Czar wars

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., took a few shots at the propensity of President Barack Obama to appoint so-called "czars" to lead initiatives on behalf of the administration.

It wasn't long before the Democrats struck back.

During a meeting of the Senate finance committee Ensign said: "We are now facing a situation where there is almost a shadow cabinet that is being developed. It is thwarting the position of the United States Congress and these czars are in different positions."

Shortly thereafter, the Democratic National Committee broke out some old quotes in which Ensign argued that administration czars had too little power, not too much.

They used this quote by Ensign on Fox News, Dec. 10:

"“The car czar that they put in this bill, first of all, doesn’t have a lot of power -- has a lot of ability to suggest things -- but doesn’t have enough power to cause the restructuring."