Cass Sunstein is really not what Glenn Beck has him all cooked up to be. At first glance, he does seem pretty scary, pretty left, and pretty bad news, but you have to then consider what his job actually is, what his views actually are, and how they will actually dictate his job.
He is not actually another of Obama’s czars. In fact he is filling an official senate position that has been around since 1980. The title is the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Management and Budget.
Now, think logically, do you really think someone as seemingly radical as Sunstein would get such smooth sailing in the senate? Wouldn’t you think more Republicans would have voted against him? As a matter of fact, his nomination was met with opposition from the left because he was deemed to conservative. So is Sunstein really the liberal wacko we think he is?
Sunstein has in fact a deregulatory mindset when it come to the economy. In his book ‘Nudge’ he makes clear that he believes that it is more effective for the Gov-t to attempt to ‘nudge’ the market rather than to have all out regulations or even bans as some left wing economists would like. In other words, Sunstein believes in minimal involvement of the Gov-t in our economy. Pretty conservative.
One may argue that Sunsteins alleged views on the environment will dictate his policies, but looking over Sunsteins writing will dispel such worries. While Sunstein seems to believe that we should take caution with the environment, he makes it very clear that it should not be done at the expense of the economy and he has argued for strict cost-benefit analysis of government regulations. In other words he asserts; sure help the environment, but don’t go crazy and throw industry to the wind.
Another concern about Sunstein was that he would attempt to take away our right to bear arms. However he endorsed the Supreme Court’s pro-gun ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller and wrote an article stating that taking away that right would cause unacceptable unrest and outrage around the country, reason enough to leave it alone. But maybe he just doesn't like confrontation. What are his real views on the issue? Sunstein wrote a letter to Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA):
“I strongly believe that the Second Amendment creates an individual right to possess and use guns for purposes of both hunting and self-defense. I agree with the Supreme Court’s decision in the Heller case, clearly recognizing the individual right to have guns for hunting and self-defense. If confirmed, I would respect the Second Amendment and the individual right that it recognizes.”
Despite Sunsteins views on animals, I don’t think this is cause for concern and Sunstein himself stated that pushing such agendas would cause an unacceptable burden on ranchers and farmers.
That is not to say that Sunstein is not an animal rights activist. He certainly is. He does believe that concerned people should be able to sue on behalf of an animal for violations of animal cruelty law. He reasons that frivolous suits would be kept in check because of lawyer’s fees. He also believes that hunting for a hobby or sport (not in reference to food) should be made illegal because it serves no purpose. He is not against farming animals, but rather he is an advocate of improving the living conditions of the animals. He says that meat eating is acceptable so long as the animal lived a descent life. He is not for creating new animal-rights laws, but rather for creating awareness for and enforcing existing ones. Listening to a lecture he gave I discovered that Sunstein’s philosophy for his agenda is not to impose regulations, but to force companies to give disclosures of their practices. Sunstein stated that the mere transparency would nudge (like mentioned above) companies to improve their activities in regard to animals.
Bottom line; The biggest controversy around Sunstein are his views on animal rights. However, Sunstein seems to be a non-confrontation type of person. He pursues non-controversial aspects of the animal-rights debate and seeks to strengthen areas in which there is generally bi-partisan agreement. While he is indeed quite ‘green’ minded, he does not support ideas that would cause societal unrest or force people to change their way of life. As far as his animal-rights agenda would affect his decisions, we can expect him to pursue transparency in the farming, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and entertainment industries, but we need not worry about Gov-t regulations being that Sunstein views Gov-t intervention as bad for the economy. Are there better conservative choices than Suntein? Certainly. But the Republicans need be strategic here and see the bigger picture. While Sunstein is a very lefty liberal, his economic views are rather conservative, and the fact of the matter is this; with the current administration, Suntstein is about as good as the Republicans are going to get (and he’s not even that bad). If they oust him, it is likely that he will be replaced by someone a little less ‘green’, but a lot more economically left (regulations, Gov-t intervention etc). So if the position concerns the economy, get the guy who’s good for the economy whatever his views on animals may be.
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