Who's Who in the Bush Cabinet

While pundits thrashed about desperately during Election 2000 to inflate micronic differences between Gore and Dubya, one of the most important differences went largely unremarked: their probable Cabinet appointees. Now that George II has unveiled his choices, the cause for alarm has become apparent. In contrast to Bush's mediagenic rhetoric of bipartisanship and healing, few of his top administrative picks can be considered "moderate."

Meanwhile, the prospective Cabinet is littered with nominees that the Democratic Party should oppose -- for example, several are frothing, rabid ideologues, and several (Veneman, Norton, Mineta, Whitman, Rumsfield) are frightfully cozy with the industries they will be enriching. Others are completely unqualified. The Democrats zeroed in on John Ashcroft, and, improbably, Linda Chavez -- who needed opposing not because of acts of compassion to "illegal" immigrants, but because she was an unqualified zealot who knew nothing about labor. Democrats should also, at a minimum, be going after Veneman, Abraham, Norton, Whitman, Thompson, Martinez, Rumsfield, Powell, and Rice. At minimum.

Instead, the Democrats, who should rightfully occupy the White House, are rolling over and playing dead. Ashcroft will win confirmation; excepting John Tower's 1989 scandal troubles, the Senate has never in modern history failed to confirm a former colleague to the Cabinet. The others, despite some noise, will all sail through with the usual Senatorial and media kissy-kissy. Here's what we're in for:

Dept of Agriculture, Ann Veneman

Assistant Secretary of Agriculture under George I (91-92). Spent seven years in Dept. of Agriculture under Reagan-Bush (86-92). Ran CA state Agriculture Dept. Served on the board of Calgene, which researches genetically engineered foods (92-94). She's pro-GE foods, pro-export, pro-globalization, pro-cutting (she will oversee the Forest Service), and helped to negotiate farm portions of the GATT agreement.

Dept of Energy, Spencer Abraham

In 1999, he was one of a handful of Senators who sponsored a bill to abolish the DOE. He was a top aide to VP Dan Quayle. He's a major advocate for auto industry. In 2000, he joined a bid to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration. Strongly favors utility deregulation. No idea how to manage the DOE's nuclear weapons facilities.

Dept of Interior, Gale Norton

Norton lobbied in DC for a lead paint manufacturer, NL Industries, which is named as a defendant in lawsuits involving 75 Superfund and toxic waste sites, plus a dozen suits of children poisoned by lead paint. Was Colorado's Attorney General from 91-99. Supports mining and oil and gas exploration and more timber harvesting on all federal lands. A harsh critic of the Endangered Species Act, her first job in 1979 was at James Watt's Mountain States Legal Foundation. Founder and serves on the Advisory Committee for the Coalition of Republican Environmental Advocates, a pseudo-green front group funded by energy companies and associations representing the mining, logging, chemical, and coal industries. She pushed for Colorado's "self-audit" law that allows polluting companies to monitor themselves.

Dept of Transportation, Norman Mineta

Currently Commerce Secretary under Clinton. He was a senior VP at Lockheed Martin Corp. He was a key author of the 1991 Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, which devolved responsibility for transportation down to state and local governments. Most importantly, he's a big supporter of the aviation industry (Boeing & Lockheed Martin love him).

EPA, Christine Todd Whitman

As governor, she cut the New Jersey environmental protection budget by 30%, relaxed enforcement of pollution regulations, promoted voluntary compliance by industry, abolished NJ's environmental prosecutor's office. New Jersey has the highest number of Superfund sites in the nation. She regularly fought with the EPA over numerous issues concerning lax compliance with environmental laws in her state. Whitman has said she doubts that the giant ozone hole over the North Pole or global warming are actually serious problems.