Six months ago this week, Barack Obama took office as president. Since that time, Washington has been on a spending spree, from bailouts and a pork-filled stimulus bill to energy taxes in Cap and Trade. Now health care is on the agenda. And that has attracted a lot of attention from average Americans concerned about the future of our country.

What should have everyone just as concerned is the dramatic increase in centralized power in the White House in just a few months.

At last count (depending on when you read this), President Obama has appointed or announced 31 “Policy Czars” to manage various administrative programs. These Czars report directly to the President and most of them are not confirmed by the Senate, nor do they report regularly to any congressional committee.

The practice of having policy Czars is not new. Most Americans will be familiar with such positions as the Drug Czar (officially the director of the office of national drug control policy) which has been around for more than 20 years. But no president before Obama has had nearly this many Czars in place.

Obama, on the other hand, has established Czars to oversee how companies pay their executives; who gets the most pork from the stimulus bill; and which Chrysler and GM dealerships will be closed. There’s a Green Jobs Czar, an Urban Affairs Czar, a Great Lakes Czar and now even a California Water Czar. These people operate from the shadows, away from the public eye, in a dramatic departure from the open government Obama promised. And he has moved control over the U.S. Census away from the Commerce Department, which reports regularly to Congress in open session. The 2010 census that will determine reapportionment of the U.S. House membership will be directed out of the White House alone.

In addition, some of the proposals coming out of the health care legislation even call for a commission empowered to regulate health insurance plans, reporting solely to the president. This commission would make decisions on what levels of care will be acceptable for both private insurance and the government-run health care program, the cornerstone of Democrat health care legislation.

Congress to this point has done little to reign Obama in. There are serious constitutional questions about the role these officials play in our government, unchecked by any other branch. Congress does not fund the Czars directly, thus has no budgetary control over their operations. These Czars tend to do directive work from the executive branch without any supporting law from the legislative branch.

America needs a Republican majority in the House to act as some kind of brake on the White House. These Policy Czars should be called to regular reporting in Congress, and their leadership should be subject to Senate confirmation. Their very existence should be a matter of Congressional action, not Presidential fiat.