This is sweet music to my ears:
Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.
On the environmental front, I absolutely love this:
The president-elect has said, for example, that he intends to quickly reverse the Bush administration's decision last December to deny California the authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles. "Effectively tackling global warming demands bold and innovative solutions, and given the failure of this administration to act, California should be allowed to pioneer," Obama said last January.California had sought permission from the Environmental Protection Agency to require that greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles be cut by 30 percent between 2009 and 2016, effectively mandating that cars achieve a fuel economy standard of at least 36 miles per gallon within eight years. Seventeen other states had promised to adopt California's rules, representing in total 45 percent of the nation's automobile market. Environmentalists cheered the California initiative because it would stoke innovation that would potentially benefit the entire country.
"An early move by the Obama administration to sign the California waiver would signal the seriousness of intent to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil and build a future for the domestic auto market," said Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
So, while we're at it, how about the new Congress just passes a law reversing everything - with a (very) few exceptions - the Bush Administration did the past 8 years? That would be a great start towards turning this country back in the right direction. Anyway, it's great to hear that Barack Obama is ready on Day #1 - to reverse Bush's harmful policies, then to work with Congress on enacting progressive, empirically based, scientifically sound ones in their place. I know, what a concept!
Now it is possible that people were promoted and hired into positions for which there are utterly incapable of performing - those with time can be dealt with.
But the usual procedure is to take away all responsibilities, give them the office in the basement next to the boiler and let them figure out on their own that their services are no longer required. Either that, or move their jobs to some other part of the country that they might find "unpleasant".
Care must be taken with all of these options, of course.