Cass Sunstein to be the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

Cass Sunstein is or was a law professor at the University of Chicago and Harvard University. Mr. Sunstein is a radical animal rights supporter. While I do not know if he is a member/supporter of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS, and no this is not your local animal shelter) or PETA, he obviously agrees with most of their ideals.

In the introduction of "Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions", a volume edited by Sunstein and his then-partner Martha Nussbaum. On page 11 of the introduction, during a philosophical discussion about the source of animal rights under the law, Sunstein notes that person hood need not be conferred upon an animal in order to grant it legal standingfor suit. Instead, Sunstein hypothesizes, animals could be granted "the right to bring suit" while represented by an attorney. For example, under current law, if someone say their neighbor beating a dog, they currently cannot bring suit for animal cruelty because they do not have legal standing to do so. Sunstein suggests that granting standing to animals, actionable by other parties, could decrease animal cruelty by increasing the likelihood that animal abuse will be punished.

In this introduction he does not propose doing so, but please, if he had these philosophical discussions/hypothesis and then wrote them in the introduction, then he believes this is how things should be!

Basically, his appointment as Admin of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs means he is now the regulation Czar, which allows him to have the final say in the consideration of alternatives to the rule making and analysis of the rule's effects on society, both its benefits and costs (from whitehouse.org). So the OIRA has a considerable amount of power, and can influence many different items to fit what he/she wants. Hence the apprehension of having an Animal Rights activist/supporter in this position, when you are involved in animal agriculture. It is very possible that his personal feelings against animal agriculture could lead him to try and shape federal regulations that will ultimately harm the agriculture industry.

For the record, myself and all of animal agriculture, believes in animal welfare, which is the proper care and handling of all animals throughout their lives. Farmers and ranchers know that if they don't treat their animals with the utmost care (proper handling, good nutrition, etc...) they would not be able to stay in business, but at the same time, they do it because it is the right thing to do (taking care of their animals) and they love what they do! Animal Rights groups believe that all animals should be able to roam free, no zoos, no hunting, no furs, no meat, milk, or cheese should be eaten, etc... These people are radical in their thinking.

Back to the matter at hand, here is a breakdown of the vote:

Alabama: Sessions (R-AL), Nay Shelby (R-AL), Nay

Alaska: Begich (D-AK), Nay Murkowski (R-AK), Nay
Arizona: Kyl (R-AZ), Nay McCain (R-AZ), Nay
Arkansas: Lincoln (D-AR), Nay Pryor (D-AR), Nay
California: Boxer (D-CA), Not Voting Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Colorado: Bennet (D-CO), Yea Udall (D-CO), Yea
Connecticut: Dodd (D-CT), Yea Lieberman (ID-CT), Yea
Delaware: Carper (D-DE), Yea Kaufman (D-DE), Yea
Florida: LeMieux (R-FL), Nay Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Georgia: Chambliss (R-GA), Nay Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Hawaii: Akaka (D-HI), Yea Inouye (D-HI), Yea
Idaho: Crapo (R-ID), Nay Risch (R-ID), Nay
Illinois: Burris (D-IL), Yea Durbin (D-IL), Yea
Indiana: Bayh (D-IN), Yea Lugar (R-IN), Yea
Iowa: Grassley (R-IA), Nay Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Kansas: Brownback (R-KS), Nay Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Kentucky: Bunning (R-KY), Nay McConnell (R-KY), Nay
Louisiana: Landrieu (D-LA), Yea Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Maine: Collins (R-ME), Yea Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Maryland: Cardin (D-MD), Yea Mikulski (D-MD), Yea
Massachusetts: Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Michigan: Levin (D-MI), Yea Stabenow (D-MI), Yea
Minnesota: Franken (D-MN), Yea Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Mississippi: Cochran (R-MS), Nay Wicker (R-MS), Nay
Missouri: Bond (R-MO), Nay McCaskill (D-MO), Yea
Montana: Baucus (D-MT), Yea Tester (D-MT), Yea
Nebraska: Johanns (R-NE), Nay Nelson (D-NE), Nay
Nevada: Ensign (R-NV), Nay Reid (D-NV), Yea
New Hampshire: Gregg (R-NH), Nay Shaheen (D-NH), Yea
New Jersey: Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
New Mexico: Bingaman (D-NM), Yea Udall (D-NM), Yea
New York: Gillibrand (D-NY), Yea Schumer (D-NY), Yea
North Carolina: Burr (R-NC), Nay Hagan (D-NC), Yea
North Dakota: Conrad (D-ND), Yea Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Ohio: Brown (D-OH), Yea Voinovich (R-OH), Yea
Oklahoma: Coburn (R-OK), Nay Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Oregon: Merkley (D-OR), Yea Wyden (D-OR), Yea
Pennsylvania: Casey (D-PA), Yea Specter (D-PA), Yea
Rhode Island: Reed (D-RI), Yea Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea
South Carolina: DeMint (R-SC), Nay Graham (R-SC), Nay
South Dakota: Johnson (D-SD), Yea Thune (R-SD), Nay
Tennessee: Alexander (R-TN), Nay Corker (R-TN), Nay
Texas: Cornyn (R-TX), Nay Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
Utah: Bennett (R-UT), Yea Hatch (R-UT), Yea
Vermont: Leahy (D-VT), Yea Sanders (I-VT), Nay
Virginia: Warner (D-VA), Yea Webb (D-VA), Nay
Washington: Cantwell (D-WA), Yea Murray (D-WA), Yea
West Virginia: Byrd (D-WV), Not Voting Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Wisconsin: Feingold (D-WI), Yea Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Wyoming: Barrasso (R-WY), Nay Enzi (R-WY), Nay

Final Vote: 57 Yeas - 40 Nays - 2 Not voting - 1 (absence of Sen. Kennedy)

Democrats:
Yeas - 50
Nays - 5

Republicans:
Yeas - 6
Nays - 34

Independents:
Yeas - 1
Nays - 1

To break it down some more, out of the 58 democrats in the Senate, all but five voted for Sunstein. Those not voting for his nomination were from Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska, and Virginia, which are all major animal Ag states with the exception of Alaska (they do have animal Ag, just not as much as the others mentioned here).

Out of the 40 republicans in the Senate, all but six voted against Sunstein. Those that voted for his nomination were from Indiana, Maine, Ohio, and Utah. Indiana and Ohio have large animal Ag operations, especially hogs, why those republican senators voted for the nomination is beyond me. Maine and Utah don't really factor in, but why did those Senators decide to go against the party, since it seems that both parties are sticking together? Not sure, but if I were Senator Lugar from Indiana or Senator Voinovich from Ohio, I would try to put out any fires I could with my agriculture constituents back home as soon as possible!

However, the thing I don't understand is all of the democrats from farming/animal Ag states that voted for Mr. Sunstein. States like Colorado, Florida, Montana, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota all of which have substantial beef cattle operations; Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, which are big hog states, and also those states that are big in poultry like Maryland and dairy states like Wisconsin and Minnesota all had senators that ignored their constituents in the Ag sector and voted for Mr. Sunstein.

I can't really talk bad about party politics, because most of the republicans did follow suit and vote against Mr. Sunstein, if for no other reason to try and deal a blow to President Obama. However I hope that most of the republicans that voted no, were doing it because they believed Mr. Sunstein would be bad for their voters back home, who work in and depend on animal agriculture.

But when it comes right down to it, does it really matter what we say anymore? No it doesn't. Sadly, politicians are only worried about getting re-elected and who has the power.

I may be an idealist, and still believe in doing the right thing, unlike our elected officials all over the country, but if those that dared to believe gave up every time they faced a hurdle, we would still be living in the dark ages.