Obama Nominee Omitted Ties To Biotech: Homeland Nominee Advised Lobby -- Washington TimesPresident Obama's nominee at the Department of Homeland Security overseeing bioterrorism defense has served as a key adviser for a lobbying group funded by the pharmaceutical industry that has asked the government to spend more money for anthrax vaccines and biodefense research.
But Dr. Tara O'Toole, whose confirmation as undersecretary of science and technology is pending, never reported her involvement with the lobbying group called the Alliance for Biosecurity in a recent government ethics filing.
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My Comment: Her excuse is flimsy at best .... she worked and received money for her services when she lobbied for the interests of her employer .... she should have pointed this out.
But this ignores the big picture, which is that monies and contracts are going to be doled out to counter bio terrorism threats. One can argue on the merits of such a disbursement of funds .... (I am personally skeptical of the entire bio terrorism thing) .... but since these monies are going to be disbursed anyway, we (the taxpayers) do not even want to see any indication that there is a conflict of interest when budget decisions are made.
There is a conflict of interest in this case .... but I am sure that Dr. Tara O'Toole will not recuse herself.