Bush Nominates Industry Lobbyist to Head Safety Agency

Consumer Advocates Outraged; "Laughable," Says Former Agency Head

By Joseph S. Enoch
ConsumerAffairs.com

March 2, 2007

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After waiting almost eight months to nominate a new chairman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, President Bush has made up his mind, but the industry lobbyist he hopes to seat has drawn vehement opposition from Democrats and consumer advocates.

"President George W. Bush today announced his intention to nominate ... Michael E. Baroody, of Virginia, to be Chairman and Member of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)," according to a White House statement.

Baroody's nomination has enraged consumer advocates and is expected to raise a fight in the Senate Commerce Committee where Bush's nomination must be approved.

Baroody is the executive vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). NAM is one of the nation's largest trade groups and it opposes aggressive product safety regulation.

Ann Brown, the CPSC's chairman from 1994-2001, laughed in shock when ConsumerAffairs.com informed her in an interview that Bush was expected to nominate a NAM executive.

"NAM!" Brown exclaimed. "That is laughable ... You should have a person who has vast experience protecting consumers."

"Given that Mr. Baroody has spent his professional career representing the interests of manufacturers over consumers, I believe his nomination deserves the highest level of scrutiny," said Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.).

"I intend to give his nomination thorough scrutiny," Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), a Commerce Committee member, said in a statement.

"Here was a golden opportunity to put a true champion of consumers onto a very important commission, and instead President Bush selected someone who represents the special interests," Boxer said. "This administration seems incapable of doing anything in the public interest."

Baroody has a long history of Republican ties and anti-consumer regulation.

He ascended into politics by writing speeches for Bob Dole in the 1970s. From 1981 to 1985, he served on President Reagan's White House staff as deputy assistant to the President and director of public affairs. He spent a year in 1993 as the president of the Republican-oriented National Policy Forum before taking a post at NAM.

According to The Los Angeles Times Baroody has fought hard against many consumer regulations including these:

• In 1988, as assistant secretary of Labor, he defended the Reagan administration's record in protecting workers despite delays in issuing safety rules and efforts to weaken regulations.

• In 2000, he fought an ergonomics rule -- put into place by the Clinton administration -- that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said was intended to prevent 300,000 workplace accidents and injuries.

• In 2001, speaking for NAM, he criticized a Supreme Court ruling rejecting arguments that the Environmental Protection Agency had acted unconstitutionally when it issued standards for limiting smog and soot.

"I think it's shocking," Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, a watchdog group founded by Ralph Nader, told The Los Angeles Times. "It's the fox in the chicken coop."

Bush is trying to fill a seat he has left vacant for almost eight months after ex-Chairman Hal Stratton, another Bush appointee, bolted the job with little warning on July 15 to join a law firm.

Bush waited so long to fill the post that the two remaining commissioners lost all regulatory powers on January 15.

In the CPSC's 35-year history, only four times has it ever gone more than six months with only two commissioners. Three of those times were under the current administration.

Brown said President Bush's repeated disregard for the agency's leadership void shows an overall disregard for the safety of American citizens.

"I really think it shows that the Bush Administration really has no concern about the health and safety of American citizens, especially our kids," Brown said. "I think that status quo of 'nothing can be done' is exactly what the Bush Administration thinks about health and safety."

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