Michelle Rhee is contender for DOE secretary if Arne Duncan leaves

[proud2BlibKansan]

Barack Obama's second-term Cabinet

Health and Human Services
One contentious figure who’s expected to stay in place is Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. She’s steeped in Obama’s health care law, and with the amount of work needed to prepare for most of its provisions to take effect in 2014, making a switch now could complicate things.

Since confirmation hearings for a new nominee would inevitably become an Obamacare retrial, the argument to keep her gets even stronger. There aren’t many replacement options for Sebelius if she goes. As a woman who was elected twice as a Democratic governor of Kansas, she once seemed like a natural Senate candidate back home, but her involvement with Obamacare would likely prove a fatal taint.

Labor, Education, Agriculture, HUD
There’s not much discussion about Hilda Solis — who did not play a significant campaign role despite being a Latino woman with deep connections to unions. Labor isn’t seen as a department that’s likely to face a change soon, nor is Education, where Arne Duncan is clearly enjoying his job and can focus on the policy issues he loves while keeping his spot in Obama’s regular pick-up basketball games. If he does go, former D.C. schools chief Michelle Rhee and Gov. Jack Markell are two possible contenders. HUD’s Shaun Donovan has taken an increasingly strong role within the administration, and there’s no sense he’s going anywhere — there’s thinking that he might be headed for the chief of staff’s office, but not quite yet. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s plans will most likely hinge in part on the plans of his wife, who lost her Iowa House race Tuesday.

Interior
Salazar has indicated to friends and other Democrats that he’s on his way out at Interior for a private-sector job back in Colorado, where he has a granddaughter with autism whom he and his wife care for. That could leave the job open for his deputy, David Hayes, but given that the bulk of Interior jurisdiction land is out West, the department’s a natural home for a Westerner former elected official. Among the options: former North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, former Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal and soon-to-be former Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire.

more . . . http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83519_Page4.html
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83519_Page4.html#ixzz2BrSaCEXe

[northoftheborder]

1. Michelle Rhee: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[dlwickham]

4. pretty much

+1

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. +++++++++++++++++++++1

[Angry Dragon]

13. +2,943

[knitter4democracy]

24. +2,944

Damn.

[LeftyMom]

2. If she moves back to DC could she please take her husband with her?

[Chan790]

25. She can't come back to DC. She might get got by one of those DC Schools kids she f**ked over.

We the people didn't just oust her boss, Mayor Adrian Fenty, primarily to get rid of her. We also mailed hundreds of letters to the new mayor, Vince Gray, when he was vacillating on keeping her to make it very clear that the main reason he was elected was to fire her. We done run that woman out of town on a rail. Her replacement has been excellent, not as committed to undoing Rhee's work as I'd like and herself a supporter of that methodology...but she's not actively trying to f**k the teachers over and harming the students.

[Luminous Animal]

3. That's nice. A teacher hating public school hating lying piece of shit fraud.

[lalalu]

6. Thank You

That's an exact description of her.

[Samantha]

11. Here's a link describing her association with ALEC

http://unionosity.com/breaking/michelle-rhees-studentsfirst-backs-alec-sponsored-parent-trigger-law/

Many others are available by doing a simple Google search. I just cannot believe someone associated with ALEC could end up in President Obama's administration.

Sam

[amborin]

16. wasn't she also accused of fraud of some sort, regarding testing? eta: Yes, FRAUD:

http://www.bluejersey.com/diary/18135/yep-michelle-rhees-school-reform-was-a-fraud

[lalalu]

5. Michelle Rhee would be a big mistake.

She needs to answer questions about the cheating scandals during her tenure. She wants to privatize and destroy public education.

There will be a big battle from unions over her appointment and rightly so. I am all for education reform but she is nothing but a privateer looking to steer public education funds to private companies.

[temporary311]

7. Sorta like replacing the devil

with the super devil.

[CurtEastPoint]

8. Ab-so-f'ing-lutely not.

[Panasonic]

9. Rhee is the WORST possible choice.

Time to give the DoE to a real progressive.

Not some charter lover.

Public education is where the money is needed.

That's why Colorado passed Amendment 64 to legalize, regulate and tax weed like alcohol. The pot tax revenues all goes back to education funding.

[Cirque du So-What]

12. Let's not freak out quite yet

After all, this is Politico. This is nothing more than speculation based upon speculation. From page one of this conjecture:

The staff process has been gossiped about by the staff, but details have been kept secret, even from insiders.

Please, don't add another layer of speculation.

[msanthrope]

27. What??? A right-wing rag printing vague rumors designed to question Obama's

committment to a core constituency???

OF COURSE it's repeated here, breathlessly!!!!

[HooptieWagon]

14. Good god, NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

[amborin]

15. please say this is one of those prank OPs.....otherwise, ARRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[NCarolinawoman]

17. Senate will have to approve.

A lot of the new Democrats are suppose to be more liberal than the last crowd. Didn't some of the teachers groups support some of these Senators?

Maybe some of the Senators will balk.

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. Claire McCaskill got lots of support from my union.

I will definitely be contacting her if this Rhee appointment becomes a reality.

[Canuckistanian]

18. WHY would she even be CLOSE to being consindered?

She's an extremely divisive figure and would cause howls of protest from the progressive community just for her nomination. Of course, the GOP would LOVE her.

Who's favoring her? The President?

[Ship of Fools]

19. r u effing kidding me??? wow.

[woo me with science]

20. Wake the hell up, America.

K&R

[CreekDog]

22. doesn't make any sense, not only is she working with Republicans

she was campaigning against Democrats in Ohio.

i don't know where Politico is getting this, but it wouldn't surprise me if they asked Republicans insiders who Obama was going to pick and they provided this answer to mess with us.

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. She's a registered Democrat.

And she works with elected officials on both sides of the aisle. Her organization, Students First, donates to both Republicans and Democrats.

[knitter4democracy]

23. Recc'ing so people can see this! WTF?!

Duncan needs to go, definitely, but Rhee, that lying, cheating, POS, needs to be gone, kicked out of any chance at any power anywhere.

She cheated and encouraged cheating on those tests she loves so much. She shouldn't be anywhere near Washington.

[roody]

26. That would call for major and

sustained protests.

[Nevernose]

29. I would go to Washington for that

I've never gone for a march or protest that wasn't in my hometown (I live on the west coast), but I've got 75 sick days accumulated, a tent, and a full tank of gas.

That woman makes Arne Duncan look like John Dewey.

[roody]

30. Me too. DC has a youth hostel

with low cost beds.

[HiPointDem]

31. wouldn't that be the icing on the nasty cake of ed deform? rhee's group funds republicans. why

in the hell would obama choose her?

the only good thing about it might be that her nasty aggressive ways might give the scam aspects of ed deform a higher profile with the general public & wake people up.

[WinkyDink]

32. No way would Obama pick her. This is unfounded speculation.