Skidmore is just a glove puppet, warming the seat for another four years topping up his retirement funds.
I mean really what incentive does he have to do anything?
Sounds like you're there in the office with him, Thorn Bird, seeing as you appear to know what he's up to and what motivates him.
If you don't personally believe that a desire to do your job to the best of your ability and achieve some positive results isn't enough for someone to get off their arse each day, then that's your choice, but it's a pretty sad and cynical one in my book.