Gary Locke: Another Obama Mispick?
As the presumptive Secretary of Commerce, former Gov. and King County exec Gary Locke first has to pass the pre-announcement stage, the post-announcement stage, and, finally, confirmation. There is the added stress factor that Obama's two prior choices for the cabinet seat flamed out, so he's got to be squeaky clean. The Seattle Times today says he's exactly that, so it must be true. 
Of course, there was that memory loss and all those "I don't recall . . . I don't remember" statements to Congressional investigators in 1999, probing his gubernatorial campaign fund-raising efforts; the astonishing $3.2 billion tax break he gave to Boeing while never disclosing he paid $715,000 to - and relied on the advice of - Boeing's own private consultant and outside auditor for advice; and those favors for his brother-in-law (who lived in the governor's mansion), including a tax break for his relative's company, personal intervention in a company dispute, and Locke's signature on a federal loan application for the company.
Other than that, yes, squeaky clean.
4 comment(s)
Howard Garrett says:
For the record:
Gov. Locke has been a reliable friend of the southern resident orcas. You may recall that on May 5, 2003, the USS Shoup was training with mid-frequency active sonars in Haro Strait where 23 members of J pod were foraging. The whales were videotaped as they bunched up near the shore and seemed very agitated, and at least 7 porpoises washed up dead days later. In June, 2003 Gov. Locke wrote a letter to the acting secretary of the Navy requesting a report on the incident and an explanation of the mitigation measures to prevent it from happening again. He wrote: "The actual or potential impact of sonar use on Puget Sound marine mammals is a concern."
Ten years ago Gov. Locke said about our endangered Chinook, “extinction is not an option.”
As Secretary of Commerce, Locke will preside over the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Marine Fisheries Service (responsible for salmon and orca recovery) and will have a key role in determining how to restore salmon runs in the Salish Sea and from the Columbia River to the Sacramento. The Obama team has declared that respect for science is back, and with Locke at Commerce and OSU environmental scientist and marine ecologist Jane Lubchenko as the new head of NOAA there is every reason to expect that sound science will guide restoration efforts, at last.
Also, in December 2002 Governor Locke provided money from his own discretionary funds to pay for the rescue tug at Neah Bay to prevent oil spills, during the state's 2 billion dollar shortfall.
Gov. Locke is also among the political figures who have supported the goals of the Lolita Come Home campaign to retire the Southern resident orca captured in 1970 who remains on display in a Miami marine park (http://www.orcanetwork.org/captivity/captivity.html).
If Gov. Locke is nominated and confirmed as Sec. of Commerce he will be in a position to act on these principles immediately in the determination of the impacts of the proposed expansion of the Navy's NW Training Range to include most of the waters along the coast from Neah Bay, WA to Eureka, CA. If approved, multiple ships, subs and aircraft will be practicing with a wide range of sonars including explosive active sonars, along with demolition charges, torpedoes and a variety of anti-submarine munitions (http://www.orcanetwork.org/help/nwtrange.html). The comment period has been extended to March 11, and NOAA is required to review the proposal and comment on the potential impacts to marine mammals (including endangered Southern resident orcas) and birds, fish (especially listed Chinook salmon) and turtles along the coastline. The Navy EIS says no marine mammal mortalities are anticipated due to mitigations such as placing observers on ships and listening for whale calls amid the maneuvering ships, sonars and explosions. As Sec. of Commerce, Locke (or Lubchenko) will review the EIS and at the very least, comment on how realistic that prediction of no mortalities really is. It's unclear whether NOAA can hold up the training range expansion.
Locke can also be a valuable voice in Sec. Clinton's diplomatic initiatives to tone down international tensions following 8 years of Bush/Cheney hostility, which degraded communications and contributed to the perceived need to train for an attack by enemy submarines.
Posted On: Tuesday, Feb. 24 2009 @ 10:42AM
Will says:
He was also one of the players behind the scenes who gave a billion-dollar stadium to a billionaire.
Posted On: Tuesday, Feb. 24 2009 @ 11:06AM
swatter says:
Howard, that sounds like a fine endorsement for Secretary of Commerce. NOT!!!
Posted On: Tuesday, Feb. 24 2009 @ 1:29PM
Howard Garrett says:
Reading comments in newspapers I get the distinct impression that some wingnut shock jocks are telling their dittoheads to stalk the comment boards.
Posted On: Wednesday, Feb. 25 2009 @ 8:38AM