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Don't be mislead by misrepresentations about Pres Obama's pick of Chen [View all]
Bipartisan boards have existed since the Civil War and they are basically advisory boards that allow each side to give input to Congress by nominating their experts who will have access to the sitting committees responsible for it.
The President put for the name of the Republican for the Republican slot on the Social Security Board and it was posted to make it appear that the President intended to stack the board with Republican picks.
Here are the facts by the WP
It seemed like a timely stroke of bipartisanship: the White House announced Monday, on the eve of a government shutdown, that President Obama would nominate a top adviser to Republican Mitt Romney's campaign to an administration position.
Obama intends to nominate Lanhee J. Chen -- the policy director on Romney's 2012 presidential campaign who, yes, repeatedly attacked Obama's Social Security plans -- to the Social Security Advisory Board, which advises the president as well as the Congress on Social Security policy.
But that's not quite the full story. The board is independent and its membership is bipartisan. Although the president nominates members, the nominees alternate between the political parties. This vacancy was for a Republican member, a White House aide explained, and Chen was actually the pick of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
This supports the law:
http://www.ssab.gov/AbouttheBoard/AuthorizingStatute.aspx
(c)(1) The Board shall be composed of 7 members who shall be appointed as follows:
(A) 3 members shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Not more than 2 of such members shall be from the same political party.
(B) 2 members (each member from a different political party) shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate with the advice of the Chairman and the Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Committee on Finance.
(C) 2 members (each member from a different political party) shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, with the advice of the Chairman and the Ranking Minority Member of the House Committee on Ways and Means.
(2) The members shall be chosen on the basis of their integrity, impartiality, and good judgment, and shall be individuals who are, by reason of their education, experience, and attainments, exceptionally qualified to perform the duties of members of the Board.
When Boehner appoints the Democratic nominee he will get the name from our side.
This is the way it has worked for decades. We don't want them to name our folks and we don't get to pick their guys.
Now despite these facts having been laid out (and it really took less than 5 seconds for Google to find them there are folks who persist in trying to paint this into some ominous development. Even after having the facts they try and misrepresent the facts to make it appear that the President was filling the third position with a Republican.
Even after the facts were clearly stated they continue to post lies that misrepresent the action of the President.
Don't be led by their misrepresentations.
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