Czar Skepticism Goes Bipartisan

There's been a lot of discussion in mainstream news outlets about the outrage Republicans and conservative commentators have been whipping up about President Obama's czars. The Democratic National Committee actually released a web ad demonstrating that President Bush appointed plenty of czars himself:

And the Washington Post noted this morning that Russ Feingold, an unquestionably liberal Senator, has written to the White House to ask President Obama to justify his use of the appointments. I actually think this is an entirely reasonable position. The czars may not be evidence of some nefarious power-grab by President Obama. But it doesn't mean that the appointments are a good idea from a managerial perspective. Just because they've become a habit, doesn't mean they're a good, or effective one.