An Example Of What Works
On May 16, I put up a post on the nomination of Michael Baroody to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Mr. Baroody, a lobbyist for the National Association of Manufacturers (the very people Mr. Baroody would be regulating), had an unusual severance package. In today's NY Times we learn that Mr. Baroody has withdrawn his name from consideration, presumably to avoid answering questions about that severance agreement.
A senior lobbyist at the National Association of Manufacturers withdrew his nomination to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Wednesday as a growing number of senators questioned both his suitability and a $150,000 departure payment that the association was preparing to give him. ...
Senator Bill Nelson, the Florida Democrat who earlier this month put a hold on the nomination, said in an interview Wednesday afternoon that he believed that Mr. Baroody withdrew because he did not want to make public the details of his $150,000 severance package, as several senators had demanded. ...
His nomination began to founder after the disclosure last Wednesday that he would be receiving a $150,000 special payment from the association, and that the severance package was amended by the association in January, shortly after he was identified as the top candidate for the post.
The White House had continued to defend Mr. Baroody publicly. But unlike in the cases of other contentious nominees, it refused to expend any significant political capital by lobbying on his behalf. Nor did President Bush appear to be willing to appoint him during a Congressional recess, as he has other nominees who have run into problems on Capitol Hill. [Emphasis added]
One new detail that has emerged in the last week is that the severance agreement was amended once the news that Mr. Baroody was the top contender for the job broke. While what that amendment involved isn't known, it apparently caught the White House by surprise, which might explain why the White House uncharacteristically gave up on the nomination.
I think another factor just might be that the White House simply doesn't have enough "political capital" to expend on such a nomination. Bush's numbers in even the most conservative of polls are in the basement. His appointee to the World Bank has just been forced out of the job in disgrace. His Attorney General is fighting for his job. Many of his top aides at the White House and in key cabinet agencies have resigned to spend more time with their families.
Apparently the Democrats in Congress haven't noticed all of that, which is maddening. If they had been paying attention and done the math, maybe they wouldn't have caved in on the Iraq War funding bill; maybe they would have resubmitted the bill with the withdrawal time line, which is what a majority of Americans want, and kept resubmitting it, each time explaining to the country that they support the troops, but it's time to bring them home. If they shift the blame for lack of funding to the man who vetoes the bill which allows for funding, the chances are pretty good that the people who gave them the congressional majority expecting just that kind of behavior would understand and approve.
Pushing back on the little things worked. It just might work on the big things as well, but this crop of Democrats apparently don't have the courage to even try.
A senior lobbyist at the National Association of Manufacturers withdrew his nomination to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Wednesday as a growing number of senators questioned both his suitability and a $150,000 departure payment that the association was preparing to give him. ...
Senator Bill Nelson, the Florida Democrat who earlier this month put a hold on the nomination, said in an interview Wednesday afternoon that he believed that Mr. Baroody withdrew because he did not want to make public the details of his $150,000 severance package, as several senators had demanded. ...
His nomination began to founder after the disclosure last Wednesday that he would be receiving a $150,000 special payment from the association, and that the severance package was amended by the association in January, shortly after he was identified as the top candidate for the post.
The White House had continued to defend Mr. Baroody publicly. But unlike in the cases of other contentious nominees, it refused to expend any significant political capital by lobbying on his behalf. Nor did President Bush appear to be willing to appoint him during a Congressional recess, as he has other nominees who have run into problems on Capitol Hill. [Emphasis added]
One new detail that has emerged in the last week is that the severance agreement was amended once the news that Mr. Baroody was the top contender for the job broke. While what that amendment involved isn't known, it apparently caught the White House by surprise, which might explain why the White House uncharacteristically gave up on the nomination.
I think another factor just might be that the White House simply doesn't have enough "political capital" to expend on such a nomination. Bush's numbers in even the most conservative of polls are in the basement. His appointee to the World Bank has just been forced out of the job in disgrace. His Attorney General is fighting for his job. Many of his top aides at the White House and in key cabinet agencies have resigned to spend more time with their families.
Apparently the Democrats in Congress haven't noticed all of that, which is maddening. If they had been paying attention and done the math, maybe they wouldn't have caved in on the Iraq War funding bill; maybe they would have resubmitted the bill with the withdrawal time line, which is what a majority of Americans want, and kept resubmitting it, each time explaining to the country that they support the troops, but it's time to bring them home. If they shift the blame for lack of funding to the man who vetoes the bill which allows for funding, the chances are pretty good that the people who gave them the congressional majority expecting just that kind of behavior would understand and approve.
Pushing back on the little things worked. It just might work on the big things as well, but this crop of Democrats apparently don't have the courage to even try.
Labels: 110th Congress, Iraq War, K Street
posted by Diane at 4:09 AM
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