Obama's choice for regulatory czar is no communist

[delhalew]

Just a straight up nut job.
http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/opinion-cass-sunstein-has-secret-animal-rights-agenda

By Consumer Freedom

Barack Obama’s pick for “regulatory czar,” Harvard Law School Professor Cass Sunstein, may be the incoming president’s most popular appointment so far. Judging from his resume -- best-selling author, “pre-eminent legal scholar of our time,” and an endorsement from The Wall Street Journal -- we can almost understand why. Almost.

Because as we’re telling the media today, there’s one troubling portion of the new Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Administrator’s C.V. that has seems to have flown under everyone’s radar:

Cass Sunstein is a radical animal rights activist.

Don’t believe us? Sunstein has made no secret of his devotion to the cause of establishing legal “rights” for livestock, wildlife, and pets. “[T]here should be extensive regulation of the use of animals in entertainment, scientific experiments, and agriculture,” Sunstein wrote in a 2002 working paper while at the University of Chicago Law school.

“Extensive regulation of the use of animals.” That's PETA-speak for using government to get everything PETA and the Humane Society of the United States can't get through gentle pressure or not-so-gentle coercion. Not exactly the kind of thing American ranchers, restaurateurs, hunters, and biomedical researchers (to say nothing of ordinary consumers) would like to hear from their next “regulatory czar.”

A version of the same paper also appeared as the introduction to Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions, a 2004 book that Sunstein co-edited with then-girlfriend Martha Nussbaum. In that book, Sunstein set out an ambitious plan to give animals the legal “right” to file lawsuits. We're not joking:


“[A]nimals should be permitted to bring suit, with human beings as their representatives, to prevent violations of current law … Any animals that are entitled to bring suit would be represented by (human) counsel, who would owe guardian like obligations and make decisions, subject to those obligations, on their clients’ behalf.”


It doesn't end there. Sunstein delivered a keynote speech at Harvard University’s 2007 “Facing Animals” conference. (Click here to watch the video; his speech starts around 39:00.) Keep in mind that as OIRA Administrator, Sunstein will have the political authority to implement a massive federal government overhaul. Consider this tidbit:


“We ought to ban hunting, I suggest, if there isn’t a purpose other than sport and fun. That should be against the law. It’s time now.”


Sunstein also argued in favor of “eliminating current practices such as greyhound racing, cosmetic testing, and meat eating, most controversially.”

He concluded his Harvard speech by expressing his “more ambitious animating concern” that the current treatment of livestock and other animals should be considered “a form of unconscionable barbarity not the same as, but in many ways morally akin to, slavery and mass extermination of human beings.” Sound familiar?

As the individual about to assume “the most important position that Americans know nothing about,” Sunstein owes the public an honest appraisal of his animal rights goals before taking office. Will the next four years be a dream-come-true for anti-meat, anti-hunting, and anti-everything-else radicals? Time will tell. For now, meat lovers might want to stock their freezers.

[OUHOMER]

Wonderful another nut job

[delhalew]

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/07/cass_sunsteins_despicable_idea.html

'Sunstein's book is a blueprint for online censorship as he wants to hold blogs and web hosting services accountable for the remarks of commenters on websites while altering libel laws to make it easier to sue for spreading "rumors.'

[Scott D]

I'm still pretty sure that Kal Penn as his Ambassador of Asian Affairs or some such nonsense was his most popular appointment, as it totally screwed with last season's House in mid run.

[I Am Right]

They are all Commies!

[Curly Bill]

At least the guy choosing these freaks doesn't want to speak to all the nation's schoolchildren or anything. ;)

[I Am Right]

At least the guy choosing these freaks doesn't want to speak to all the nation's schoolchildren or anything. ;)

Good Call.:)

[delhalew]

I'm still pretty sure that Kal Penn as his Ambassador of Asian Affairs or some such nonsense was his most popular appointment, as it totally screwed with last season's House in mid run.

LOL

[StoopTroup]

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/07/cass_sunsteins_despicable_idea.html

Sunstein's book is a blueprint for online censorship as he wants to hold blogs and web hosting services accountable for the remarks of commenters on websites while altering libel laws to make it easier to sue for spreading "rumors.

Looks like he coming after you first unless you edit some of your posts....lol :pop:

[delhalew]

Ain't Scared.:)

[VeeJay]

Death to Teh InnerWebs!

[VeeJay]

Lots of people sitting there shaking their heads in disbelief.

Why do they hate Marxism?

[King Crimson]

just for kicks, two of Sunstein's other books are called Republic.com and Why Societies Need Dissent. I'm sure given the latter, the first thing he'll do once Obama plays his diabolical totalitarian commie mind-games is crack down on free speech. not to get in the way of the dogpile (pun) or the impeccable sources in this thread.

though, i would have bet Sunstein ended up in the FCC 6 months ago.

[delhalew]

just for kicks, two of Sunstein's other books are called Republic.com and Why Societies Need Dissent. I'm sure given the latter, the first thing he'll do once Obama plays his diabolical totalitarian commie mind-games is crack down on free speech. not to get in the way of the dogpile (pun) or the impeccable sources in this thread.

though, i would have bet Sunstein ended up in the FCC 6 months ago.

Don't forget about his newest title Nudge. That one is a real page turner. I'm sure you will try, but you can't defend this ****bag or his boss.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/53534

“The false assumption is that almost all people, almost all of the time, make choices that are in their best interest or at the very least are better than the choices that would be made [for them] by someone else,”

Tip of the iceberg...I can do this all day.

[landrun]

unreal....:mad:

[Leroy Lizard]

“We think that it's time for institutions, including government, to become much more user-friendly by enlisting the science of choice to make life easier for people and by gently nudging them in directions that will make their lives better,” they wrote.

Holy crap. That is as bad as I have seen it. Even liberals are going to have a hard time swallowing that one.

When you sit in the ivory tower, your own arrogance leads you to believe that whatever you value must be what is best. To people like Sunstein, there is no argument about organ donorship -- it is clearly the "best" choice and those that decide not to donate their organs are simply "wrong." Those that disagree with him on any view are simply "unenlightened." Since they must be clearly wrong, there is no harm in having the government assume that they are wrong by default.

Apply this to universal health care. Have the government assume that everyone wants it, and the only way to stop the movement toward universal health care is to actively oppose it. To Sunstein, that is how government should be run.

[delhalew]

Anyone who doesn't realize that gub'ment will always want you to do it their way whether you like it or not is a fool. This is why we try so hard to limit their power and keep our gub'ment decentralized.

A rep in san fran or new york has no idea what I need in rural OK, and could give a damn.

[JLEW1818]

reward the poor

[soonerscuba]

How cute, a bunch of paranoid whackjobs somehow believe that the preeminent mind on behavioral economics as it applies to administrative law isn't qualified to run the ORIA. Jesus, you people need to step away from the inbox and get a grip. If you think that anybody in ORIA is going to take your meat, you probably aren't smart enough to begin to approach the process of regulatory forecasting and analysis.

As someone who actually read Nudge, I can assure you it isn't as sadistic as worldnetdaily or Rush is telling you. To believe and the principle that the majority of people will make the best possible choice for themselves in regards to education, finance, or health is demonstrably false by virtue of being awake and aware of even the most rudimentary aspects of your day to day life. On top of that, you are unaware of the politics of the University of Chicago if you think that an unrepentant Commie with ideas that some middle manager in Omaha can debunk can have a lasting and successful career there. Academics aren't designed to be implemented wholesale, it's about making arguments and receiving feedback. Choice architects and default positions already exist, and most people are quite comfortable with the concept by virtue of any number of safety laws and regulations that are almost universally agreed on. So to suggest that behavior cannot be guided (read: not forced) by any entity, including government, is take laissez-faire to a very uncomfortable place. Once again, the slippery slope is far to slippery for some, so to suggest that placing an apple at eye level in a cafeteria is a precursor to breadlines, is a thought that I would consider to be devoid of any historical understanding, present policy knowledge, or common sense.

[delhalew]

Oh my. I do not need to be behaviorally engineered into making the "right" choices. I have ethics and morality instilled in me by hard working and devoted parents. No one feeds my beliefs to me, not Rush and not an arrogant academic from the university of chicago.

[Leroy Lizard]

How cute, a bunch of paranoid whackjobs somehow believe that the preeminent mind on behavioral economics as it applies to administrative law isn't qualified to run the ORIA.

Oh, he's qualified. No argument there. It's not his qualifications that worry me.


On top of that, you are unaware of the politics of the University of Chicago if you think that an unrepentant Commie with ideas that some middle manager in Omaha can debunk can have a lasting and successful career there.

What does this thread have to do with Communism?


Academics aren't designed to be implemented wholesale, it's about making arguments and receiving feedback.

A very convenient excuse for voicing outrageous opinions. If caught, claim that you were merely "making arguments to receive feedback."

Unless there is clear evidence to the contrary, if he said it, he meant it. And if he meant it, there is no good reason to think he won't try to implement it.


As someone who actually read Nudge, I can assure you it isn't as sadistic as worldnetdaily or Rush is telling you.

Of what use are your assurances?

[OklahomaTuba]

You think that guy is nuts, here is the "science czar" suggesting that we really need to redistribute our wealth to poorer countries 'n stuff.

And that American Exeptionalism is "misguided".

http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/checker.aspx?v=Gd8zSUSU6U

[delhalew]

Holdren is definitely his own punchline. Here's an oldie ,but a goodie.
http://zombietime.com/john_holdren/

John Holdren, Obama's Science Czar, says: Forced abortions and mass sterilization needed to save the planet

Book he authored in 1977 advocates for extreme totalitarian measures to control the population


Forced abortions. Mass sterilization. A "Planetary Regime" with the power of life and death over American citizens.

The tyrannical fantasies of a madman? Or merely the opinions of the person now in control of science policy in the United States? Or both?

These ideas (among many other equally horrifying recommendations) were put forth by John Holdren, whom Barack Obama has recently appointed Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and Co-Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology -- informally known as the United States' Science Czar. In a book Holdren co-authored in 1977, the man now firmly in control of science policy in this country wrote that:

• Women could be forced to abort their pregnancies, whether they wanted to or not;
• The population at large could be sterilized by infertility drugs intentionally put into the nation's drinking water or in food;
• Single mothers and teen mothers should have their babies seized from them against their will and given away to other couples to raise;
• People who "contribute to social deterioration" (i.e. undesirables) "can be required by law to exercise reproductive responsibility" -- in other words, be compelled to have abortions or be sterilized.
• A transnational "Planetary Regime" should assume control of the global economy and also dictate the most intimate details of Americans' lives -- using an armed international police force.

Impossible, you say? That must be an exaggeration or a hoax. No one in their right mind would say such things.

Well, I hate to break the news to you, but it is no hoax, no exaggeration. John Holdren really did say those things, and this report contains the proof. Below you will find photographs, scans, and transcriptions of pages in the book Ecoscience, co-authored in 1977 by John Holdren and his close colleagues Paul Ehrlich and Anne Ehrlich. The scans and photos are provided to supply conclusive evidence that the words attributed to Holdren are unaltered and accurately transcribed.

[delhalew]

http://beltwayblips.dailyradar.com/story/john-holdren-green-policies-should-redistribute-wealth/

^This, which tuba already pointed out is the most likely fantasy of Holdren's to be made into policy. He believes we should lower out standard of living, and allow India and China to solidify their place atop the global food chain.

[OklahomaTuba]

Like Thomas Friedman wrote yesterday, being more like China should be our goal.

And they say Liberalism isn't a mental disorder. Ha!

[sooner n houston]

Come on scuba, you haven't told these con's how stupid they are in 6 or 7 post now - better hurry up and remind 'em!