In light of the news in the top rec'd diary right now, that Reid plans the smackdown on Bush's addiction to recess appointments, I thought it might be a good idea to crosspost this Blue Hampshire piece from a couple of days ago. Let's stop this henhouse fox in his tracks in the nomination process.
Now this will be interesting. Just the sort of event, largely unnoticed by the electorate, that will tell us everything we need to know about Sununu and his enabling of a president who insists on corrupting all levels of public service with cronyism.
Mark your calendars, because on May 24th a hearing will be scheduled for the Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs, Insurance and Automotive Safety of the Senate Commerce Committee to consider the nomination of Michael Baroody to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Our man John E. is the ranking Republican on that subcommittee.
And who is Michael Baroody?
Just the person you would expect the President to want to head an agency that is in charge of keeping us safe from product dangers. A guy who has spent the past 13 years of his life as Executive Vice President of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), a lobbyist group dedicated to making sure companies never have to be held accountable for safety violations. You just couldn't make this stuff up if you tried, could you?
The bluntly titled website Stop Baroody shares some details of his illustrious resume at NAM. Baroody
- Fought to allow a higher level of arsenic in drinking water
- Opposed attempts to ban tobacco billboards near schools
- Lobbied to eliminate the rights of Americans exposed to asbestos to hold the responsible corporations accountable
- Lobbied to keep corporate documents regarding unsafe products from the public.
- Lobbied to immunize negligent corporations from responsibility for their actions.
- Pushed to limit fines for corporate wrongdoing that placed American consumers in direct danger.
- Worked to eliminate rules that protect and keep safe Americans in the workplace:
- Lobbied to keep manufacturers from having to publicly disclose how much lead they were producing
- Worked to immunize corporate CEOs from criminal liability for marketing deadly products to the public, maintaining such actions might slow "productivity."
This guy is so anathema to the very concept of public safety that the usually non-political Consumers Union is sending a letter opposing Baroody's nomination.
In response to the criticism, NAM's VP of Communications, Hank Cox, let loose a disturbingly frank chunk of realpolitik:
"The Bush administration is not going to appoint somebody from the Consumer Federation," he said. "It's not going to be like [when President] Jimmy Carter put Joan Claybrook in charge of the highway-traffic safety administration. That's not how it works."
With friends like Cox, who needs enemies?
So what does John E. have to say about all this, the man holding the keys to the henhouse of our consumer safety?
"Even people who don't agree with him on policy have found him to be fair and direct,"
Break out the popcorn folks. This one's going to be interesting...