Conservatives criticize Obama's OSHA nominee: "Conservatives hunt for next Van Jones"

A recent article on The Washington Times called "Conservatives hunt for next Van Jones" states, "Emboldened by the ouster of presidential adviser Van Jones,conservative and business groups are launching fresh challenges aimed at derailing President Obama's nominees." One of these main targets being David Michaels, Pres. Obama's pick to head OSHA.

What has started the criticism this time? It seems that Michaels, who as an academic, published a book attacking corporate executives for the tactics they used to fight class-action lawsuits. Republican critics said they considered Michaels to be too close to trial lawyers because of his aggressive advocacy on their behalf. Strong criticism aimed at Mr. Michaels follows a pattern that began with the case of Cass Sunstein, who last week was confirmed by the Senate as the White House's top regulator. It turns out that Mr. Sunstein has displayed very strong views on on animal rights and organ donations. Criticism grew as Michael's writings on tactics that corporations have used to fend off class-action lawsuits and a paper on his strong views about the perils of gun ownership surfaced on the web.

"We are definitely troubled by Michaels' nomination," said Keith Smith, the director of employment and labor policy and the National Association of Manufacturers. "We will be urging the Senate committee to carefully review his nomination." A lot of the concern has been based largely on Michael's writings on the role of scientific evidence in class-action lawsuits. "The problem is that his approach in every case seemed to be to paint employers as a whole as malevolent actors." "That is not a quality that the business community would like in someone responsible for policing workplace safety," he added.

Grover Norquist, founder of the conservative advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform has also displayed strong objections towards Michael's nomination. "These are not the appointees of an unassuming, moderate, non-ideological guy. These are people with very extreme views."

"Mr. Michaels is a nationally recognized leader in efforts to ensure the integrity of the science underpinning public health and environmental regulation. These accusations are simply ridiculous and false," White House spokesman Thomas Vietor said. The article also states that Mr. Michaels did not respond to telephone and e-mail messages, but White House officials said the attacks leveled at Mr. Michaels and Mr. Sunstein have been strictly partisan, and nothing like those directed at Mr. Jones.

It is still unsure if Michaels will be appointed. The Senate committee that will handle his confirmation hearings has not scheduled the proceedings. The president's supporters said Monday they will not sit back idly if they see attempts to torpedo Mr. Obama's nominees.

The full article can be found on http://bit.ly/YYzpr