Inez Tenenbaum’s “holier than thou” attitude appears to be the problem at the grid-locked Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The Washington Post reports this morning about partisanship at the CPSC resulting in gridlock. In addition to accusing Republican CPSC commissioners of “delay and distortion” in a Huffington Post article, Chairman Inez Tenenbaum told the Post:
I would like for the relationships to be collegial, but if they cannot be collegial then I will fight on behalf of children no matter what.
The Post goes on to report,
[Republican Commissioners] Northup and Nord were incensed by Tenenbaum’s critique.
Northup, who once suggested that the commission should be reduced to just one commissioner in part to save tax dollars, said she was “shocked” at Tenenbuam’s Huffington Post piece.
“Basically, she controls the whole agenda, and she has clearly over many months decided to proceed forward without regard to making concessions or trying to build a consensus,” Northup said.
On a blog posting, Nord featured a cork board with a “Thou Shalt Not disagree with the Chairman” note pinned to it.
“The purpose of having five commissioners is to have a variety of viewpoints,” she said.