The Executive Branch has too many czars.

In office since Jan. 20, barely more than six months, Barack Obama has appointed dozens of “czars” including: health care, auto industry, energy — the list goes on.

So many czars have been installed that Sen. John McCain’s humorous quip, “Obama has more czars than the Romanovs who ruled Russia for three centuries,” is, worrisomely, spot on.

Why worrisome?

There is no authorization for such positions in the U.S. Constitution. These powerful executive branch appointments by Obama do not require confirmation by the legislative branch; and, such executive branch usurpation of power and implementation can be seen as the skeleton of a parallel government under construction.

Even the Senate’s longest-serving Democrat, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, criticized the President’s actions saying, “these executive positions amount to a power grab by the executive branch.”

Byrd also warned that such executive actions “can threaten the constitutional system of checks and balances.”

So, why is President Obama appointing czars?

By such actions, is he telling the American people that he really does not have confidence in the individuals he appointed as Cabinet Secretaries? That those appointees were mere political selections who he believed would more likely gain legislative approval, but are less likely to be able to effectively manage and lead their cabinet departments in the direction he wants to go?

In describing the presidential use of czars, New York University expert of government, Paul Light says “It’s a symbolic gesture of the priority assigned to an issue, and I emphasize the word symbolic. When in doubt, create a czar.”

Could Professor Light’s conjecture be the reason behind President Obama’s appointment of so many czars?

Could it be that, in reality, Obama is uncertain and “in doubt” about what to do, or what he wants to do, to address the plethora of issues that need change. So therefore, he installs czars only to buy time.

If that is the case, when Obama’s certainty returns and all of the appointed czars are gone, many Americans will breath the proverbial sigh of relief.

If that is not the case, when it becomes apparent, no matter the total number of appointed czars that remain, many Americans will begin breathing repeated sighs of disbelief, because the constitutional checks and balances, now being ignored, will finally be gone.

And, one czar will remain.

Richard Olivastro is president of Olivastro Communications and founder Citizens For Change. He can be reached at Rich@Olivastro.NET or 877.RichSpeaks.