Czars, American Dictators?

Almost every country in the world, at one point in time had an autocratic ruler. These rulers had many different titles throughout history, the most prevalent being King or Emperor. Only Russia had a monarch called a Czar.

Czar
–noun
1. an emperor or king.
2. (often initial capital letter) the former emperor of Russia.
3. an autocratic ruler or leader.

Characterization of the Czar is first taken from the First Russian Ruler to use the title, Ivan IV in the mid 1500's. Ivan's 37 year rule resulted in the nickname, Ivan the Terrible and during his rule, he governed Russia absolutely and ruthlessly. Ivan the Terrible eliminated anyone that stood in his way, including the Russian nobility and his son and heir. Ivan borrowed Czar from the Roman title Caesar.

Czar
-noun
4. any person exercising great authority or power in a particular field: a czar of industry.

The use of "czars" in the United States government is not a new concept, the first modern American czar, was an energy czar appointed by President Nixon in 1973. Presidents Ford and Carter followed suit. Against the concerns of President Reagan, Congress, in 1982 enacted a law to create a drug czar. The czar was primarily a ceremonial post until President Bush appointed William Bennett. President Clinton added a second drug czar to prove his tough stance on drugs. Through the 1990's we had health care czars, aids czars, zoning czars, land use czars and even a food czar. The trend has gotten worse lately. We now have stimulus czars, car czars, spending czars, pay czars, environmental czars, I think we are up to nearly two dozen.

These czars are appointed by the President and DO NOT require Congressional approval! These czars have discretionary executive powers, expanding the policy initiatives of the President. For example, the pay czar has required the top 19 financial institutions to submit compensation packages of their top 25% employees and after review this pay czar CAN adjust the packages as he sees fit! You can search the Constitution, there is no mention of any "czars". Did the founding fathers realize coercive powers must be held in check? That if any one branch held to much power it would disrupt the checks and balances that were installed to protect our freedoms. Instead of the rule of law, we are stuck with one mini dictator after another imposing the will of a few on the majority of the nation. The more power the governments wields, the more they become an elitist class, leading not by the law of the land, but by use of intimidation and threats.

Congress needs to strip the power from these autocrats and follow the law of the land and return the power to the people.