations, vision to see the future and patience to see things through. Obama has the wings of Clinton and the wings of Gates/Jones. We THE People, need to UNITE and give it a chance. So shut up!!

You people are such embiciles. Bush has run us into a hole, your lives are garbage, yet you STILL bash Obama, actually hoping that he fails. I don't care how partisan you are, you should want Obama to succeed, because it benefits all of us. By the way, Bush has grown government more than any other president in history.

What Obama has done is hire a mother for the country. The new performance officer will scold Barney Frank when he gets a giveaway tingle. The Washington establishment is now "Animal House" on LSD. It seems that intervention therapy in indicated and really that`s what the new position is.

President-elect Obama has been left with the BUSH DISASTER:

MOUNTING NATIONAL DEBT OF OVER........$10 TRILLION

A BUDGET DEFICIT OF OVER.......... $1.2 TRILLION

AN UNEMPLOYMENT RATE OF 6%

ETC., ETC. HE WILL NEED ALL THE HELP HE CAN GET FROM AS MANY BRILLIANT PEOPLE AS HE CAN HIRE!

YOU FAR-RIGHT-NUTS CAN COMPLAIN ALL YOU WANT...........BUT THIS.......MESS....... IS THE ...........BUSH.......LEGACY!

Not a big PEBO fan, but, I have been very impressed with his moves during the transition. This is a good idea and I for one would like to see how it works out before it is blasted. He is showing a surprising (to me anyway) sense of business acumen in bringing good management to the world's largest enterprise. Hopefully, he will succeed in this.

Why the appointment, lets just say.....

- no bid contracts
- incompetence
- pay to play
- $600,000 toilet s
- $230,000 for bathroom upgrade for Interior Scy
- lost 9 Billion in Iraq

- fingers too tired to keep typing....

Oh the sharks are already circling. This proves that nothing Obama does is good enough for CONservatives. This new position is essential. Our debt is 70% of GDP... thanks Republicans! And now these are the very people complaining about Dem's spending money on a (gasp, woman- or fill in dirogatory insult here) who is in charge of keeping fiscal responsibility?

Looks like the GOP is the GOHP H for hypocracy.

Let the PE make his appointments. Would you rather he simply added people to the roles and then tell you about them? He is being transparent; he is not asking anyone "what do you think of . . . ?" He is making appointments who MUST be confirmed BEFORE they are actually in the job.

Obama is setting up shop the way HE believes it will best serve the people of this Country. Give the man a chance to literally begin to be the President.

Accountability is necessary in all aspects of leadership. Right now FISCAL accountability is top priority for the United States of America.

Stop complaining and begin to hope for the best for our Country.

What a joke! Why is the Obama machine adding more and more and more and more and more people to the cabinet? Who does he owe for what?

Another big paying job added, how sad to the unemployed persons. Democrats, spend and spend??? Too many big jobs and not enough workers or just a pay off??? Change??? Add big paying jobs???? Breaking promises and not in office yet... WOW

Shouldn't it be the whole cabinets job to do this ? Rein in spending, make each of their own areas more efficient, then go to congress and say nock off ALL the pork. This position is a joke and a waste of more taxpayer money. This is not change, it's more of the same. By the way, what happened to the term Czar, it was not used this time.

Coming next.....................

The Ministry to Watch Over the Chief Performance Officer

Tape at 11:00

Sooo tired of Obama aleady – and he is not even in the Whitehouse. The younger generation that helped put him in will regret it when all the bailouts come due – too bad everyone's children have to pay the price for other peoples mistakes. Its the taxpayer that is going to get it good not the crooks – they are making off with tons of money and living LARGE.

I wouldn't be surprised if Obama brought back the draft as part of his "job creation" program. He always likes to leave out major "details" on his new "proposals."

She must be part of the new jobs program that Obama is talking about. Only problem is her position is really part of his job and thats not much help to the average american .

To Polar Bears Against Palen

Lets see he his going to give me a weaker military and higher taxes to support the lazy. NO, I AM NOT EXCITED

THIS IS IN REFERANCE TO R WOLF>>>>>>STUPID PERSON........ If I remember correctly, I know that it is MAJORITY DEMS in the senate while BUSH/CHANEY is in office and votes need to go through them first. All statics point to the dems for low employment, high crime, high welfare, ect. obama will bring it down even more...............

To MD who said The Obama administration is quickly resembling a Third World government:

Bush took us to Third World status, so what did you expect? Sorry, the neocons had their chance, and the last 30 years of your policies have brought us to the brink of ruin. Now, we are happy to clean up your mess, but shut up while we're doing it.

Just amazed by the comments attacking Barack. Well... which administration did this deficit come from? He's trying to fix something that is broken and yet many of you are so against it already. Yes, he's appointing people who may lack the knowledge in the area–however, those individuals are coming in with a fresh perspectives. Unlike, Bush who appointed people with experience, but lacked the intelligence! His administration knew more about being a crook rather than leaders. Stealing from the hard-working Americans... rescuing crooks by providing billions of dollars in Bail-Out! Get Real!

As far as thi article goes... Sarah Palin is dumb enough to allow her daughter to be with someone who does not have a goal in life...dropping out of high school is the wrong thing to do for a new father. How far will you go nowadays with a high school diploma? Well, I am sure she will hire him under her administration... and have another dumb Republican without education and can't even work a fax machine! Ah... tragedy in the making!

Scott January 7th, 2009 9:54 am ET
And just how much of our tax paying dollars is going to go towards this twit's salary?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'd imagine a few clams less than the approximate $7.1B monthly payment that went to Iraq for January 2009.

When Ed Koch was mayor of NYC he would walk around the town asking the average person, "How am I doing?".

WE THE PEOPLE are the chief performance officers, and right now there is no one in Washington that is doing to well.

You got that for free... and my carbon foot print was small... I just saved the country a few million dollars, now I'm going to DisneyWorld.

Do you right-wingers really prefer Bush over what Obama is about to give you? How pathetic. You are lucky Bush and Cheney aren't in prison for crimes against humanity. That is where they belong.

No one ruined this Country more than Bush did, but all you can do is be critical of Obama. Let him do his job. Where is Bush? Well, he's been on vacation, even while the Country is in the worst mess it's ever seen. If you're going to blame someone, blame the man responsible for all this. Obama, even before he's taken office, has given the Country more hope than we've had in eight years. So, unless you have something positive and helpful to contribute, just shut up and let Obama/Biden make this Country whole, prosperous, respected and fully functioning once again.

Will she help me balance my checkbook after I'm done paying for Obama's stimulus plan?

FOR ALL THE OBAMABOTS LET ME REMIND YOU HE ONLY GIVES GREAT SPEECHES WHEN HE LECTURES YOU ON RACE AND AMBIGUITIES. ON FACTS, WELL CUT GOV'T SPENDING, NOT. ON ANY ISSUE THAT REQUIRES A STAND ON FACTS HEM, AND HAW, NOT SHOCK AND AWE. ONCE THE RACE FACTOR IS ACCEPTED NOW WHAT BIGGER DEBTS AS FAR AS GENERATIONS CAN SEE. WILL HE REALLY BE A SUCCESS NOT ONCE REALITY HITS ON 1/21/09. ITS TIME FOR INEXPERIENCE TO BEDAZZLE US. NOT!

Did anyone see the report about Al Queida is blaming obama for the war over there in Iseral? They could'nt be far from the truth. The guy stinks with loathing for this Country....................................

What an absolute Joke!

I'd laugh if I didn't really feel like crying!

Clearly this green horn is so caught up in his own press that he doesn't realize he is duplicating positions and creating confusion when it isn't necessary.

Doesn’t anyone around him tell him the score?

All of the board to which Bush made last minute appointments to long term vacancies should be abolished right away. Obama's efficiency expert should focus first on those boards and commissions and abolish them now and think in the future about any replacement for the boards and commissions.

Bush makes last-minute appointments
President Bush made another round of last-minute appointments Tuesday, giving 45 aides, supporters and others a parting gift as he leaves office: presidential appointments to boards and councils, with terms lasting three to six years after he leaves office.

Besides I always thought the CPO was the president? What's Obama gonna do?

What possible good could this position do? Performance and good government is an oxymoron. Obama is dreaming if he thinks he will crack this nut or hold anyone within the federal Government accountable for anything. Our congressmen being held accountable really works, doesn't it?

Diana in MI , you're right on this one !!
Thanks,

IS THIS REALLY NECESSARY? OBAMA, IS SO FAR NOT DONE ANYTHING BUT PROMISE DEEPER NATIONAL DEBT AND TAX CUTS FOR TRUELY WHAT. IS THIS RESSION ANY WORSE THAN ANYOTHER RECESSTION? I ASK THE READERS THIS COULDN'T WE WORK OUR WAY OUT SLOWLY RATHER THAN A METEORIC RUSH. FROM WHAT I'VE LEARN IN LIFE SLOW AND STEADY WORKS LONGER THAN SPEEDY AND WASTEFUL.

Let the spending begin...

The usual crew of naysayers just can't stand the fact that PE Obama is doing exactly what he said he would do and exactly what is right to provide oversight and transparency.

I guess Obama is tackling unemployment one person at a time by creating all these informal czars and officers. Every position created already has a corresponding cabinet official who is supposed to do that job. How is this suppoesed to work without a lot of confusion? Maybe they will all just be one big committee. Of course we all know the camel is a horse designed by a committee.

Isn't the President the "CPO" in our government?

This is about the Palin story this morning. I saw so many liberal posts slamming Palin for crying foul and how Levi needed to play by the rules. Well, that's fine, I agree that he should get his education and scrape by the best he can. However, I think Palin has a valid point.... the ONLY reason this was reported in the news was to make her look bad. That is the ONLY reason. Why else would anyone care? I mean, seriously, why?

Meanwhile...,

U.S. budget deficit in 2009 will rise to record $1.2 trillion, or 8.3% of GDP, NOT COUNTING any Obama stimulus, government estimates.

This may be a revelation to some, but we are in the biggest financial deficit this country has ever faced and this mostly happened while on the republicans watch who say they are fiscally responsible. Obama has to do BOLD and BIG things in order to try and get this country moving in the right direction. Some say, well how is spending more money going to help, well it may not make sense, but it is just like when you get vacinated with the same disease you are trying to prevent. Not sure why it works, but it does! At least Obama is attempting to do something besides playing the blame game. He has a VISION for this country and it is his vision. He is choosing excellent people to help him carry his vision out and I applaud him for being courageous in a time such as this. May God Bless him and Keep him!

Clearly Obama doesn't believe in fiscal order..., I mean just yesterday he promised us trillion dollar ear marked deficit spending for years to come. No, theres no liberal change here.

Maybe this will turn out to be a smart move, but at the moment it seems redundant. "Chief Performance Officer"–didn't we used to call that person the President?

The government already spends 25% of its budget to track where the other 75% goes. That move was made to keep tabs on fraudulent operators that were bilking about 2% from the gov't with underhanded dealings on contracts. More gov't efficiency for ya.

Ok...I now know her name, and where she works. Now tell me...
who is she? What is her background? Tell us a little about her and how she can be vital? What's her vision?

Suck it up neo-thugs !!!

He needs a Chief Gimmick Officer, from what I've seen so far. Panetta at Intelligence with NO intelligence experience? Sanjay Gupta as Surgeon General – at 39 years old? What's next – Ty Penningon at Housing and Urban Development? Paris Hilton as Commerce Secretary?

And just how much of our tax paying dollars is going to go towards this twit's salary?

not to get off the subject but, Has the Pentagon given any thought to removing American Naval ships away from the med? Any one with a 1967 history book might remember how the USS Liberty was treated by our Allies when witnessing that conflict in the same area.

Mor and more bureaucracy and bigger government. this should be a suprprise to no one.

Let the big government begin so he can talk about job creation........What a waste

I think it's great that, unlike so many previous presidents, Obama is actually going to be keeping an eye on your money and how its spent, instead of through contracts left and right to political contributors.

with the appoinment of Nancy Kellifer as "performance czarina" will that mean the redundant position of " Inspector General " be eliminated?

Hey, my comment disappeared. Maybe it was secretly renditioned to a third country.

Anyway, this is a good idea. I'm qualified, appoint me.

And the building of government bureaucracy begins. Sign of a good leader, throw money and people at the problem. How much thought did that one take??

No wonder they are called "Dimocrats"

MD, are you kidding? Having someone ensure that there is fiscal continuity and responsibility is hardly a ministry... I'm sure that she is only going to be giving the president advice on how to bring back some fical responsibility into the governing process. Something that has been sorely lacking ...since the Clinton administration!

Just how big is this government going to get? I guess the government doesn't have to cut back on expenses while the rest of us do. Way to go Obama. Already starting to spend more than you should. Why don't you look at the existing government agencies and revamp them or does making people do their jobs make too much sense?

I don't care about this junk anymore. Let's get to 1.20 already.

Wonderful – let's bring back fiscal order by creating another government job with paid benefits, etc. Atta boy.

Let's just make up a slew of new positions to give out to political friends and cronies.

If republicnas are so big on fiscal discipline, why didn't their republican president appoint this position in his administration?

Another Chicago cronie, perhaps???

OK with the CPO. May be a good idea we can get behind to support our President Elect.

Sanjay is a great guy and certainly a very fine physician. I sincerely admire his stepping into the neuro OR during one of his Iraq visits but adviser to Hillary during her health care reform debacle is no reference for him to be SG.

What's next "Legal Zoom" for Attorney General?

yeah, I even thought it was a bit tacky....and I can't stand this woman.

Er....... Could we have a look at the job description?

@MD
If Bush had done his job appropriately, we wouldn't need such oversight.

Barack is right, we are inheriting the problems of a corrupt and inept administration. He has to do whatever it takes to "right" all the wrongs of Karl Rove, Cheney and the other Bush henchmen.

Bravo Obama, we are with you.

This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of new big government.

The DEMS don't have a clue.

"The CPO will 'help put us on a path to fiscal discipline,' a Democratic official said. "

Shouldn't each government agency be responsible for their own fiscal discipline? And surprise! Killefer was part of the Clinton adminstration.

I wonder how much that job pays. And what exactly does "bringing back fiscal order" mean? We voted for Obama so he would give us money. Is that "fiscal order"? No. But we need money.

Chief Performance Officer? Is that more like the Administration Administrator, Oversight Overseer or Committee Commissioner?
Looks like we'll be getting our $1 trillion's worth...NOT!!
What a transparent phony.

Someone has to keep a watch on the fiscal spending. The United States need to have to get back our dignity,

The Obama administration is quickly resembling a Third World government, with a huge compliment of Ministers/Secretaries with overlapping responsibilities whose performance does nothing but create other Third World ministries.

Change We Can Believe In.

I wish her well, and I hope she knows what she's doing!