Consumer Protection Nominee Rekindles Charges of Cronyism (Truthout)

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Consumer Protection Nominee Rekindles Charges of Cronyism
By William Fisher
t r u t h o u t | Report

Wednesday 16 May 2007

The nomination of a long-time manufacturers' lobbyist to head the nation's consumer safety watchdog agency is not only igniting fierce opposition from public interest groups, but is sparking a reexamination of the Bush administration's five-year history of appointing senior officials many regard as "cronies" who were inefficient, inexperienced and, in some cases, forced to resign under pressure or convicted of crimes.

According to a report released by Public Citizen, Michael Baroody, President Bush's nominee to chair the Consumer Products Safety Commission, was the top lobbyist for the country's most powerful industry trade association when the group supported weakening guidelines for reporting information about dangerous products.

The report charged that the "requirements that the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and its allies sought to weaken had been responsible for more than 80 percent of the fines issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) over the past decade. NAM's members and its coalition partners were responsible for paying more than half of those fines."

The CPSC is tasked with protecting the public - and especially children - from serious injury or death and monitors more than 15,000 types of consumer products. Reports about product hazards are mandated by the Consumer Product Safety Act, one of the key laws governing the CPSC's role in protecting consumer safety.

Public Citizen says that, with Baroody serving as its executive director for lobbying efforts, NAM supported a move to weaken agency protocols that dictate when companies - including NAM members - must immediately report information about potentially hazardous product defects. The changes NAM successfully pressed for could affect the agency's ability to issue timely decisions to recall dangerous products.

"As head of the CPSC, Baroody would be in charge of administering the weakened disclosure guidance his industry association sought, presenting a serious and unavoidable conflict of interest," said Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook. "Under his authority, consumer and public safety would be at risk, while the companies he represented for years would save millions in future fines." ....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051607K.shtml