Obama Staffing Update

Somr more leaks;
Mary Beth Maxwell on for Labor Secretary, which is interesting. She is gay and the founding executive director of American Rights at Work…..I’m not sure if this is good sign, that Obama wants a strong labor person , or a bad sign, that he could put a gay person there to act as a safety valve to diminish pressure on eliminating DADT.

It also appears that Rep. James Ramstad (R-MN) is his choice for Drug Czar, which counts as a Republican on the cabinet, though there is a lot of opposition.

Ramstad has a record of opposing things like needle exchanges to bring down AIDS rates, and voting against increased funding for treatment. He is a lock them up kind of guy.

For Trade Representative, the word is that it is, Representative Xavier Becerra (D-CA), who has some fairly good cred on the free trade agreement skeptic side of the house. He did vote for NAFTA, but has publicly regretted it ever since, and has been a harsh critic of recent agreements.

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