Can anyone - other than Rush limbaugh - say that Obama has not b een working hard? No whining about how hard it is being President, no looking for a vacation. And Obama Signals Shift in Governing Philosophy from The Washington Post makes me think of Hercules cleaning the Augean stables:
"There are some fundamental reasons why our federal government's operational health has been allowed to steadily deteriorate. It's hard to change what you don't measure, and our government operates in an environment with very few meaningful and useful measurements for performance. Perhaps more significantly, it is run by short-term political leadership that has little incentive to focus on long-term issues."
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Nobody captures the apparent management ethos of the Obama team better than Energy Secretary Steven Chu. ``[M]y effort as secretary will be unified by a common goal: improving management and program implementation. Simply put, if the department is to meet the challenges ahead, we will have to run more efficiently and effectively,'' said Chu. ``During my tenure as director of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, although most people view me as a scientist, I spent probably three quarters of my time paying attention to the operation side of the house'
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Less than 24 hours after being sworn in, President Obama issued his first two Executive Orders, both of which focused on government operations. One will make government more open and transparent, helping to improve public trust in government. The other raises the ethical and professional standards for those who will serve in his administration, assuring the public that those who work on their behalf will be highly qualified and committed to public service, not their private enrichment.
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