Seems that Obama’s Dream Team is coming apart at the seams even before his innauguration. Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson is backing out of the Commerce slot due to the heat he is catching in his home state. But what could that possibly have to do with the duties of Commerce Secretary as stated in the US Code?

The Secretary of Commerce shall have charge of the forecasting of weather, the issue of storm warnings, the display of weather and flood signals for the benefit of agriculture, commerce, and navigation, the gauging and reporting of rivers, the maintenance and operation of seacoast telegraph lines and the collection and transmission of marine intelligence for the benefit of commerce and navigation, the reporting of temperature and rain-fall conditions for the cotton interests, the display of frost and cold-wave signals, the distribution of meteorological information in the interests of agriculture and commerce, and the taking of such meteorological observations as may be necessary to establish and record the climatic conditions of the United States, or as are essential for the proper execution of the foregoing duties.

Snore. I can do that on my iPhone at any time day or night so my two cents says that we no longer need a Commerce Czar. Meanwhile, back to poor Bill. Is there a concern that he will use his vast power and budget to pick winners and losers? Not any worse than any of the past position holders such as Don Evans under Bush II.

At the direction of the President, Secretary Evans launched a government-wide Manufacturing Initiative. This is a major effort based on some 50 recommendations by industry to make manufacturers more competitive in world markets. Many of the recommendations are being put into effect, including: a new President’s Manufacturing Council; a new Commerce assistant secretary for manufacturing; a get-tough Unfair Trade Practices Task Force; a tax simplification study by the Treasury Department; and a comprehensive regulatory review by the President’s Office of Management and Budget.

Maintaining U.S. leadership in high-tech industries also is a focal point for Secretary Evans. He directed efforts to redefine government’s role in research in order to spur the development of more cutting-edge technologies; to promote the expansion of E-commerce and telecommunications with as little government intervention as possible; and to improve the Department’s economic data collection and distribution capabilities.