Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Concerns Mount Over President Obama's Cass Sunstein, 'The Most Dangerous Man In America'

From News Sources ~ President Obama's nominee for "regulatory czar," the man described by The McCarville Report Online as "the most dangerous man in America," has hit a new snag in his Senate confirmation process, a "hold" by Texas Senator John Cornyn, who's says he's not convinced that Harvard professor Cass Sunstein won't push a radical animal rights agenda, including new restrictions on agriculture and even hunting.

Sunstein's push to institute legal rights for animals and to ban firearms ownership raised eyebrows when Obama nominated him.
Senators are permitted "holds" to prevent a vote on a nominee from coming to the floor. They are often secretive and for very specific reasons.

"Sen. Cornyn finds numerous aspects of Mr. Sunstein's record troubling, specifically the fact that he wants to establish legal 'rights' for livestock, wildlife and pets, which would enable animals to file lawsuits in American courts," the Republican's spokesman, Kevin McLaughlin, said in a statement to FOXNews.com.

Cornyn's hold on Sunstein comes just as Senator Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., last week lifted his own hold on the nominee, whom Obama tapped in April to become the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Budget and Management.

Chambliss said he was dropping his hold because Sunstein had convinced him that he "would not take any steps to promote litigation on behalf of animals," and that he believes the "Second Amendment creates an individual right to possess guns for purposes of both hunting and self defense."

Both statements were included in a letter Sunstein sent to Chambliss on July 14.
Chambliss added in a Senate floor speech last Wednesday that "Professor Sunstein comes highly recommended by a number of folks from the conservative side of the philosophical divide in this country."

One of Sunstein's top jobs would be to review and provide guidance for draft federal regulations at different federal agencies. It is a wide-ranging and largely unrestrained position in the executive branch.

That's a large part of the reason Sunstein's positions on animal rights have become worrisome to his critics. Despite his assurances to the contrary, Sunstein has spoken stridently in favor of allowing people the right to bring suit on behalf of animals in animal cruelty cases and to restrict what he calls the more horrific practices associated with industrial breeding and processing of animals for food.

In a
2007 speech at Harvard, Sunstein also advocated restricting animal testing for cosmetics, banning hunting and encouraging the general public to eat less meat.
Read "The Most Dangerous Man In America" at http://wwwtmrcom.blogspot.com/2009/03/opinion-most-dangerous-man-in-america.html.

Labels: , , , , , ,

Share |