Who is in Charge

I had breakfast with a departing Richardson appointee today who was wondering if anyone would be in to turn the lights on after the inauguration on January 1st.  With a few high profile exceptions most cabinet level agencies and mid level appointees have not been announced and it appears that they won't be for some time.  Why?  Because as a lot of people had suspected there just is not a very big bench of government minded managers in the republican party.  That party hates government and doesn't groom anyone for these jobs. The pay is too low, despite what some think, and the hours too long and that whole commuting thing to Santa Fe.

The effect of these vacancies will be a lack of policy debate in the legislature.  Who will be in front of the financial committees to answer the nitty gritty questions put forth by a largely unknowledgeable membership?  Of course the LFC staff knows what is going on and will be mostly running things.  It will be like a bulldozer over an anthill unless the new administration gets some more people in place.