liberalpragmatist
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Thu Feb-12-09 06:58 PM
Original message |
Seriously, why DON'T we just abolish the Department of Commerce? |
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Since Henry Wallace, the post has simply been a patronage post. The department's duties are a hodgepodge of functions that could all be handled by other departments.
I know people ridiculed Gregg for having supported its abolition earlier before accepting Obama's nomination, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good idea.
Here are the Commerce Department's bureaus:
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA) Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Bureau of the Census Economic Development Administration (EDA) International Trade Administration (ITA) Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps (NOAA Corps) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) National Technical Information Service (NTIS)
Most of those could under the Treasury. NOAA, OAR, and NOAA could go to the EPA (which really ought to be upgraded to a full, official cabinet "Department of Environmental Protection") or Energy or Interior. The Patent office could go to the Justice Department, the Treasury or a new "Dept. of Science and Technology." And the Census Bureau could go to several possible places - Justice, Treasury, Labor, HHS.
What am I missing?
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ProSense
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Thu Feb-12-09 07:05 PM
Response to Original message |
1. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to the Justice Department? |
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Really? Since all of these agencies have specific functions, why confound and or dilute the work of other agencies to split up Commerce?
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liberalpragmatist
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Thu Feb-12-09 07:07 PM
Response to Reply #1 |
2. Fine, or leave them as free-standing agencies |
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There's no requirement that these agencies be placed under another cabinet department.
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AZ Criminal JD
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Thu Feb-12-09 07:17 PM
Response to Original message |
3. You eliminate one cabinet department and create two more? |
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No thanks. You can find a hodgepodge of bureaus in every cabinet department if you look.
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liberalpragmatist
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Thu Feb-12-09 07:22 PM
Response to Reply #3 |
5. Well, I wasn't talking about doing it at the same time |
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Those were sort of tangential ideas.
But independent of whether you create a Dept. of the Environment or a Dept. of Science, it seems to me that most of the Commerce bureaus could go under separate departments or free-standing agencies.
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4lbs
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Thu Feb-12-09 07:20 PM
Response to Original message |
4. Shouldn't some of those be logically moved to the Interior? |
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NOAA, NWS, OAR, for example.
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GoCubsGo
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Thu Feb-12-09 07:29 PM
Response to Reply #4 |
6. I can see why NOAA is in Commerce... |
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One of the main things they deal with is fisheries, so it's fairly appropriate that it's in a monetary-related department. But yeah, DOI-USGS was my first thought for all three that you mentioned, too.
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Muttocracy
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Thu Feb-12-09 08:32 PM
Response to Reply #6 |
8. Well, Fisheries and Wildlife is within Interior.. nt |
Muttocracy
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Thu Feb-12-09 08:32 PM
Response to Reply #4 |
7. that's what I think too. nt |
CK_John
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Thu Feb-12-09 10:55 PM
Response to Original message |
9. In the past the Department of Commerce was a perfect cover for CIA, NSA, etc, so I've been told. n/t |
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Tue May 07th 2024, 06:39 AM
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