Barack Obama rewards big donors with plum jobs overseas
He may have promised to change Washington, but President Barack Obama is continuing one of its most renowned patronage traditions: bestowing prized ambassadorships on big donors. Of the nearly 80 ambassadorship nominations or confirmations since Obama’s Inauguration, 56 percent were given to political appointees and 44 percent have gone to career diplomats, according to records kept by the American Foreign Service Association. The latest nomination came this week, when Beatrice Wilkinson Welters was nominated to serve as ambassador to the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. Welters, a longtime advocate for underprivileged children, and her husband, Anthony,...
Original Article: Forum: News/Activism
Tags: Ambassador, American Foreign Service, Barack Obama, Beatrice, Career Diplomats, Confirmations, Donors, Foreign Service Association, Inauguration, Island Nation, Longtime Advocate, Nomination, Patronage, Plum, Political Appointees, Traditions, Trinidad And Tobago, Underprivileged Children, Wilkinson, X92