corruption

Baroody To Receive $150,000 Pay Off From National Association of Manufacturers

Baroody To Receive $150,000 Pay Off From National Association of Manufacturers

This is re-goddamn-diculous. From the New York Times (emphasis ours):

A senior lobbyist at the National Association of Manufacturers nominated by President Bush to lead the Consumer Product Safety Commission will receive a $150,000 departing payment from the association when he takes his new government job, which involves enforcing consumer laws against members of the association.

This guy has no business being the head of the CPSC. The reason there is a Consumer Products Safety Commission in the first place is so that there is something to keep tabs on people like Michael Baroody and the companies he represents.

Mr. Baroody said in the letter that the payment would not prevent him from considering matters involving individual companies that are members of the manufacturers’ association, many of whom are defendants in agency proceedings over defective products or have other business before the commission. Nor would it preclude him from involvement with smaller trade groups like those representing makers of home appliances and children’s products that have alliances with the association.

Oh no, $150k won’t influence his opinion. It doesn’t need to, his opinions are already known. He’s a lobbyist, for pete’s sake.

Doctors Who Have "Close Relationships" With Drug Makers Prescribe Newer, Pricier Drugs

Doctors Who Have "Close Relationships" With Drug Makers Prescribe Newer, Pricier Drugs

“When honest human beings have a vested stake in seeing the world in a particular way, they’re incapable of objectivity and independence,” said Max H. Bazerman, a professor at Harvard Business School. “A doctor who represents a pharmaceutical company will tend to see the data in a slightly more positive light and as a result will overprescribe that company’s drugs.”

In Minnesota, a state in which drug company payouts are disclosed to the public, “More than 250 … psychiatrists together earned $6.7 million in drug company money — more than any other specialty. Seven of the last eight presidents of the Minnesota Psychiatric Society have served as consultants to drug makers, according to the Times examination.”

Study Finds “Reverse Robin Hood” Effect In Illinois

    Draw a map of Chicago-area communities where businesses have received state subsidies. Now draw another of places plagued by joblessness.

Pith & Vinegar: Special Questions Edition

Pith & Vinegar: Special Questions Edition

• Are asking questions a copout from doing hardcore blogging? [The Consumerist]