Oh SH**, Cass Sunstein has been been confirmed by the Senate!!!!

Sorry to be the bearer of more gloom and doom, but confirmation of he seemingly benign academic, Cass Sunstein is the worse possible news.

Who who have thought that U.S. Senators, many of whom are highly educated, with competent research staffers at their disposal, could have made such an inappropriate and unthinkable choice.

Was it because they are craven, afraid to rock the boat, or are don't they care about placing individuals in positions of power that are not accountable to the Senate ... or to the American people? And third, the worst, perhaps those that voted "Yes" are in agreement and will be actively participating in the further screwing over those whom they vowed to represent and protect when taking the Oath of Office, pledging to "support and protect the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic."

When I see people in positions of power go over to the dark side I always wonder to whom they are indebted, and whose pet Senator might they be.

Why such a fuss over the appointment as the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Budget and Management? The individual in this key position hold a huge amount of power, and is accountable to no one save the President of the United States.

Cass Sunstein is yet another controversial figure within the galaxy of orbiting around Barak Obama. His name inspired fear even before confirmation. The reason: for many years, Sunstein's out of mainstream views have astounded everyone except the Far Left of the political and social spectrum.

This is not a problem of party affiliation. He frightens Democrats, Republicans, Independents, the unaligned, and many of the other small groups that are registered as political parties in the United States.

Here are examples of pronouncements brought to light by Glenn Beck, "Sunstein 'Most Dangerous' Czar," News Max, September 9, 2009:

• "Cass Sunstein is a guy who is against the Second Amendment, who believes that the purpose of the Second Amendment is not an individual right but a federal right. He ways almost all gun control legislation is constitutionally fine."
• "He also believes that we ought to ban hunting. He ways a willingness to subject animals to suffering will be seen as a form of barbarity, morally akin to slavery and the mass extermination of human beings. He believes that animals should have a right, should be able to bring suit, because they are not property ...

"This is a guy who thinks that rats should be able to have attorneys. If you have rats in your basement, you are not poison rats. You can't make this stuff up.

• "On free speech, Cass Sunstein says a system of limitless individual choices with respect to communications is not necessarily in the interest of citizenship and self-government.

  Beck said Sunstein "would like to control the internet" and espouses "a legislative effort to regulate broadcasting in the interest of Democratic principles. Wow, that's the words that [Venezuelan President Hugo] Chávez always used.

• "On taxes, Sunstein scolds readers like small-minded selfish children for opposing the size, scope, expansion, and skyrocketing expense of the government."

Beck said Democrats need 60 votes to confirm Sunstein but "they cannot get 60 votes with Ted Kennedy gone. That means that every single Republican must stand against Cass Sunstein, and most of these weasels in Washington haven't done their homework enough to know who this guy is."

Beck told listeners: "It's time to get everyone you know to call Capitol Hill" and voice opposition to Sunstein. "Call the Senate," because Sunstein is "the most dangerous guy out there right now.

What exactly is his job in the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and what does this agency do?

According to Wikipedia

It is staffed by both political appointees and career civil servants, who have been carrying out the same kinds of economic analysis and related analyses for the past 20 years. In addition to reviewing draft regulations under Executive Order 12866, OIRA reviews collections of information under the 1980Paperwork Reduction Act, and also develops and oversees the implementation of government-wide policies in areas of information technology, information policy, privacy, and statistical policy.

Executive Order 12866 describes OIRA's role in the rulemaking process. In it, the President directs agencies, to the extent permitted by law, to follow certain principles in rulemaking, such as consideration of alternatives and analysis of impacts, both benefits and costs. As the Executive Order directs, OIRA reviews agency draft regulations before publication to ensure agency compliance with this Executive Order. [...]

The issuance of Presidential regulatory principles, and the centralized review of draft regulations, has been part of regulatory development for 30 years in one form or another. This began with President Richard Nixon's "Quality of Life" program, and continued in the 1970s with President Ford's requirement in Executive Orders 11821 and 11949 for agencies to prepare inflation/economic impact statements and with President Carter's Executive Order 12044 on "Improving Government Regulations."[...]

As amended by President George W. Bush's Executive Order 13422, the Executive Order covers federal agencies' "guidance documents", an addition to regulations. The orders stated purpose is to ensure that agencies, to the extent permitted by law, comply with the regulatory principles stated in Executive Order 12866 and that the President's policies are reflected in agency rules. It also specifies procedures for the resolution of conflicts between or among agencies.

In July 2007, a controversy arose in the U.S. Congress over George W. Bush's Executive Order 13422, signed by Bush in January 2007 and took effect on July 24, 2007, giving the OIRA additional powers. The House of Representatives voted to prohibit OIRA from spending federal money on Executive Order 13422.

All of the above, dry as dust, is seemingly unintelligible and uninteresting, but taken in the context of Sunstein's book Nudge [read excerpts here and application of the principle here.

"Nudging" is "gently guiding us "to make better choices." However gently the nudge, or push to "do the right thing," it is still coercion, sometimes by stealth, other by blatant, overt government mandate.

"In some ways the whole project involves resetting the default buttons of your life to healthy and wealthy and wise. Of course someone else is doing the resetting, and that is where the problem lies," notes review Dahlia Liethwick at Slate.

Examples of nudging are high taxes on cigarettes to encourage smokers to stop. Replacing high-fat foods with fruit, veggies, and soy burgers in school cafeterias to "teach good food choices and to combat childhood obesity." Offering government incentives for the purchase of "green" cars, appliances, home improvements. Mandating that sellers must not take in account race, religion, or ethnicity when selling a home.

Protecting endangered species by restricting land use, denying water to farmers in order to preserve a species living in those waters, and so on are examples of government nudging us "to make better choices" are some of which we are already aware.

The fear that Sunstein inspires is that he will use his brand-new position to "nudge" us away from rights that the Constitution guarantees because of the spin or interpretation that will be put on laws, policies, and regulations in fulfillment of the Executive Order "to the full extent permitted by law," and American citizens will have no recourse, no way to petition for redress as the Founding Fathers intended.

But what do they matter? They're only a bunch of dead, white men, hypocrites all that didn't live up to the principles of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, liberty and freedom ... during their own time.

That's the new patriotism: drop the ideas of old, dead white men, and pick up those of the now generation that insist on justice of all kinds: social, environmental, economic, etc.

We are all equal under the law, but obviously we are not all equally created. But that doesn't matter. Cass Sunstein has been confirmed by the Senate to nudge us in the "right" directions to create equal and better outcomes ... no matter the cost.

Update: U.S. Senate Roll Call, vote 274, September 10, 2009, Cass Sunstein Confirmation.

How my Florida Senators voted: LeMieux (R-FL), Nay; Nelson (D-FL), Yea

Both will hear from me. I suggest you let your representatives in the Senate know how you feel about their vote as it's no longer wise to remain silent anymore.