Cronyisim We Can Believe In

By David Duncan

On July 6th, President Obama nominated 10 individuals for key Administration posts. One of these individuals is Daniel R. Elliott III.

He has been nominated as Chaiman, Surface Transportation Board (source: whitehouse.gov). Elliott currently serves as Associate General Counsel of the United Transportation Union. A position he has held since 1993. Of major note is that the UTU made substatial political contributions during the 2008 election cycle. In total, its members dontated almost $1.4 million to state and federal campaigns. 92% of that went to Democratic campaigns (source: www.opensecrets.org)

So by spending $1.3 Million, the UTU guaranteed proper representation on the Surface Transportation Board. So much for "Change We Can Believe In". It's politics as usual with cronyisim on the top of the list. I am almost sure that no one from Union Pacific will get a job on the board given their contributions in 2008 - $13.7 Million which is broken down to 23% Dem and 76% Rep (source: opensecrets.org)