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The essential qualities of a successful leader?


What, in your opinion, are the essential qualities of a successful leader?
I can’t emphasize strongly enough the fact that you’ve got to surround yourself with people who can argue with you and question your assumptions. It particularly helps if you can bring in people whose temperaments differ from your own. [Harvard Business Review, Leadership Lessons from Abraham Lincoln, FROM THE APRIL 2009 ISSUE, excerpt of interview of Doris Kearns Goodwin]



ROBERT MUELLER, SPECIAL COUNSEL





Special Counsel Robert Mueller's shop doesn't leak, but last week's 37-page indictment of Russians provided a mess of clues about what he's up to. Here are five things we've learned:
  1. He's moving fast. The indictment is a sneak peek at the level of sweep and color we can expect in a final report, and is a mammoth accomplishment just nine months after Mueller was appointed. A source familiar with the investigation told me it won't take years, like Ken Starr's probe of Bill Clinton.
  2. He's using the full reach of federal power, including the intelligence agencies, whose sources and methods were reflected in the indictment. CNN contributor Garrett Graff, who wrote a bookabout Mueller as FBI director, told me: "[T]he main (and ongoing) surprise is the strength and breadth of this investigation."
  3. He's signaling quantity: MSNBC contributor Matt Miller, a former Justice Department spokesman, told me: "Friday’s indictment established the legal architecture for possible future charges. Once you’ve established there was a conspiracy, you can charge anyone who was aware of the conspiracy and took an overt action to further it." Miller also expects tax charges.
  4. He's watching his back: The indictment-announcement presser by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who supervises the investigation, was meant to signal that Mueller intends to be efficient and transparent. With the quick revelations about Russia and the election, Mueller was signaling this isn't a fishing expedition. And he made it harder for Trump to fire him.
  5. What's coming: The source familiar with the investigation expects Mueller to reach some conclusion about the hacks of email belonging to the DNC and Clinton campaign chair John Podesta. Matt Miller told me: "Now that [Mueller] has decided to indict one set of Russian participants, it seems likely he will indict the Russian participants in the hacking as well. The big question ... remains whether there will be any American co-conspirators." [Axios AM, February 20, 2018]

Special counsel Robert Mueller's interest in Jared Kushner has expanded beyond his contacts with Russia and now includes Kushner's efforts to secure financing for his company from foreign investors during the presidential transition, according to people familiar with the inquiry.

This is the first indication that Mueller is exploring Kushner's discussions with potential non-Russian foreign investors, including in China. US officials briefed on the probe told CNN in May that points of focus related to Kushner, the White House senior adviser and son-in-law of President Donald Trump, included the Trump campaign's 2016 data analytics operation, his relationship with former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and Kushner's own contacts with Russians. [Good Morning from CNN, February 20, 2018]



DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR 





READ







DHS





CYBERSECURITY






BUDGET






LEAKS



Look at the leaks pouring out of the White House — including the president himself musing to outsiders about possible replacements for Kelly. [Axios AM, February 14, 2018]



INFRASTRUCTURE

SOME LIGHT READING: In case a 53-page outline of infrastructure principles wasn't enough for one day, the White House also released its fiscal 2019 budget blueprint. As expected, the administration is proposing cuts to the agencies it envisions implementing much of its infrastructure plan, suggesting a 19 percent reduction to DOT's discretionary spending and a more than 20 percent slashing of the Army Corps of Engineers' budget. [POLITICO's Morning Transportation, February 13, 2018]

WHERE'S THE ENERGY? While water, roads and airports all get special attention in the White House's new infrastructure plan, the electric grid was largely ignored in the 55-page document the White House rolled out Monday - despite the system's age and the challenges to building it. The plan says nothing about modernizing ailing electric transmission systems to account for factors such as the growth of natural gas, renewable power and electric vehicles, issues that have long been a focus of grid planners and a priority of the previous administration. "This plan ignores American energy and transportation needs of today - as well as tomorrow. It does not modernize our grid so we can reach more distributed energy. It does not plan for advanced vehicles to be on our roads," said Grant Carlisle advocacy director of E2, an affiliate of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "It is unfortunately just not a forward-looking document."
Where the plan does touch on electric issues, it revives a proposal to sell off transmission facilities owned by the Energy Department's power marketing administrations and the Tennessee Valley Authority. OMB thinks those sales would raise $7.4 billion for federal coffers over five years and encourage a more efficient transmission system. But when the White House floated the idea last year, it faced bipartisan opposition from senators worried it would increase power prices in a large swath of the West. The White House plan also calls for Congress to change the Federal Power Act to allow other federal agencies that participate in a FERC NEPA proceeding as a "cooperating agency" in an effort to streamline applications for interstate natural gas pipelines. [POLITICO's Morning Energy, February 13, 2018]

WHAT DID MAKE IT: President Donald Trump's infrastructure proposal leans heavily on states, local governments and the private sector to foot most of its bill. The White House is calling for just $200 billion in federal funding, which it hopes will leverage $1.3 trillion in other investment over the next decade, but the pitch faces long odds on Capitol Hill. Here's a rundown of some other highlights:
Privatizing water infrastructure: The plan would make a number of tweaks aimed at easing private investment and ownership of drinking water and wastewater facilities - a move that public health advocates argue could lead to unaffordable rates. Municipal water utilities are so far skeptical of the plan, arguing that the proposal is overly ambitious in how much private funding can be drawn to the sector and pointing out that states and municipalities already bear the lion's share of the cost for water projects. But they are cheering one idea in it: lengthening pollution discharge permits from five years to 15 and allowing automatic renewal "if the water quality needs do not require more stringent permit limits."
Gaga for WIFIA: The proposal would expand WIFIA, the innovative financing program authorized in 2014 that Congress loves since it can leverage a small appropriation for orders of magnitude more in credit assistance. Despite the fact that the program has yet to make its first loan, the Trump proposal would expand it to privately owned infrastructure as well as Superfund and brownfields programs.
Park upgrades paid for by energy leasing: The infrastructure plan would give Interior a mechanism to repair and maintain some of its holdings. Even though the White House would slash Interior's overall budget by more than 16 percent, it would establish a Public Lands Infrastructure Fund paid for with money from new land leasing and royalties on energy production. Interior said the fund will rake in $805 million to put toward National Park Service's estimated backlog of $11.6 billion backlog of repair and maintenance projects. Another $891 million would go toward the Bureau of Reclamation's water systems and new capital construction plans.
Environmental reviews: The proposal asks Congress to get the permitting process down to two years, through quicker NEPA reviews. It wants to limit projects getting held up in court by reducing the statute of limitations to sue from six years down to 150 days. And it wants to stop EPA from vetoing wetlands permits.
But don't hold your breath for these changes anytime soon: Most would require congressional approval, and Senate Democrats would likely be able to block anything as ambitious as the administration's proposal [POLITICO's Morning Energy, February 13, 2018]

INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN COULD BRING FIGHT OVER LOCKS: The Trump administration's infrastructure plan could bring a fight over funding for locks on rivers. (For those of you who don't know what these are, here's an explanation.) Right now, the locks are federally funded. But that could change if the infrastructure plan comes to fruition. The administration's plan would take out a prohibition on charging a toll on the locks and would give the private sector the opportunity to take charge of them. Commercial waterway operators don't like that.
- In an interview with PI, Mike Toohey, president and CEO of the Waterways Council Inc., said he agreed "on the need for infrastructure investment on a massive scale" and on regulatory reform, but warned that the proposal for locks could drastically change the cost of shipping commodities. He also raised questions about where the private investment would come from. "Is it going to come from domestic Wall Street firms? ... Is it going to come from investors that are not friendly to the United States? Are we going to turn over our critical infrastructure to foreign ownership?" he asked. "No one has come forward with a model to show how this is going to work."

Toohey further warned that the proposal to impose a toll provides a competitive advantage to companies that don't ship on waterways. He said that members of the Waterways Council Inc. will meet with more than 100 Hill offices tomorrow to voice their concerns about the proposal.  [POLITICO Influence, February 13. 2018]



IMMIGRATION






ICE, DEPORTATION & EXPULSION 












Kateri Tekakwitha, born into the Mohawk tribe in the 17th century, was the first Native American recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church. [POLITICO's Morning Tax, February 10, 2018]


Broken Hearted: The CIA’s social media team has a well-earned reputation for imaginative, colorful and sometimes thought-provoking postings on Twitter, Facebook and the like. But some observers think they went a bit too far on Valentine’s day with a post that said: “Long before current traditions of #ValentinesDay sprang forth, spymasters worldwide have used the amorous arts to obtain secrets from their enemies. Known as ‘honey traps’ or ‘honeypots,’ rivals ensnared their adversaries in a game of love, lure & lies.” It was one of a series of tweets based on a CIA website article about “Romeo Spies” and Mata Hari etc. Naysayers, however, think the “honey traps” tweet gives the false impression that the CIA employs such tactics. We are assured, however, that their intelligence collectors (male and female) use only their wits. #TRYINGTOOHARD [The Cipher Daily Brief, February 16, 2018]



CANDIDATES







NOTE: The news sources here vary.  Not all sources have the same credibility, but in an effort to share some different perspectives, they are included here.  This compendium itself cannot claim to be unbiased.  Please take into consideration where these different perspectives originate in assessing their value.  Thank you

NOTE: I have no official connection to any organization from which information is shared.. Occasionally, I post informational material and/or an opportunity to donate or join as  a "community service" announcement.  These again are shared for their varying perspectives.

Any books listed are random or topic-related to something else in the post.  Think of these as a "library bookshelf" to browse.  They are shared for informational or entertainment value only, not as being recommended
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