President Barack Obama’s handy excuse for all sorts of goofs and missteps is that he’s too busy working on fixing the economy. In order to do that, one might expect that Obama would concentrate on building his economic team at the Department of the Treasury, where most of those efforts would originate and get managed. Instead, as noted earlier today, phones go unanswered at Treasury — and our allies and trading partners have begun complaining about the lack of effort in the White House.

The puzzling issue as Morrissey points out is that the Obama administration hasn’t nominated anyone for 18 positions that must be confirmed by the Senate.

One theory is that its because Obama has become extremely cautious (understandably) about nominees with any more tax problems. But there is another possible explanation that’s consistent with a pattern the administration has already followed. Like the Emanual attempt at hijacking the census from Commerce, is the new administration attempting to circumvent oversight by doing the same with Treasury?

Is WH Budget Director Peter Orszag the real power behind fiscal policy right now and not Tim Geithner ? Its little wonder Geitner has no plan. Its not his anyway. The Obama administration has been demonstrating via its own policies that its not interested in repairing our economy, but it remaking it to its own socialistic redistributionist philosophy.

Most certainly Orszag is the likely architect of the Obama environmental policy. His point of view is in the alarmist camp. Tom Nelson has more from October in 2008. And as Orszag’s other “specialties” are health care and retirement funds, it makes more sense for the Obama agenda to put Orszag at the point of attack over Gietner right now. Banking regulations and tax issues just can’t get in the way now.

So is cap and trade and health care reform the actual priority and not the sliding economic health of which Geitner would be more responsible? All Obama has to say, is that Geitner just doesnt have all the people in place yet to do regulatory reform. If so the drag on confirmations at Treasury are serving as a stall tactic to inact the leftist reforms Obama wants first.

This from the very efficient Allahpundit at HotAir:

Sounds nutty, I know, but Ambinder breaks news that The One’s dining with “conservative opinion leaders” in Maryland, evidently at George Will’s house. Among the attendees: Bill Kristol, David Brooks, and … anyone else?
Coincidentally, I got an e-mail from a reader shortly after noon noting that Limbaugh had a surprise guest host today who spent the beginning of the show dropping hints that Rush had been called away to urgent business in D.C. and that it might have to do with something he said yesterday about giving Obama advice. I ignored it — but now they’re dropping hints on the EIB homepage, too.
Is this happening? The One’s charm offensive is actually going to beat a path

So is Obama breaking bread with the enemy? Curious time are these transitions.

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement in response to an article in today’s Politico that suggests Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has secretly signaled to rank-and-file House Democratic lawmakers that they should feel free to portray themselves publicly as pro-drilling if it helps them politically:
“My message to Democratic lawmakers is this: if you’re really for increased American energy production, then prove it by putting it in writing. Sign the discharge petitions House Republicans are circulating that will force votes on energy legislation Speaker Pelosi refuses to bring to the floor. And sign onto the American Energy Act, our ‘all of the above’ plan to increase conservation, innovation, and American energy production, instead of doing the Speaker’s bidding by voting against bringing it to a vote. If you aren’t willing to put it in writing, you’re fooling no one. You’re siding with the Speaker of the Drill-Nothing Congress and radical special interests that favor higher gas prices, at the expense of energy-strapped American families.”
“This cynical strategy is disgustingly dishonest. Without any real solutions to help Americans who are struggling with record-high gas prices, it appears the Democratic leadership has hit on a new plan: deceive. Deceive the press, deceive its members, and deceive the American people. Democratic members have a ‘pass’ from their leaders to talk about drilling at home, while the liberal Democratic leadership – which is beholden to special interests that want higher gas prices – plays ‘rope-a-dope’ back in Washington, ensuring there is no vote to help the American people before November. It’s cynical, dishonest, and wrong – and it won’t work.”

Allahpundit in HotAir responds swiftly:

I honestly don’t see what Pelosi has to lose by letting a vote come to the floor — or rather, I don’t see how she loses more by letting the vote happen now than by suppressing all attempts and letting the GOP bludgeon the Democrats with this issue all the way to November. If they agree to expand drilling, they can always undo it (at least in part) next year by sneaking the rollback into a more comprehensive energy package. The GOP will scream but the election will be long over and Obama, assuming he wins, will be enjoying a honeymoon period which the Dems can use to blunt Republican criticism. Making a stand now, when this is really the only weapon conservatives have to wield against them, seems stupid, unless the Dems expect the price of oil will drop sufficiently by next year that public pressure for drilling will dissipate and they won’t have to act at all. I’ll leave it to economists to determine whether that’s a reasonable expectation or not, but there are extraordinary yet plausible reasons to believe the price might actually skyrocket. In which case, I guess Pelosi figures they’ll jump off that bridge when they come to i