rssThe ‘Ayes’ and ‘Nos’ on Sunstein
Friday, September 11, 2009 at 1:38 pm
- 1 Comment
If you missed it, the roll call vote on Cass Sunstein’s nomination to run the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is up here. All but six Republicans voted no, and all but five members of the Democratic caucus voted aye. The big surprise on that front: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), a self-professed socialist who is in no political danger whatsoever in a state that gave Barack Obama a 2-1 victory over John McCain. So if Sunstein is ever nominated for another job, expect to hear that he was “too extreme for even a socialist to support.”
The Republican with the most to lose from his “aye” vote? Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah), who is reeling from several primary challenges in his deep red state.
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1 Comment
Comment posted September 11, 2009 @ 1:54 pm
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The choice of Sunstein, a Harvard Law School professor and friend of Obama’s, concerned some environmentalists because of his support for cost-benefit analysis — a system of weighing the cost of proposed rules against the benefits to health and safety.
“We hope that he won’t be an impediment, based on his past emphasis on cost-benefit analysis to the exclusion of other values,” said Frank O’Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, a Washington-based environmental group. “We hope he will look at other values, such as protecting the environment.”
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/09/10/senate_confirms_harvard_profes.html?wprss=44
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I haven’t seen a quote from Senator Bernie Sanders explaining his vote against Sunstein, but I’m guessing that it was based on similar concerns to those expressed above.
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