Bush Nominates Anti-Consumer Advocate to Consumer Protection Post

Here’s part of an email I received today from People Over Profits.

President Bush has nominated Michael Baroody (one of Corporate America’s leading anti-consumer henchmen) to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) – our top government agency protecting millions of consumers from injury and death as a result of unsafe products. A hearing in the U.S. Senate on the nomination will take place the first week in May.

For the past 13 years, Baroody has served as Executive Vice President at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) – a K Street lobbying behemoth devoted to helping big manufacturers evade accountability for their negligence.

If allowed to lead the CPSC, Baroody could dismantle decades of laws that protect consumers from dangerous products. From flammable children’s pajamas to deadly collapsing cribs, the CPSC has prevented uncountable deaths and injuries.

Here are just a few examples of the agenda Baroody has pushed:

Opposed attempts to ban tobacco billboards near schools

NAM claimed federal agencies were “silencing commercial speech without authority.”

Fought to allow a higher level of arsenic in drinking water

NAM claimed that negligent manufacturers would feel a pinch in their profits if forced to prevent their waste products from poisoning local community water supplies.

Lobbied to keep corporate documents regarding unsafe products from the public

Over the years, the release of secret corporate documents in court cases has informed the public of corporate negligence and dangerous products. Secrecy agreements allow negligent corporations to hide this information from the public.

Lobbied to allow corporations to evade accountability for negligence no matter how deadly

Corporations that knowingly place dangerous or deadly products on the market such as unsafe baby cribs that kill small children or kids’ pajamas that too easily catch fire would not be held accountable if Baroody and NAM get their way.

Michael Baroody and NAM have been tireless promoters of an anti-consumer agenda. His expertise lies only in lobbying to shield negligent corporations from accountability when they harm consumers – the very antithesis of what the CPSC is supposed to be fighting for.

To learn more or to contact your U.S. Senator, visit www.stopbaroody.com today.