Democrats don’t much care for Sam Fox, who was Bush’s nominee to be ambassador to Belgium. Fox was a major contributor to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that hit Kerry way below the belt in the 2004 campaign. Senate Democrats were so outraged by Fox’s nomination that Bush ultimately withdrew it. Pundits cooed that Bush was really getting the hang of working with Democrats.
No, he’s just a nasty, nasty man. With the Democrats gone for spring vacation, Bush gave Fox—and two others—recess appointments. But, he protested innocently, Fox won’t draw a government salary. (A) That may be unconstitutional, and (B) Fox is a multi-millionaire.
Who were the other two recess appointments? Well, it just gets better. Bush named Andrew Biggs, a champion of privatization—another issue on which many believed Bush had conceded defeat—as the deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration. Bush also named Susan Dudley, to whom all regulation looks like a sharpened silver cross does to a vampire, to lead the Office of Management and Budget—you know, the office that has to sign off on most government regulation. Her appointment promises to be particularly damaging following as it does on the heels of an executive order giving the OMB increased control over such important agencies as the EPA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The New York Times reached Sarah Feinberg, a spokeswoman for the Democratic caucus in the House, who managed to say, “Clearly, these are politically provocative acts.” I hereby nominate Sarah Feinberg for the grace under fire award.
