Bill Manzi.com

President-elect Barack Obama introduces his national security team, formalizing the introduction of Hillary Clinton as our next Secretary of State.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/27998956#27998956

The U.S. Congress is set to open the Capitol Visitors Center this week, unveiling a project that will end up costing taxpayers over $600 million dollars. With the original estimate set at $71 million the cost overrun on this project is over a half billion dollars. Even by Congressional standards that is something. From the Washington Post:

Take, for example, spending. What was proposed as a $71 million project in the early 1990s became a $265 million endeavor a decade later. By the time work got underway in 2002, the price tag was up to $368 million. Tomorrow, the ribbon will be cut on a $621 million project.

Then there was the congressional penchant for thinking big. The center’s architects were ordered to include 150,000 square feet of “shell space” for some future day when Congress might need more office area. The finished center is about two-thirds the size of the entire Capitol.

Then there have been delays, a malady common to many federal endeavors. The project once was expected to be finished in time for the presidential inauguration — in January 2005. As that date neared, the center was about half done, so the completion date was bumped ahead to spring 2006.

Six months after President Bush was sworn in for a second term, the Government Accountability Office reported that the architects and contractors were making so many mistakes and facing so many unexpected problems that March 2007 was probably more realistic. When that target rolled around without a ribbon-cutting, project officials were summoned before a House subcommittee to explain why, and Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) scolded them for overseeing “a monument to government inefficiency, ineptitude and excessiveness.”

Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Fla.) said, “I’ve never seen a bigger boondoggle in my life. It’s like they’re playing with Monopoly money.”

They apparently are playing with monopoly money! Mark this one under drinking champagne on the deck of the Titanic.

Former President Bill Clinton has agreed to reveal all 200,000 donors to his foundation, as well as agreeing to several other conditions in order to clear the way for Hillary Clinton’s nomination as Secretary of State. From the New York Times:

The disclosure of contributors is among nine conditions that Mr. Clinton signed off on during discussions with representatives of Mr. Obama; all go beyond the requirements of law. Among other issues, he agreed to incorporate his Clinton Global Initiative separately from his foundation so that he has less direct involvement. The initiative, which promotes efforts to fight disease, poverty and climate change, would no longer hold annual meetings outside of the United States or accept new contributions from foreign governments.

With the conditions agreed upon by all President elect Obama will announce Hillary as part of his national security team to be unveiled Monday. The anticipated appointments for tommorow will include the National Security Advisor, Homeland Security, Defense, and Attorney General.

In addition to Mrs. Clinton, Democrats said, Mr. Obama plans to announce that he is keeping Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who has run the Pentagon for the last two years under President Bush. And they said Mr. Obama will appoint Gen. James L. Jones, a retired Marine commandant and NATO supreme commander, as his national security adviser.

Rounding out his national security team, Mr. Obama will also name former Deputy Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. as his choice for attorney general and Governor Janet Napolitano of Arizona as secretary of homeland security, the Democrats said. Mr. Obama may also announce former Assistant Secretary of State Susan E. Rice as ambassador to the United Nations, a job that will be given cabinet rank in his cabinet, as it had under President Bill Clinton.

President-elect Obama’s national security team has drawn praise, and it continues his move towards the center. With the events in India having the potential to cause serious Indian-Pakistani tension this team will be very busy immediately. The announcement will be in Chicago.

President-elect Barack Obama delivers his weekly radio address, with Thanksgiving as the centerpiece.