Obama Nominates FSIS Under Secretary (One Year Too Late)

I just posted a story here on this (4.00 / 2)

Although I could only refer readers to the article on Daily Kos because La Vida keeps rejecting the code.  Anyway, there are seven reasons why that proposed nomination is troubling, based on what little USDA is letting us know about her and based on my insider knowledge of FSIS.

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by: Deep Harm @ Tue Jan 26, 2010 at 21:54:41 PM UTC

I saw (4.00 / 3)

I tried to fix it for you but couldn't. No idea why my site is doing that. What insider knowledge do you have of FSIS?

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Tue Jan 26, 2010 at 22:46:22 PM UTC

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It's posted at Daily Kos (4.00 / 2)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/...

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by: Deep Harm @ Wed Jan 27, 2010 at 01:14:23 AM UTC

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in the dKos diary (4.00 / 1)

the quote at Reason 7 contains a couple of squares where apostrophes would be.

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by: count @ Wed Jan 27, 2010 at 02:05:48 AM UTC

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Thanks (4.00 / 2)

For some reason, it has been horrible to get the material formatted properly.

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by: Deep Harm @ Wed Jan 27, 2010 at 03:21:45 AM UTC

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Someone in charge? (4.00 / 2)

How long do you think this nomination might take to clear? Remember, we just lost a person who I thought would have been a good nominee for TSA. See your South Carolina diary - Erroll Southers was blocked by DeMint for being born African-American. What excuse will someone think up to block this nominee? And what would Obama or the Senate do about it?

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by: count @ Wed Jan 27, 2010 at 00:49:17 AM UTC

Funniest thing. (4.00 / 1)

Less than a week ago, Eddie C posted a diary about meat safety. I posted a comment about this Undersecretary vacancy.

See the link in that comment? When I posted the comment, it went to the USDA page that should have presented the Undersecretary's bio, and it was empty, which is why I posted the link - I thought it was funny, and I thought it might startle someone who chased the link. It had been empty for a long time. Before that, it contained the bio of the Acting Undersecretary who replaced Richard Raymond.

That link now automatically redirects to the bio of the Deputy Undersecretary, less than a week after the comment was posted. I tell ya Jill, someone in high places reads this blog. I don't I don't think the change is the result of Eddie C's dKos diary - when he copied my comment there, he didn't include the link.

Right now I can't find the page for the previous Acting Undersecretary, which was still available (cached)a month ago. Still looking. Or maybe I'm just dreaming all this stuff.

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by: count @ Wed Jan 27, 2010 at 02:59:33 AM UTC

Caches have been disappearing (4.00 / 2)

and, normally, they don't go away that quickly.  It appears that someone is actively erasing cached files, which isn't easily done without some clout.

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by: Deep Harm @ Wed Jan 27, 2010 at 03:26:55 AM UTC

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Blessings of transparency. (4.00 / 2)

What would we ever do without such a transparent administration?

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by: count @ Wed Jan 27, 2010 at 03:37:38 AM UTC

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Elizabeth Johnson (4.00 / 1)

Richard Raymond, whose resignation was scheduled to become effective October 1, according to this press release, was followed by Elizabeth Johnson as Acting Undersecretary. She apparently stayed for less than three months, then became executive vice president for public affairs at the National Restaurant Association.

Johnson had a USDA bio page while she was Acting Undersecretary, which was available last month. I can't find it now. Doesn't necessarily mean it disappeared, I'm a lousy inet searcher.

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by: count @ Wed Jan 27, 2010 at 15:18:44 PM UTC

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Richard Raymond (4.00 / 2)

In Obama nominates Hagen as food safety undersecretary, a reporter writes

Richard Raymond, who held the post until last year, said it was "high time" someone filled this position, the highest ranking food safety official in the U.S. government. "It is a tough job, and I know Elisabeth has the passion and toughness that is necessary to move food safety forward in a very tough environment."

Not true. False statement, in other words. Richard Raymond was Under Secretary for Food Safety from July 2005 to September 2008.

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by: count @ Wed Jan 27, 2010 at 03:11:03 AM UTC

Raymond's support is another red flag (4.00 / 2)

As he was a Bush administration appointee who (in my personal experience) covered up problems.

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by: Deep Harm @ Wed Jan 27, 2010 at 03:24:39 AM UTC

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Yes, but (4.00 / 1)

He's been speaking and writing about this for months. I don't know if he supports Hagen specifically, but he has strongly criticized the vacancy.

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by: count @ Wed Jan 27, 2010 at 03:31:50 AM UTC

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Timeline (4.00 / 2)

The same reporter got it right on January 19, 2010.

Pressure's on for Obama to fill 'food czar' job at USDA

The undersecretary, a political appointee confirmed by Congress, can push for change in ways difficult for career USDA staffers, says Richard Raymond, who held the job until September 2008.

 

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by: count @ Wed Jan 27, 2010 at 03:30:25 AM UTC

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