Obama 'green jobs' adviser quits amid controversy

[Johnny Bravo]

By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer Will Lester, Associated Press Writer – 14 mins ago
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's adviser Van Jones has resigned amid controversy over past inflammatory statements, the White House said early Sunday.

Jones, an administration official specializing in environmentally friendly "green jobs" with the White House Council on Environmental Quality was linked to efforts suggesting a government role in the 2001 terror attacks and to derogatory comments about Republicans.

The resignation comes as Obama is working to regain his footing in the contentious health care debate.

Jones issued an apology on Thursday for his past statements. When asked the next day whether Obama still had confidence in him, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said only that Jones "continues to work in the administration."

The matter surfaced after news reports of a derogatory comment Jones made in the past about Republicans, and separately, of Jones' name appearing on a petition connected to the events surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. That 2004 petition had asked for congressional hearings and other investigations into whether high-level government officials had allowed the attacks to occur.

"On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me," Jones said in his resignation statement. "They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide."

Jones said he has been "inundated with calls from across the political spectrum urging me to stay and fight."

But he said he cannot in good conscience ask his colleagues to spend time and energy defending or explaining his past.

Jones flatly said in an earlier statement that he did not agree with the petition's stand on the 9/11 attacks and that "it certainly does not reflect my views, now or ever."

As for his other comments he made before joining Obama's team, Jones said, "If I have offended anyone with statements I made in the past, I apologize."

Despite his apologies, Republicans demanded Jones quit.

Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana said in a statement, "His extremist views and coarse rhetoric have no place in this administration or the public debate." Missouri Sen. Christopher Bonds said Congress should investigate Jones's fitness the job.

Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck repeatedly denounced Jones after a group the adviser co-founded, ColorofChange.org, led an advertising boycott against Beck's show to protest his claim that Obama is a racist.

James Rucker, the organization's executive director, has said Jones had nothing to do with ColorofChange.org now and didn't even know about the campaign before it started.

Jones, well-known in the environmental movement, was a civil-rights activist in California before shifting his attention to environmental and energy issues. He is known for laying out a broad vision of a green economy.

Nancy Sutley chair of the council, said in a statement released early Sunday that she accepts Jones resignation and thanked him for his service.

"Over the last six months, he had been a strong voice for creating jobs that improve energy efficiency and utilize renewable resources," she said. "We appreciate his hard work and wish him the best moving forward."
                                                                   

___
I should've bet you Haz.   
JB         

[twyacht]

Gee, never saw ONE mention on the State Run Media until this morning,Fox News & Glenn Beck were hammering all BHO's czar's using their own words... Jones would have been a pivotal person in Cap & Trade Bill.

Now he writes this cocky bastard, defiant resignation letter? A self-proclaimed communist?

"On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me," Jones said in his resignation statement. "They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide."

Jones said he has been "inundated with calls from across the political spectrum urging me to stay and fight."

Video doesn't lie, your own writings don't lie, your past time in prison is no lie where you became a self stated communist.

BHO called him and said "you have to go", the rest is a lie.  The people BHO associates with are dangerous to this country.

Here's a list of the rest of his czar's. I hope all the skeletons come out of these folks also.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/26779.html

Back to the communist cave with you Jones. Good Bye!

[Ichiban]

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said only that Jones "continues to work in the administration."

In other word "we like the way you think but we can't let the public see you."

[rojawe]

Just one of the many communist in the current  :-[administration, in my opinion the most corrupt party in history. Wake up American they are trying to destroy our way of life.

[r_w]

[quote ]
"They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide."
   
[/quote]

Yes they are.  It just happens that Mr. Jones was the one lying--either then and/or now...

[Sponsor]

[Pathfinder]

He's lying - period. It's what leftists do. Jones and his ilk hate the US, hate what it has been, and seek to do nothing more than destroy it as a world power.

One guy to listen to is David Horowitz, a former far-left wing SDS/Weatherman kinda guy who saw the light and has published quite a bit about the left and their ways. This article will help you see why I worry about there being enough rope for all of these treasonist a$$holes.

http://frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=36267

FTA: "The Manchurian Candidate  By: David Horowitz
FrontPageMagazine.com | Friday, September 11, 2009


Those who were surprised by the White House appointment of Van Jones – a self-styled “communist,” and a proponent of the idea that the Katrina catastrophe was caused by “white supremacy,” haven’t been paying attention to developments on the left since the fall of Communism, or to president Obama’s extensive roots in its political culture. Van Jones is the carefully groomed protégé of a network of radical organizations -- including Moveon.org -- and of Democratic sponsors like billionaire George Soros and John Podesta, former Clinton chief of staff and co-chair of the Obama transition team.

At the time of his appointment as the President’s “Green Jobs” czar – and despite a very recent 10-year history of “revolutionary” activity – Jones was a member of two key organizations at the very heart of what might be called the executive branch of the Democratic Party. The first is the Center for American Progress which was funded by Soros and is headed by Podesta. The second is the Apollo Alliance, on whose board Jones sits with Podesta, Carol Browner and Al Gore. This is a coalition of radicals, leftwing union leaders and corporate recruits, which had a major role in designing Obama’s green economy plans, including the “cash for clunkers” program. The New York director of the Alliance, who will be writing its applications for tens of millions of dollars in “stimulus” funds, is Jeff Jones (no relation) who was a co-leader of the terrorist Weather Underground along with Obama’s close friend and political ally William Ayers.

According to his own account, Van Jones became a “communist” during a prison term he served after being arrested during the 1992 Los Angeles race riots. For the next ten years Jones was an activist in the Maoist organization STORM – “Stand Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement.”

[tombogan03884]

 Much more at link;

Posted by Ilya Somin:
Luigi Zingales on threats to the Future of American Capitalism:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_09_06-2009_09_12.shtml#1252707430


   Prominent finance economist Luigi Zingales has [1]an excellent essay
   outlining some of the dangers facing us as a result of the political
   response to the current economic crisis:

     While everyone benefits from a free and competitive market, no one
     in particular makes huge profits from keeping the system
     competitive and the playing field level. True capitalism lacks a
     strong lobby.

     That assertion might appear strange in light of the billions of
     dollars firms spend lobbying Congress in America, but that is
     exactly the point. Most lobbying seeks to tilt the playing field in
     one direction or another, not to level it. Most lobbying is
     pro-business, in the sense that it promotes the interests of
     existing businesses, not pro-market in the sense of fostering truly
     free and open competition. Open competition forces established
     firms to prove their competence again and again; strong successful
     market players therefore often use their muscle to restrict such
     competition, and to strengthen their positions. As a result,
     serious tensions emerge between a pro-market agenda and a
     pro-business one, though American capitalism has always managed
     this tension far better than most....