Good Riddance

Noon tomorrow, kids. The Chimpy Preznitzy officially ends at noon tomorrow. Can you believe it’s almost over?

Original DVD cover.

How bad was the Chimpy administration? I’ll let The Washington Post tell you:

The ranks of the nation’s unemployed are swelling this week.

As President-elect Barack Obama’s team transitions into the federal government tomorrow, President Bush’s political appointees will be locked out, and in these tough economic times many of them are scrambling to find new jobs. High-ranking White House loyalists have deluged Washington headhunters with pleas for jobs. Corporations and nonprofit organizations have stopped hiring. With the GOP out of power, jobs on Capitol Hill are scant and K Street lobbying firms have trimmed their golden parachutes.

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Of the roughly 8,000 politically appointed positions in the federal government, hundreds have been vacant since a wave of departures last spring, administration officials said. But appointees who have remained through the final days of the Bush administration have seen an already shaky job market collapse. The traditional avenues of employment for outgoing government officials — corporations, nonprofit foundations or think tanks — are clogged because of hiring freezes.

Add to that the November election, in which Republicans lost the White House and dozens of seats in Congress.

…snip…

In the current political climate, ties to an unpopular president could hurt candidates. “I think there are people whose connection to the Bush administration will be a kind of taint if they try to stay in Washington,” said Calvin Mackenzie, a professor of government at Colby College.

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A host of Republican heavyweights have been inundated with résumés from Bush appointees seeking jobs. In the toughest spot are those leaving junior staff positions in the White House, Congress or federal agencies. During the boom years, they could land comfortable jobs in the nation’s capital, but Andrew H. Card Jr., Bush’s former chief of staff, said he has “suggested that they broaden their horizons beyond the Beltway.”

…snip…

Some Bush officials have succeeded in their job searches. Jim Wilkinson, a former top aide to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and most recently chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., is moving to San Francisco, where he will become managing partner for international business and financial strategy at Brunswick Group, a global communications firm. Rice, meanwhile, will return to Stanford University, where she had been provost before joining the Bush administration.

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Bush appointees who can afford the luxury are taking time off. White House press secretary Dana Perino plans to travel with her husband to volunteer in South Africa at the Living Hope Community Center, a beneficiary of Bush’s anti-AIDS initiative.

…snip…

Still, for many Bush appointees, this is the first time they’ve been on the job market for years, if not decades. Many came to Washington during the 1990s to take jobs in the Republican-controlled Congress, only to move into the administration after Bush’s 2000 election.