Obama Announces Appointment of New Tea Party Czar

reporting for the Daily Constitutional: Investigative journalist GA Anderson

In a speech at a recent New York fundraiser, President Obama stunned his audience of Democrat supporters with the announcement of a new office of Traditionalistic Exchange Administration. Citing the importance of an all-inclusive government, this was the statement attributed to President Obama:

"I believe that our government works best when it hears the voice of all citizen's, not just those of the party in power. When the Tea Party established itself as a national grassroots movement, I understood that it represented the voice of a segment of our citizens that did not feel they were being heard by their government leaders. In June I appointed a special staff committee, led by my chief of staff Bill Daley, to determine how we could best include the Tea Party's voice. In early November Bill presented me with their report. Based on that report, I am pleased to announce the creation of a new sub-cabinet position of Traditionalistic Exchange Administrator"

One attendee, who wished to remain anonymous, was quoted as saying, "To say you could hear a pin drop when he was finished is the understatement of the year."

Continuing his explanation, President Obama said that restoring stability to our American economy, and uniting a divided nation could not and should not be done by big government alone. As long as large groups of our society feel that they have no voice in their government, then all the stimulus spending and regulatory efforts to ensure the American dream was available to every citizen would just be stop-gap measures plugging the dam, until the next crack appeared. It would take the efforts of all Americans to find the solutions our nation needed.

Assuring his supporters that this did not mean he was abandoning the goals and ideals of achieving economic and social parity for all Americans, the bedrock principles of the Democrat party, he noted that considering the input of all representative groups would only strengthen the party and help it find the needed solutions to the problems they all recognized.

He also indicated the Tea Party was not the only group he intended to reach out to.

"Our government must be a government for all people, not just those with party connections."

The end of his speech was greeted with muted applause and quizzical looks, but several Party insiders commented later that President Obama was a great leader, and his Party was behind him. But later off-the-record comments indicated most of his staunchest supporters felt blind-sided, and this new office was quickly dubbed the Tea Party Czar.

Congressman Frank was unavailable for direct comment, but a spokesman for his office issued this statement:

Congressman Frank first learned of the President's intentions at a private dinner meeting at the White House residence in early November. He was very flattered and honored that President Obama felt his efforts could be so vital to such an important new initiative, and promised to do all he could to ensure its success.

After lengthy and heartfelt discussions with his current partner, Congressman Frank felt that the President's goals for this new direction were too important for divided effort, and decided to resign his congressional seat and focus all his efforts on his new position.

But President Obama, through his chief-of-staff, Bill Daley, made it clear that he did not want the congressman to resign, this was not a "flash in the pan" program, and its long-term success was not going to be decided in a few months time. Congressman Frank could choose not to run for re-election instead, and use the interim period to organize his plans, build a staff, and establish contacts with Tea Party leaders.

That is what Congressman Frank has decided to do, and as such has publicly announced his decision to not seek re-election.

The spokesman indicated Congressman Frank would have an official announcement when he returned, after the White House had an opportunity to detail the President's plans to the media.

At an unscheduled White House press conference, White House press secretary, Jay Carney, had this to say about President Obama's blockbuster announcement, and his choice for its head.

This was not a snap decision. Nor was it one forced by political pressure. The President feels that the problems facing our nation need the concentrated efforts of the entire nation, not just those of political and governmental bureaucracies. He feels that the often referred to - "inside the beltway" mentality - of too many of the citizen's representatives is isolating them from "everyday" American life, and preventing them from understanding the message of the voters.

He feels his administration needs to hear all the people, and that the creation of this new Traditionalistic Exchange Administrator, in the person of Congressman Frank, will be the first step to creating a government that not only hears, but listens. It was this very attribute, that was brought to his attention by Congressman Frank's diligent and tireless efforts to successfully guide and monitor both Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae in our most recent economic crisis, that convinced him Mr. Frank was the right man for the job.

Intelligent, articulate, and photogenic, Congressman Frank will be the face of this administration's efforts as it plots a new direction to include more American's views and solutions to the problems facing our nation. Once again citing Congressman Frank's honesty and integrity as he dealt with, and kept the public informed of, the problems forced on those two vital mortgage institutions, the President feels it was Barney's actions alone that kept the level of taxpayer bailout money as low as it was, only $161 billion dollars - a very small price to pay to ensure the continuation of those two great stalwarts of the American dream.

When questioned about the exact responsibilities of the new Tea Party Czar, (as the new Traditionalistic Exchange Administrator has been dubbed by the press), press Carney had this to say:

The job of the Traditionalistic Exchange Administrator will be to act as a liaison between the voice of the American citizens represented by that group, and the president's ear. To act as a direct line between this grassroots organization that stands for so many of our most basic American traditions, and the government departments and representatives that are responsible for the administration's policies that effect them.

Congressman Frank will also be tasked with ensuring that local Tea Party leaders have someone they trust, that can be reached directly - without having to play political tag to get their concerns heard. He will also be responsible for working with our legislative branch to make sure the politicians and the Tea Party leaders are "on the same page" with regards to current and proposed legislation and policies that the President intends to see implemented.

The president firmly believes that the goals of this administration and the Tea Party members are the same - a strong and united America, and the creation of a Traditionalistic Exchange Administrator is his step to achieving a combined effort of citizens and government to reach those goals.

Jay Carney then opened the floor to questions from the media, which unfolded as usual, with more questions about the details, and the press secretary doing his best to elaborate without moving into areas not covered by the President's instructions.

It was during this 'tap dance" of give and take when a question from GA Anderson, of the Daily Constitutional, caused Carney to slip-up with a reply that was an even bigger bombshell than the announcement of the Tea Party Czar:

Mr. Anderson - "Jay, in you description of Congressman Frank's responsibilities, you mentioned that this was just the President's "first step" in implementing a new program he sees as vital to fixing the problems we are facing - what program is that?"

Press Secretary Carney - "What I meant was that the President believes that his administration's efforts need to include views of all Americans, not just those of the party. That's why he sees the creation of this position as such a vital first step to finding the solutions we need to fix the problems we face. It can't all be done by government alone."

Anderson - " Yes, I understood that, but you just used the term again, what do you mean exactly, that this is a first step?"

Carney - As important as the Tea Party's input is, the President understands they aren't the only group of citizens feeling left out of government, that's why he will be announcing the creation of a "Council of Visions" that will bring the messages of all those voices to the government table. This will be a sub-cabinet level council, but it will have direct access to the President." "I don't want to get into any more details about this because the President is planning to announce it himself in nationally televised speech later this week. But now you at least have a heads up. Thanks, that's all for today."

As soon as Carney stepped away from the podium the press room exploded as every reporter ran to reach their laptops and editors.

Leading the pack, but by no means alone, the Daily Constitutional ran banner headlines for the next day's edition:

President Obama's "Council of Visions" - Who's Next?

Followed by this lead story...

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