Democracy Now! reports via AlterNet
Ken Salazar is a former U.S. Senator from Colorado who now works at WilmerHale, one of the most influential lobbying firms in Washington. Some groups have criticized Salazar's selection due to his vocal support of fracking, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the Keystone XL pipeline.
In addition to Ken Salazar, other leaders of the transition team include former Obama National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, Center for American Progress head Neera Tanden, former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, and Maggie Williams, the director of Harvard's Institute of Politics.
[...] WilmerHale [represents] corporate clients across the board--Cigna, for instance. Cigna is a healthcare giant that is fighting for a merger with Anthem. WilmerHale represents them, Delta Airlines, Verizon, investment firms, a mining company. So, WilmerHale is a major law and lobbying firm.
Ken Salazar is not a registered lobbyist at WilmerHale; he is a partner there. Interestingly enough, Hillary Clinton had published a year ago an op-ed deriding the revolving door where lawmakers leave office and become lobbyists or help special interests. And she had specifically said that she was concerned about lawmakers who go into that line of work, public policy work, for corporate clients, but do not register as a lobbyist, which seems to fit the description of Ken Salazar.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @07:09PM
There are checks and balances that limit Trump.
Hillary has already demonstrated that she is beyond such things. Laws do not apply to a Clinton.
Trump is no Santorum, Perry, or Palin. He's actually pretty damn liberal if you look at his history and ignore the more-recent attention-seeking stunts.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday August 19 2016, @07:15PM
It's not ABOUT him, damn it, that's my entire point! He'll be another useless figurehead like Dubya the Flight-suited Chimp while the Cheneys and the Rumsefelds and the--ugh--even worse Dominionist types wreak holy hell on the country. They've long since figured out how to neuter or bypass the supposed checks and balances. And, again, Supreme Court. Imagine one to three people as bad as Scalia on the SCOTUS. Stop and think about what that would mean for us.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 19 2016, @09:05PM
For the long term, what is worse, 3 Scalia clones or letting in millions of people who think we should live with 7th century values?
Hint: see how it's going in Sweden and Germany.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday August 19 2016, @09:44PM
Both are game-over scenarios, but I don't think we're going to go the way of Europe. Three Scalias, however, is a guaranteed ticket to hell on earth in the US of A.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...