While pundits thrashed about desperately during Election 2000 to inflate micronic differences between Gore and Dubya, one of the most important differences went largely unremarked: their probable Cabinet appointees. Now that George II has unveiled his choices, the cause for alarm has become apparent. In contrast to Bush's mediagenic rhetoric of bipartisanship and healing, few of his top administrative picks can be considered "moderate," and the ones that can generally have at least one of the two other problems common to Bush's appointees: they are either weak yes-persons or completely unqualified for the job. (For example, of the four financial posts, only one, Larry Lindsey, a zealous Reaganomics advocate, has any Wall Street experience at all.) Bush's "Iron Triangle" of senior advisors will wield far more White House influence than his Cabinet.

Meanwhile, the prospective Cabinet is littered with nominees that the Democratic Party should be opposing--because, along with lack of qualification, several of them are frothing, rabid ideologues, and several (Veneman, Norton, Mineta, Whitman, Rumsfeld) are frightfully cozy with the industries they will be enriching. The Democrats zeroed in on John Ashcroft, and, improbably, Linda Chavez--who should have been opposed not because of an acts of compassion to "illegal" immigrants, but because Chavez was an unqualified zealot who knew nothing about labor and despised unions. Democrats should also, at a minimum, be going after Veneman, Abraham, Norton, Whitman, Thompson, Martinez, Rumsfield, Powell, and Rice. At minimum.

Instead, the Democrats, who should rightfully occupy the White House, are rolling over and playing dead. Ashcroft will likely win confirmation; with the exception of John Tower, embroiled in scandal in 1989, the Senate has never in modern history failed to confirm a former colleague to a Cabinet position. The others, despite some grass roots noise, will all sail through with the usual Senatorial and media kissy-kissy. Here's what we're in for:

(note: for all listings, some background information comes from a Cabinet profile series by the Washington Post. Other media sources as listed.)

THE BUSH CABINET: Part One

Environmental:

Dept of Agriculture, Ann Veneman Merely Conservative, which is bad enough, as you'll see. Assistant Secretary of Agriculture under George I (91-92). Spent seven years in Dept. of Agriculture under Reagan-Bush (86-92). Ran CA state Agriculture Dept. under Pete Wilson (95-98). During Clinton time, she practiced law and represented Dole Foods, served on the board of Calgene, which does a lot of genetically engineered food research (92-94). She's pro-GE foods, pro-export, pro-globalization, pro-cutting (she will oversee the Forest Service), and she helped to negotiate farm portions of the GATT agreement. But she's considered "centrist."

Dept of Energy, Spencer Abraham Neanderthal In 1999, he was one of a handful of Senators who sponsored a bill to do away with the DOE. He was a top aide to VP Dan Quayle. As a one-term Senator from Michigan, home of the US auto industry, he blocked higher fuel economy standards for SUVs and light trucks, and tried to suspend the federal gas tax when gas prices shot up. He's a major advocate for auto industry. In 2000, he joined a bid to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration. He opposed money for research in solar energy and clean energy sources. Will be dealing with utility deregulation, which he is all for. Will be dealing with nuclear weapons facilities (including Hanford), which he has no clue how to manage.

Dept of Interior, Gale Norton Neanderthal Her law firm, Brownstein, Hyatt & Farber, lobbies in DC for Delta Petroleum, Timet-Titanium Metals Corp, the Shaw Group (pipes for oil and power plants), Ustman Technologies (monitors underground storage tanks), and Warren Rogers Associates (sells products and services for chemical and petroleum storage tanks). She lobbied in DC for a lead paint manufacturer, NL Industries (formerly National Lead Co.), which is named as a defendant in lawsuits involving 75 Superfund and toxic waste sites, plus a dozen lawsuits of children poisoned by lead paint.

She was Colorado's Attorney General from 91-99. During her tenure, the Summitville mine disaster occurred (cyanide leakage killed all aquatic life in the Alamosa River); she refused to file criminal charges against its executives, who fled the U.S. She's for mining, oil, and gas exploration on all federal lands. She wants more timber harvesting on federal lands. Advocates the use of the free market to protect the environment (huh?).

Her first job out of college in 1979 was at the Mountain States Legal Foundation under James Watt, who was her mentor. Founder and serves on the Advisory Committee for the Coalition of Republican Environmental Advocates," which, according to genuinely green Republicans, is a front group broadly funded by energy companies and associations representing the mining, logging, chemical, and coal industries. She's a harsh critic of the Endangered Species Act. She pushed for Colorado's stupid "self-audit" law that allows polluting companies to monitor themselves. Property rights people love her.

In Reagantime, she worked as an associate solicitor for the Dept of Interior under Watt--that's her only DC experience. In that capacity, she authored opinions supporting drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She will be in control of the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, Fish & Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs (for which she has no experience). [Sierra Club, Rocky Mountain News, Denver Post]

Dept of Transportation, Norman Mineta Merely Conservative, which is bad enough. He's a Democrat, but he's a very, very conservative one. He's currently Commerce Secretary under Clinton. He was a senior VP at Lockheed Martin Corp. He's pro-transit, but also pro-highway construction; in general, he's pro- contractor. Supports local funding and control of transportation projects. He was a key author of the 1991 Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, which devolved responsibility for transportation down to state & local governments. But, most importantly, he's a big supporter of the aviation industry (Boeing and Lockheed love him). He has consistently pushed for more aviation spending (airport expansions included).

EPA, Christine Todd Whitman Neanderthal of the worst kind. She cut the New Jersey environmental protection budget by 30%, relaxed enforcement of pollution regulations, promoted voluntary compliance by industry (see Norton above), abolished NJ's environmental prosecutor's office and replaced it with a business ombudsman. Pollution fines and prosecutions have dropped dramatically under her. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility conducted a survey of NJ state environmental employees which found that they overwhelmingly believed that under Whitman, industry was calling the shots. New Jersey has the highest number of Superfund sites in the nation. She removed 1,000 chemicals from the state's right-to-know list. She signed an executive order that rolled back all state environmental laws that were tougher than federal ones. She has regularly fought with federal EPA over her delay of new standards for auto emissions inspections, a proposed highway expansion, her efforts to relax water quality standards, and she cut a deal with a big Republican cranberry grower who had committed several wetlands violations. Whitman, soon to be the nation's leading environmentalist, has said she doubts that the giant ozone hole over the North Pole or global warming are actually serious problems. She has no specific environmental experience, but that hasn't stopped her from doing as much damage as she can. [Public Employees for Environmental Review]

Economic:

Dept of Commerce, Donald (Donnie) Evans Clueless. George II's closest friend and confident, an insider in the Texas "oil mafia," also close to Dick Cheney. As George II's presidential campaign chairman, he raised $100 million. Only worked for 1 company in his life--Tom Brown, Inc., an oil & gas company. Nine years as President and 10 years as CEO. No Wall Street or economic experience at all. Almost no national political experience.

Dept of Treasury, Paul O'Neill Clueless Was deputy director of Office of Management & Budget under Ford, considered a "moderate Republican," Chairman of Alcoa Corp., one of the nation's largest toxic polluters; O'Neill owns 1.6 million shares of Alcoa, worth more than $50 million. He has no Wall Street experience at all. Supports balanced federal budget, critic of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. Has sworn allegiance to Bush's tax cut plan. He's a Washington insider, but on the business side of things (friends with Cheney, Greenspan, & George Schultz). Chair of the board of Rand Corp., serves on other right-wing think tank boards. Political policy insider, no real economic experience.

Office of Budget & Management, Mitch Daniels Also Clueless Corporate VP for Eli Lilly & Co. pharmaceuticals for the last 13 years. (Bush family has extensive stock in Eli Lilly.) Wants to maintain R&D funding for drug companies. Complete lack of experience in budgetary matters. No tax experience. The two things he'll be doing in his job is drafting the national budget and dealing with tax issues. Loves Bush tax cut plan. Will be working, like all his economic advisors, on Medicare and Social Security privatization. Served as political director under Reagan (85-87). Headed right-wing think tank Hudson Institute. Daniels, who advocates strict enforcement of laws against casual drug users, was arrested for marijuana possession in 1970. Was a key player in Quayle's VP campaign.

Assistant for Economic Affairs, Larry Lindsey Right-wing Nut A defender of Reagonomics. A long-time tax-cut advocate who drafted George II's tax cut plan and plan to reform Social Security by creating individual investment accounts (notably, Lindsay pulled all his money out of the US stock market when it hit 8500--fucking hypocrite). Lindsay will pull the economic strings. He has also argued in print that a federal tax-cut plan cannot be implemented in time to effect a recession (fucking hypocrite!).

Foreign Affairs & Security:

Dept of Justice, John Ashcroft (Atty General) Beyond Neanderthal Opposes abortion, hates gays, supports the death penalty, opposes a moratorium on executions, supports tougher sentences for drug crimes (and opposed money for drug treatment), and opposes any and all gun control laws (even ones currently on the books). He sponsored a program in the 1996 Welfare Reform Act that allows states to provide services through church groups. In short, he's nuts. He has no interest in enforcing civil rights laws, environmental regulations, and anti-trust regulations. Bye bye Microsoft case and anti-tobacco lawsuits!

Although he adores Clarence Thomas, civil rights groups call him a racist; he opposed the appointment of Bill Lann Lee to head the civil rights division at Justice and he shot down the appointment of Ronnie White (the first African-American on the Missouri Supreme Court) to a federal district court bench. In a 1998 interview he lauded the cause of pro-slavery Confederate secessionists; in 1999, Ashcroft accepted an honorary degree from Bob Jones University, which bans interracial dating.

He opposed David Satcher for confirmation as Surgeon General because of Satcher's support for partial-birth abortions. He is reportedly known among lobbyists as an advocate for drug companies and the automotive industry, and for preventing consumers from suing HMOs. According to the biggest newspaper in his home state, "Mr. Ashcroft has built a career out of opposing school desegregation in St. Louis and opposing African-Americans for public office."

He has the distinction of having united labor, civil rights groups, minority groups, women's groups, and environmentalists in opposing him. [Associated Press, New Republic, The Nation, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Normon Solomon]

Part Two next issue: more Foreign Affairs & Security, Trade, Social Services and the Iron Triangle.