They don't even try to be subtle anymore

Not that they ever really did.

Bush Expected to Name Industry Lobbyist to Head Consumer Safety Agency

Many Senators, Representatives With Oversight Responsibility Claim to Neither Know Nor Care

by Joseph S. Enoch
ConsumerAffairs.Com Congressional Correspondent

February 16, 2007

Insiders say that Michael Baroody, chief lobbyist for the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), a powerful trade group that opposes aggressive product safety regulation, is President Bush's choice to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

The CPSC is currently powerless to enact new rules or levy fines because it has had only two commissioners since Chairman Hal Stratton, another Bush appointee, abruptly resigned six months ago to become a lobbyist.

Bush is expected to make his appointment during the long President's Day weekend, while Congress is out of town.

The White House refuses to comment. Spokesmen there have not returned seven phone calls from ConsumerAffairs.Com over the last week and Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have had no official word on whether an appointment is pending.

Read more here.