Bush's Contrary Appointments

Bush is at it again. He's about to make another appointment. This time to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. This is the agency charged with protecting the public from dangerous consumer products.

From past appointments you know that Bush will choose someone wrong for the job. He's considering an anti-regulatory industry lobbyist for the job. That's right. Someone who lobbied for looser business regulations, at the expense of public safety.

His name: Michael Baroody.

Think Progress has more:

– Asbestos Regulations: NAM opposes tougher rules regulating asbestos and in 2003, teamed up with the asbestos industry and spent $180,000 opposing asbestos reform legislation.

– Highway Safety: In 2000, NAM successfully killed a bill in the Senate that would have helped reduce safety risks to motorists by requiring tire manufacturers to report accident data and potential defects to the National Highway and Transportation Safety Board.

– Global Warming: NAM’s official position states that scientific data have “not confirmed evidence of global warming that can be attributed to human activities” and calls for “voluntary” measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It “opposes any federal or state government actions regarding climate change that could adversely affect the international competitiveness of the U.S. marketplace economy.” In 2001, Baroody wrote to Bush and personally thanked him for rejecting the Kyoto Protocol.

More here