Cass Sunstein Regulatory Czar’s Confirmation on Hold

Obama Regulatory Czar’s Confirmation Held Up by Hunting Rights Proponent
FOX News
Obama’s nominee for “regulatory czar” has hit a new snag in his Senate confirmation process — a “hold” by Texas Sen. 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.
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 Sen. 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.”

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.
The Center for Consumer Freedom’s David Martosko, a Sunstein critic, said those positions make the agricultural industry — major stakeholders in the states represented by both Chambliss and Cornyn — nervous.
Sunstein, who is married to National Security Council Director of Multilateral Affairs Samantha Power, has earned widely varied reviews among the political left and right, and from some of the unlikeliest of quarters.
Adding to animal rights and cost-benefit analysis is concern over Sunstein’s positions on freedom of speech.
News of Sunstein’s latest book, “On Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, What Can Be Done,” lit up the blogosphere last week when The New York Post ran a column by a reviewer who received an advance copy.
Writer Kyle Smith suggested Sunstein threatens to tweak libel laws for the Internet and make online writers, particularly bloggers, legally responsible for falsehoods and rumors that get generated in cyberspace.

“Sunstein calls for a ‘notice and take down’ law that would require bloggers and service providers to ‘take down falsehoods upon notice,’ even those made by commenters — but without apparent penalty,” Smith wrote. “How long would it take for a court to sort out the truth? (Presidential daughters) Sasha and Malia will be running for president by then. Nobody will care anymore. But it will give politicians the ability to tie up their online critics in court.”

“Libel law, for example, might chill speech about public figures and public issues, in a way that could damage democratic debate. And if there is a ‘marketplace of ideas,’ we should be especially concerned about the risk of chilling effect because it will undermine processes that will ultimately produce the truth,” he wrote.

Sunstein, who once taught alongside Obama at the University of Chicago Law School, did not return an interview request from FOXNews.com.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Sunstein is a dangerous wacko. Normally the Czar’s don’t have to get Congressional approval. This guy was nominated to a position that is under Senate confirmation but he will also be a CZAR.
Regarding the animals being able to sue how would that work? How would the animals “advise” their attorney? Would animals be allowed to sue each other too? Imagine, chickens suing foxes; sheep suing wolves, etc.
Cass Sunstein is the author of several books. A couple of titles:
The Second Bill of Rights: FDR’s Unfinished Revolution–And Why We Need It More Than Ever
A Constitution of Many Minds: Why the Founding Document Doesn’t Mean What It Meant Before
Judge Napolitano said last night on Beck’s show that “his (Cass Sunstein) potential damage is limitless.” The Judge also said the guy would be fast tracked for the next Supreme Court vacancy. He MUST be stopped !

….Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67