Sunstein picked for sharing Obama's radical views?

Cass Sunstein

JERUSALEM – Was President Obama's newly confirmed regulatory czar, Cass Sunstein, chosen because he holds radical positions that mirror some of Obama's own personal views?

WND last week exposed Sunstein argued it is "desirable" to redistribute America's wealth to poorer nations.

The comments seem eerily similar to a 2001 radio interview that surfaced on the Internet during last year's presidential campaign in which Obama is heard promoting "major redistributive change."

In the interview, Obama doubted whether redistribution of wealth could be brought about by the U.S. court system. He did not propose another mechanism for such radical change.

However, as WND reported, Sunstein, the new White House regulatory czar, proposed interpretation of federal laws be made not by judges but by the beliefs and commitments of the U.S. president and those around him.

During the presidential campaign, the blogosphere was abuzz with audio clips from a 2001 Chicago Public Radio interview in which Obama made clear he favored redistribution of the country's wealth while lamenting the court may not be the appropriate mechanism to bring about such change.

"I think the tragedy of the civil rights movement was because the civil rights movement became so court-focused I think there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change," said Obama in the interview.

Asked by a caller whether the U.S. court system was the appropriate place for "reparative economic work" to take place, Obama replied that the judicial process takes too long.

"In term of the court engaging in a process that is essentially administrative and takes a lot of time. ... The court is just not very good at it," he said.

"So, I mean, I think that although you can craft theoretical justifications for it legally, I think any three of us sitting here could come up with a rationale for bringing economic change through the courts," he added.

Sunstein also previously expressed radical views about spreading America's wealth.

In a 2007 University of Chicago Law School paper – obtained and reviewed by WND – Sunstein explained how an environmental agreement in which the U.S. would be heavily taxed for carbon emissions could be used to redistribute America's wealth.

A prominent theme throughout Sunstein's 39-page paper, entitled "Climate Change Justice," maintains U.S. wealth should be redistributed to poorer nations. He uses terms such as "distributive justice" several times. The paper was written with fellow attorney Eric A. Posner.

"It is even possible that desirable redistribution is more likely to occur through climate change policy than otherwise, or to be accomplished more effectively through climate policy than through direct foreign aid," wrote Sunstein.

Like Obama, Sunstein doubts whether radical change can be brought about by the U.S. court system.

The central thesis of Sunstein's 2006 Yale Law School paper, "Beyond Marbury: The Executive's Power to Say What the Law Is," is that the president and his advisers should be the ones to interpret federal laws. That paper was obtained and reviewed by WND.

"There is no reason to believe that in the face of statutory ambiguity, the meaning of federal law should be settled by the inclinations and predispositions of federal judges. The outcome should instead depend on the commitments and beliefs of the President and those who operate under him," argued Sunstein.

Last year, the campaign of GOP presidential candidate John McCain stated Obama's 2001 tape proved the politician is too liberal for the White House.

"Now we know that the slogans 'change you can believe in' and 'change we need' are code words for Barack Obama's ultimate goal: 'redistributive change,'" said McCain-Palin senior policy adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin.

But the Obama campaign at the time called the statements just another distraction.

"In this interview back in 2001, Obama was talking about the civil rights movement – and the kind of work that has to be done on the ground to make sure that everyone can live out the promise of equality," spokesman Bill Burton said. "Make no mistake, this has nothing to do with Obama's economic plan or his plan to give the middle class a tax cut. It's just another distraction from an increasingly desperate McCain campaign."

Reaction to Obama's radio interview was not limited to the U.S. In the Telegraph newspaper of London, commentator Toby Harnden wrote the 2001 remarks are consistent with Obama's statement to the now iconic Joe the Plumber in Ohio that "when you spread the wealth around it's a good thing for everybody."

"Although his remarks were heavily analytical and academic," Harnden said of the 2001 interview, Obama "spoke warmly of the notion of redistributing wealth, suggesting that there were other vehicles than the courts to achieve it."

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