Read my lips: thank you small goverment.

Steve, this is one of those times when I'm shocked by your
Beltway filter.

Why should this one (class of) citizen be treated any differently
from any other (class of) citizen?

Just ... wow.

Ben -- perhaps they shouldn't and I acknowledge my beltway
filter....but if nothing else, I see many American military,
colonels, generals, others flying business class all of the time...I
see Senators who are affiliated with Armed Services or
Transportation Committees in Business Class on international
flights. Perhaps this should not be as it is -- but that's the way
it really is.

Tevi Troy's case perhaps deserves no attention - -or perhaps he
deserves applause for not angling for a better seat. I am just
very surprised given his rank in government that he was where
he was....I have sat next to communication directors, VPs,
Directors of America's leading non-profit organizations -- in
Business class and first class....these are long flights, and I
guess I'm of the ilk that doesn't think that the Secretary of
Commerce or the Secretary of Transportation -- or their
deputies -- who are going to be traveling a ton on behalf of the
nation's business ought to be squished in circumstances that
make their hyper-travel tough.

At minimum, I think that even coming from your perspective, it
is surprising to see the No. 2 person at Health and Human
Services -- working the entire flight -- where he was.

Anyway - more later.

Golly, but what about "service" and the idea that "We" are the government? "Modest, self-effacing" saint that he may be, notwithstanding, in light of the Bush legacy and in light of the fact that We pay for him he's lucky he wasn't seated in the lavatory.

Sorry Steve, but Tevi is a public servant. It's not like no one else has stuff to do or would like better leg room. If any governmental official thinks beacuse of some title they have they are entitled to a nice seat on a private airline then they are seriously disconnected to the real world and are not the kind of people that should be working in government.

Kudos to Tevi Troy, it seems as if he hasn't become disconnected to the outside world. We could use more people like that.

Well, I think they oughta be given first class seating, 'til about 20,000 feet; then, at gun point, told to jump.

Extreme? Perhaps, but no more so than placing them on some sort of pedestal above those that employ them; the taxpaying citizen. His is but one head in that photograph. Is his station above all those other heads, merely by the fact that he works for a bloated and corrupt bureaucracy that has long ago ceased to competently serve the interests of the people?

Perhaps Troy is the exception rather than the rule, and he may be one of the rare upper echelon government workers that actually earn their wages, perks, insurance packages, and retirement bennies. If so, than I imagine his integrity supercedes any feeling of slight he might entertain as a result of his being seated with the base peons, serfs, and savages.

It would be interesting to know the story behind the other faces, the ones that Steve has patronized and slighted by his comment, (albiet, I am sure, unintentionally and non-maliciously). I would bet that the vast majority are no less hardworking, and many, in their individual roles, serve the needs of their immediate community in far more useful ways than Tevi Troy does.

Realistically, Tevi Troy should be honored to be seated among his employers. He's lucky I'm not in charge of his travel arrangements. As angry, offended, and dissappointed as I am in our government and its various agencies and workers after these last eight years, Tevi would be walking to his destination. Off the clock.

Wonder why he didn't get Economy Plus? I get it every time on United -- thought it was pretty much automatic if you've got a Premier or higher frequent flier card...

Seriously, though, folks -- if you're a frequent business traveller who's on transoceanic flights all the time and needs to work on the plane, rather than someone who flies once a year or so as a tourist, comfort does start to matter...

I've done a half-dozen transoceanic flights in the last year working for a consulting firm, and I've only gotten a seat that bad once... unfortunately on a 13-hour full flight from Dulles to Doha. Was just lucky I had a full day of downtime before the event I was speaking at started, or I would have been a sleep-deprived mess...

Steve, I know nothing about Mr. Troy, and do not at all doubt your claim that he is a hard working civil servant. But is it your view that he works harder than the two people sitting next to him?

And, uh, why does the "Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services" need to be on a "transoceanic flight"? What business was he attending to in Brussels that enhanced his service to the people?

Steve, in a prior thread, says Tevi was tending to a "European Ministerial meeting". What the hell is that? And what did WE THE PEOPLE get for our dime?

My bet? Absolutely nothing. Nada. Zip.

And uh, Tevi might be traveling on the cheap, but his accomodations in Brussels weren't so frugal, I imagine. I find it hard to believe that Steve books lodging in Europe's equivalent of "Hotel Six". And, considering that Steve ran into Tevi "in the lobby of the hotel", I am assuming that Tevi was booked in the same establishment that Steve was.

And I really am curious. I would hope that Steve will comment further, or invite Tevi to do so. What exactly is a "European Ministerial meeting", and how does that sort of "meeting" dovetail with Tevi's role as "Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services".

As Deputy Secretary, Tevi Troy serves as the chief operating officer of the largest civilian department in the federal government, with a budget of $716 billion and over 67,000 employees. Troy is also involved in the Department’s health diplomacy efforts and has led U.S. government delegations to the Middle East, Europe, Central America, and Africa.

Troy began working in the Bush administration at the Department of Labor, where he was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and the Director of the Office of Faith Based Initiatives. Troy has a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and an M.A and Ph.D. in American Civilization from the University of Texas at Austin.

On the comments: What a tempest in a teapot!

Anyone who has been on transatlantic flights with business commitments on both ends knows that flying coach does not improve one's needed alertness. I gladly would allocate my little portion of tax payer money to Tevi Troy to upgrade his seat!

And WE THE PEOPLE have reaped the benefits of his overseas diplomacy in what manner, as it concerns "Health and Human Services"?

I'm not being facetious here, I really would like to know. Perhaps Don will enlighten me as to what a "European Ministerial meeting" is?

And as far as "Faith Based Initiatives" goes, I'd prefer that our government would exempt itself from such endeavors and pursuits. The Bush Administration has clearly placed religious institutions and grants above common sense and sound science, most clearly with the asinine support and marketing of "abstinence only" programs, which have no basis in sanity, but instead are grounded in ideological religious stupidity.

I promise, put me in charge of Tevi's "transoceanic" travel plans, and he'll become an olympic class swimmer.

"European minsterial meeting", indeed.

Harumph!

Define "hardworking" Mr. Clemons. Boo hoo hoo that Tevi had to fly economy. Who paid for that ticket. Surely not Tevi. If fact it was the American people that paid for his ticket, so he should be thankful, and get, and keep to work because the world is on fire. Your point about Obama's team is valid as well. None of these civil servants deserve any special consideration or treatment for serving the American people. That's their job.

"Anyone who has been on transatlantic flights with business commitments on both ends knows that flying coach does not improve one's needed alertness. I gladly would allocate my little portion of tax payer money to Tevi Troy to upgrade his seat!"

Good for you. Than perhaps you'll send me a refund check as well?

No?

Exactly why does one need to be alert for a "European Minsterial meeting"? Catchy little label, isn't it?

On googling the label I find a whole slew of "European Minsterial meetings". It would be interesting to know the dates of Tevi's overseas adventure, to note the issue he was "investigating" so he could apply the lessons learned to the betterment of his fellow "below the waterline" travelers. I note that on the 29th there was some discussion of AIDS. And on the fourth of December, a hot topic was the banning of cluster munitions. Both subjects that could well apply to Tevi's posting, eh? I guess you could even label the banning of cluster munitions as a "Faith Based Initiative", if you were to ask Jesus what he thought about the issue. But, uhm, we didn't sign on for that one, did we? I mean golly, how will Israel kill Lebanese kids if we cut off their supply of cute little bomblets? And the AIDS battle doesn't exactly go too well if we don't arm the Christian soldiers with condoms to pass out to the heathens, does it? Perhaps Tevi was there to push the continued use of cluster munitions, and to pass out Abstinence Only fliers.

After all, he works for Bush, doesn't he?

Or, does he work for us?

I'm confused. Who DOES he work for?

There is a logical explanation for this--a little complicated:

I'm only getting this partly correct and don't know all the federal rules on flying what class for what, but this is a partial explanation. Federal government contracts with various airlines for all commercial routes, not sure they always get the cheapest rates, but mostly do--and it's highly competitive and has been SOP for many years.

The big determining factor really is that the federal government gets a set rate but also ability to cancel and change flights without penalty. That's how civilian air travel is booked when traveling on government business.

The federal government earned a lot of frequent flyer miles that it kept but never could figure out how to do anything with them--so about five or six year ago, they changed their policy and allowed the federal workers to keep them as they were credited to the person anyhow, went into a big federal pot that there really was no way to use. It really was a nice and deserved perk for a great many federal civil servants, some of whom travel a lot in their work.

Much of this travel sounds very exciting and exotic, but like a lot of the travel Steve does, it is really very strenous and not exciting as most cities and airports look alike as do most hotels. When I did that in 1960s out of DC, air travel was more fun--no security, great service, and even some pretty good food in coach. But even then it was often very tiring and boring. For many positions, it meant being away from home a lot.

Anyhow once that change was made, a lot of federal civil servants in GS positions got lots of frequent flyer miles, got into Platinum status, into the special airport lounges, etc. And they have so many frequent flyer miles, theirs to use as they like, that some use them to upgrade to business or first class when flying on government business.

Many save them for personal and family use which is perfectly all right and legal. But as most of us know, it's more and more difficult to use these miles for an entire trip unless one plans six months in advance or more. So increasingly federal workers use them to upgrade when on government business. That's probably what Tevi Troy was doing.

So I think everyone including those on the Hill should travel coach on government business, deserves to keep their frequent flyer miles, and use them as they wish.

I'm sure I have this correct in the basics, but anyone with more detailed or accurate information please feel free to refine it.

Thanks for notes on all this Linda. My point remains that I believe that senior U.S. government officials who are working hard for our interests ought to have access to upgrades on very long distance flights. My noting that Mr. Troy didn't have such an upgrade -- and should have in my view -- brought out the public's disdain for this kind. But the public has no idea how much the Department of Defense has major perks like this -- and does not deserve them -- compared to others who I feel do....but the standards you outline are probably appropriate.

steve thanks for letting me in on more of the way you
washingtonian intellectuals feel.....i cant wait for the people to
throw out the bums at all levels and take the govt back from the
elitist.

go get a job on the assembly line somwhere and help produce
somthing for america to sell other than hot air.

we can govern ourselves we dont need any elitist gravy train
riders to be sopping gravy off of our plates.

Bush just pulled off the biggest heist of our country's treasury
with the bailout of the Saudis...oh, I mean Citibank and others and
you are writing about whether government officials will take
economy flights when Obama is president. Wow! Down time in the
news for sure. What's next? Are we going to have to put up with
fake outrage over earmarks and have a travelgate investigation
after Obama becomes president?

Steve: these are tough times and everyone travelling on the taxpayer's dime may have to endure a nine hour flight across the pond. You mention Defense: now there is something you can dwell on: all the fancy perks given to Military types and Senators as they travel. Recently Defense kaiboshed an expensive unit fitted out for generals which could be set into army planes as required. They were luxury pods.

My own experience is flying often in noisy planes, feeling cold, sitting on metal seats and waiting around for hours to get a seat. But hey I was just a loot.

This modest public servant could use a better travel agent. If he's doomed to fly in steerage where many of us travel, at least he could have gotten an aisle or window seat. The last time I had a seat in the middle of a wide-body jet row was when I booked via Priceline.

Thanks for pointing out that not all federal bigshots travel deluxe and thanks to Linda for the background. When we see his equivalent for GM in the proletarian seats, I'll really be impressed!

My thought would be to bring the military and other parasitic types and their egregious practices down to the level appropriate for all, like most of us travel.

This whole thread has been truly hilarious. I never thought that a think-tanker's blog would bring out such impassioned responses just dripping with class resentment.

Obviously, I applaud this guy for not being a grade-A brat and soldiering on amongst the plebs. As you say, many others similarly positioned wouldn't have stood for such "degrading treatment" as to sit next to a person of color.

Where I live right now, water only arrives every 3rd day, and it's not potable. I have to buy drinking water every third day, as well. Poor people have bigger fish to fry every day and no one is out there praising their heroism or sacrifice, even though we're all living off the backs of it. It occurs to me daily, living in the neighborhood that I do, that simply having one's health is a function of one's privilege. I'd be more impressed if you were able to blog about one policy that guy has implemented that actually did something for someone who doesn't make enough money to eat a healthy diet, or have the human services that we all take for granted.

If you'd like, I can send a "view from your window" pic...it's probably a different view than you're accustomed to seeing.

Frankly, I'd rather have public officials arriving fresh enough to be functional if they're doing a lot of traveling. And given the blind mouths unreflectively swallowing earmarks, golden parachutes, perks of officialdom and bailouts, all without a second thought or even a first, Tevi Troy's humility is SUCH a refreshing sight.

But has he really earned kudos?

Don Bacon @ 9:41PM:
So Tevi Troy, as Deputy Secretary, and COO, oversees a budget of $716 billion and 67,000 employees, and holds a Ph.D. in American Civilization. A Ph.D.!

$760 billion. And expertise in American Civilization. Yet Americans have no real access to health care, not without losing their homes, going bankrupt, paying an arm and a leg for openly corrupt coverage, having to negotiate a byzantine maze of paperwork which diverts 40% of costs into administrative functions, or engaging in a shell game to hide who pays and what's actually dispensed to customers---all of which imposes bureaucratic, barriers, delays and costs that prevent access and preclude participation.

$760 billion---and Tevi Troy can't deliver health care to the American people. Oh, sure, it's not his job. His job is to follow orders. It's not even his department! And, hey, it's political.

Must be a faith-based health care system. Which is where Tevi Troy's experience as Director of the Office of Faith Based Initiatives comes in so handy. But I bet Mr. Troy has access to health care.

This isn't just apples and oranges. We have $700 billion for bailouts. We have $760 billion for HHS. But we can't take the profiteering out of the health care system? We can't deliver minimal health care to the American people? Two things are clear: We can damn well find the money to do so if we want to. And eliminating health care cost burdens on businesses--or at least delivering health care unmediated by profiteering insurance companies--will be a huge economic boost. Run health care through businesses if it works, but deliver the goods, not just 'coverage' and profits.

Algeria has a better health care system. Cuba has a better health care system. They actually deliver health care. America, though, delivers paperwork, and profits--but isn't so keen about getting patients the care they need.

As for Tevi Troy--more power to him. In the end, though, such humility (if that's what it is) should be ordinary.

If Tom Daschle really intends to fix health care, he'll have to deliver access, at affordable rates. Because getting health care where it's needed will not only deliver cost savings down the line, it'll make for more productive citizens. And if Daschle can't reduce costs, then there's still a major problem: American's won't be able to spend money on anything else. Either way, we've got an incredibly inefficient economy that's not delivering product, or buying power, where it's needed. Is this an odd rant? I don't think so---time to bring $760 billion machines to a screeching halt.

Interesting.

We still don't know what 'ol Tevi boy was doing in Brussels on our dime. Perhaps before we ponder whether or not his travel expenses to Brussels were extravagant enough for his high and mighty standing, we should ponder whether or not he needed to go there in the first place.

Speaking for myself, I searched my house dilligently this morning, weighed myself, checked my teeth and my bank account, did a quick reconnoiter of the grounds, and called my boss to make sure I didn't get a raise this morning. For the life of me, I just can't find any area of my life that was improved By Tevi's overseas adventure.

A shame Tevi can't find the time to fill us in. But perhaps he's busy planning his next safari to far off and exotic lands. I understand Transylvania is going to have a symposium on bloodsucking, and most of Washington plans to attend.

I'd be interested to know Tevi Troy's seating position on his last 10 flights - not just on this one, which looks alarmingly like a photo-op deliberately staged to muster sympathy from where I sit.

Poor, poor Tevi Troy.

Forgive my cynicism, Mr. Clemons - that's what the last eight years of unapologetic American fascism have done to me.

..."Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and the Director of the Office of Faith Based Initiatives", indeed!

I’d make him swim home.

U.S.-Politics: Bush-Cheney Stumps to Get Out the Orthodox Vote

Publisher: The Forward (NY, NY)

By: E.J. Kessler (with reporting by Rick Harrison)

First published: September 16, 2004

In a bid to draft the age-old folkways of Judaism into the service of modern politics, the Bush-Cheney campaign is asking Orthodox Jews to use their network of communal and familial ties to get out the vote for President Bush.

Tevi Troy, an Orthodox Jew who served as Bush's White House liaison to the Jewish community and is now working for the campaign, made one such pitch this week during the Republican convention.

"We're a community that's tightly knit," said Troy during a gathering of some 200 Orthodox rabbis and communal leaders Tuesday at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. "Even if we're not in the so-called battleground states, we know people in these communities, in Detroit, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Cleveland. Talk to those people."

Troy's plea kicked off a spate of events Tuesday in which leading Republican lawmakers sought to score points for Bush among the Jewish community's most religiously conservative members. The idea was to highlight the president's Christian faith and his religiously based positions and programs, such as his so-called faith-based initiative and his opposition to abortion and gay marriage. The strategy has two prongs: to show that Bush supports traditional Jewish values, but also that he is willing to support Orthodox Jewish social services in the most tangible way with money.

The gambit fits into a larger controversial Bush strategy of organizing conservative churches and synagogues for the president's re-election effort. Bush's chief political adviser, Karl Rove, often has said that some 4 million Evangelical Christians failed to vote in 2000, causing Bush to lose the popular vote. The effort has met opprobrium from some church-state separationists and pastors, who worry that the effort could endanger the tax-exempt status of houses of worship.

continues at...

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=1942

Gee, I wonder, in Tevi's proffessional opinion, was murdering one and a quarter million Iraqi non-combatants a "faith based intitiative"? Considering the nature of the political marketing he did for Bush, I imagine he would say "yes".

Bush's faith-based agenda alive and well in federal agencies

By Martin Davis National Journal

September 4, 2001

The Senate is sitting on President Bush's faith-based legislation, John DiIulio has resigned his high-profile position as director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, and news organizations have publicly declared Bush's faith-based initiative to be all but dead.

But not so fast.

Opening up government coffers to religious and community groups probably won't hinge on whether or not the President's legislative agenda succeeds. Instead, religious groups' access to government grants and funds will depend more upon the efforts of a handful of Bush appointees who have been quietly squirreled away in barely noticed offices at five federal departments--Education; Health and Human Services; Housing and Urban Development; Justice; and Labor.
They are people such as Elizabeth Seale-Scott, who is director of the Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Center at the Health and Human Services Department.

Her office and four others just like it were created earlier this year by presidential executive order. Their mission is to identify the barriers within each department to faith-based and community groups' winning government contracts.

In addition, Seale-Scott and Tevi Troy, until recently Seale's counterpart at Labor, were charged with determining how well their two departments are complying with existing laws that encourage the awarding of social service contracts to religious groups.

Information from this handful of centers formed the backbone of the President's August 16 report on barriers to faith-based groups' using government money.

continues at....

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0901/090401nj2.htm

Gee, this gets worse and worse. Its inexplicable that Steve would offer such kudos to someone that has helped Bush oppose gay marraige, but Tevi seems to have been key, from the beginning, to inserting policies into government that were based on religious beliefs rather than sound science and comnmon sense.

One has to wonder, Steve, if you are fully aware of Troy's background, and if so, why you are so hot on this guy.

Speaking for myself, after taking a closer look at him, I'm inclined to state that not only am I pissed the guy is flying atround the globe on my dime, I'm miffed that he has a job in the first place.

BTW, is this dude trying to sell Bush's half-baked bullshit overseas? If so, I'd also appreciate it if he shut his yap, because he sure as hell doesn't represent THIS American.

I can't help but observe that so far, no one with with current federal civil service first-hand knowledge of travel regs has responded, given that "The Washington Note" comes from DC where there are more federal civil servants than anywhere.

Doesn't anyone below political appointee level read TWN?

I do know that the regulations are complicated and that there are exceptions for very long flights and special circumstances, i.e., going into different time zones and needing to be fresh and alert for business, etc. as well as for workers with health conditions. They actually are quite reasonable and flexible.

And there are dozens of reasons both personal and professional that determine any individual's government and/or business travel plans. For example, when I was working for feds in DC, I needed to travel to LA several times a year, had family and many friends there--so government never had to pay for a hotel. I happen to be able to sleep on planes and in noise. So at the end of a business day in LA, I chose not to fly immediately back to DC, instead had dinner with family or friends and took a red-eye to DC and went directly to my office the next day. That's crazy for a lot of people. It worked for me.

I find speculation about Troy somewhat unfair to him because there could have been hundreds of reasons for what put him in the middle of a row in coach on one flight. There could have been a death or serious illness in his family, and he had to get on any flight home quickly. That's his business.

Furthermore, Troy is as lame duck as George Bush who appointed him and thus not worth much comment.
He's going to leave government early next year, probably in his early 40s and go to work in a think tank, university, lobbying or health trade association job, or perhaps a health insurance or pharmaceutical company and wait until there is another Republican administration to return as a political appointee.

One thing that creates such anger among many of the commenters is that Troy is, as noted COO of HHS, that has a lot of employees. Probably pretty much right out of grad school in his early 30s, he was Senator John Ashcroft's Policy Director. He probably has never worked in the real world apart from that of policy elites.

Actually since both DOL and HHS have major responsibility for ERISA and health care, my question to Dr. Troy would be: You have had excellent federally provided health insurance for at least the last decade. During your years at DOL and HHS, both departments outsoucred and contracted a lot of federal civil service positions--and I'm sure some of that outscouring saved the government money. But I doubt that you have any idea of how many of those people lost health insurance in the process or had to pay more for their coverage or got less comprehensive coverage.

If nobody even kept track of that at HHS or DOL, I think it's a bit late for Dr. Troy to investigate, but I'd suggest that it's job #1 for Obama Administration to ensure that all workers on federal funds who are working as public servants do have employer-provided health benefits.

"I find speculation about Troy somewhat unfair to him because there could have been hundreds of reasons for what put him in the middle of a row in coach on one flight"

Maybe he just wanted to find out if the peons, savages, and serfs smell as bad as Harry Reid claims we do.

Folks -- some of you have really gone overboard. I'm thinking of
taking this post down. Tevi Troy is an honorable, decent, smart
guy. This was no silly photo stunt arthur -- I took the picture. I
was the one who was shocked he was back there. He said nothing
at all complaining about his circumstances. So give a decent guy a
break...please. Some of the comments here disgust me.

If there was any fault with this post and situation, it was mine. The
vile commentary some of you have heaped on a decent guy who
had ZERO to do with this post really is alarming. The crowds at
McCain/Palin rallies were often outrageous -- and I hope that
people here take a look at themselves because some of this
commentary here rivals the worst at those rallies.

Steve Clemons

Steve, I apologize if I pushed some of your buttons again. But how do you REALLY feel about Tevi's role in the so called "Faith Based Intitiatives", and his contracted activism in support of George Bush, his opposition to gay marraige, and his pandering to the Orthodox Jewish community in support of Bush?

And I realkly would like to know what the hel;l he was doing in Brussels. Is this classified, or doesn't a simple question merit an honest and forthright answer?

And, Steve, bear in mind tghat the responses are REAL, and a direct result of eight years of unbridaled corruption, criminality, cronyism, and deception. As much as you'd like to ignore it, Tevi was obviously right in the middle of it.

Steve: I note your dismay about commentary on Mr Troy. Perhaps you can explain how it is possible to become the highest ranking civil servant in the DHSS in such a short time. Maybe you could put up his resume and we can then take note of the breadth and depth of his experience and expertise.

Ok, so heres what Tevi was doing in Brussels....

http://tinyurl.com/Tevi-s-great-adventure

Now, uh, Steve...

I note with interest that Tevi has recently spoke before a group that seeks to limit the liability of the manufacturers of mechanical medical equipment, and seeks to lessen the FDA's required time period for testing and certifying new pharmaceutical products. Should we just suppose that it is a coincidence that Tevi's brother is the Chief Counsel of the Food and Drug Administration, (or was as late as August of '07)?

It appears that Tevi fits right in with the Bush Administration's way of doing things, eh?

House Questions FDA's Priorities

Sep 25, 2008

By: Angie Drakulich

ePT--the Electronic Newsletter of Pharmaceutical Technology

Washington, DC (Sept. 25)—In a Sept. 17 letter to FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) questions the agency’s priorities, specifically poking at FDA’s political appointees and whether they are promoting industry at the expense of the public’s health.

Waxman chairs the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. According to his letter, the committee received copies of internal agency emails that “raise questions about who is setting agency’s priorities and why.”

One particular set of emails between Sheldon Bradshaw, Scott Danzis, and Tevi Troy that are mentioned in Waxman’s letter seem to demonstrate special attention paid to FDA guidances that are of interest to the drug and device industries. Internal agency emails also seem to show that certain projects are being rushed through, says Waxman, with “unprecedented speed.” For example, the proposed rule to amend regulations that permit companies to update drug and device labels with new safety information was proposed on Jan. 16, 2008 and finalized on Aug. 15, 2008. Also, the draft guidance on distribution of journal articles was issued Feb. 16, 2008.

Waxman suggested that the agency’s priorities should be different, as pointed out by the FDA Science Board in November 2007. The Board noted the current import system, development of new therapies, and information infrastructure as sources of risk and therefore, in need of FDA attention. These items were not in the emailed list of priorities between Bradshaw, Danzis, and Troy.

The Oversight committee has asked FDA to respond to Waxman’s letter by Oct. 6, 2008.

http://pharmtech.findpharma.com/pharmtech/manufacturing/home/article/detail/552660

Gets curiouser and curiouser, don't it? Particularly in light of Tevi's brother's position.

We owe Tevi a first class seat to Brussels for this?

POA -- you are better than this, and to be clear - - my comments were not really directed at you. But there is a sense here of a pack of jackals attacking someone for something I highlighted. Whether you agree with Tevi Troy's policy views or not, he was at an important transatlantic Ministerial meeting focused on global health protocols. I am glad we have Bush administration officials engaged in the world.

The tone and attitude here disgusts me -- really disgusts me.

I'm moving on -- and I hope some of you who have gone pretty far into the gutter -- move on too.

Also, Tevi Troy is a great friend of mine -- someone who knows my partner and me -- and who is open-minded and thoughtful, thinking about the question of ethics and policy all of the time. He is a Republican. I am an independent. We enjoy debating and discussing issues about which we know we will not always agree. That's the way it should be in a democracy.

Steve, the more I dig, the more inexplicable I find your commendations directed towards Troy. And you're right, conflicting advocations should be debated in a true democracy. But I find Tevi's history quite troubling, particularly in light of the concept of true democracy, separation of church and state, and the corrosive effect pandering to special interest groups has on the interests of the people.

You may well be disgusted by the comments here.

But me? I'm more disgusted by the implications of Tevi's apparent conflict of interest as it applies to his position, the pharmaceutical and medical device industry, and his brother's employ as the "Chief Counsel of the Food and Drug Administration". In truth Steve, this reeks of everything I loathe about the Bush Administration, its disdain for science, and its obscene favoritism paid to huge corporate entities, in direct conflict to the interests of the people.

"POA -- you are better than this...."

Actually, Steve, I'm just another one of those faces you might notice staring forward from the steerage seating, crammed between Betty the nurse and Ed the industrial paint salesman.

That is, if I ever get far enough ahead to actually travel.

Lets see....eenie meenie, miney mo...a vacation...or truck repairs...eenie meenie, miney mo..... truck repairs...or health insurance...eenie meenie, miney mo....

Just a thought: you do great posts on substantive issues and, I hope you feel that you get worthwhile responses. But the above post, and your reactions suggest that you were just paying tribute to a friend and are rather pissed off by some of the responses. We are on a downward economic spiral: perhaps travelling abroad even in cramped economy, does not seem to be a great hardship.

I feel your pain Mr. Clemons, the jackal mentality is a valid complaint. It is an also valid result of eight years of savage betrays, treasons, perversions, predations, criminal conduct, pathlogical lying, and wanton profiteering by the fascists in the bushgov.

That said, rich's well spoken commentary best articulates the contrary feelings of many commentarians here. Tevi is indeed "...an honorable, decent, smart
guy." - but also - "As for Tevi Troy--more power to him. In the end, though, such humility (if that's what it is) should be ordinary."

POA -- I do understand what you are getting at and understand the challenge of tough choices. I hope we get to meet some day. You and your partner intrigue me as you seem to be modern day Jack Kerouac types, creating fascinating bits of art -- while struggling to manage the farm etc (not that I have any idea whether Kerouac really struggled or not)...

and Rich - nice comment....I get the part about humility becoming more ordinary.

I respect Tevi Troy's intellect and approach to problems. When he was Deputy Domestic Policy Adviser to Bush -- he had me to the White House, introduced me around -- at a time when many might consider highly toxic my criticism of the Bush administration's foreign policy course. And of course there was the issue of my being a gay person -- a well known gay person -- about which he has never flinched or made me feel uncomfortable.

In any case, I like Tevi -- and my snapshot of him on the plane was meant more as a slice of his life than anything meant to stir up such a debate.

Good chatting with all of you....let's get to a new topic now...please.

I'm quite happy that Angler, Sugar Beach, Heilbrunn's book on the neocons, Jane Mayer's "The Dark Side" and others are getting support from the major book lists.

Frankly, I most taken by the part about Tevi Troy, completely unqualified to manage anything, serving as the chief operating officer of the largest civilian department in the federal government with a budget of $716 billion and over 67,000 employees, while in the 15 months he's been at HHS he's also had time to led U.S. government delegations to the Middle East, Europe, Central America, and Africa, and al of this with the understanding that the USA has the worst health care system of any developed (and some undeveloped) country on the planet.

For me it's a "Heck of a job Brownie" revelation, completely in line with other revelations about the Bush mal-administration of the US government. Thanks, Steve.

"I'm quite happy that Angler, Sugar Beach, Heilbrunn's book on the neocons, Jane Mayer's "The Dark Side" and others are getting support from the major book lists"

Of course they're selling, Steve. The people know whats happening. Its the criminals in Washington that don't wanna read about it.

"Frankly, I most taken by the part about Tevi Troy, completely unqualified to manage anything, serving as the chief operating officer of the largest civilian department in the federal government with a budget of $716 billion and over 67,000 employees...."

Well, he had to get something for his campaign efforts on behalf of Monkey Boy, didn't he?

(Sorry Steve, couldn't resist. I'll try to drop it now, but for the life of me I can't imagine why. I suppose, just call it a courtesy to you. It's pretty obvious, as an American citizen living stateside, I don't owe Tevi Troy a damned thing. Truth be told, I'm afraid of what I'll find if I dig any deeper into your buddy's history. Just suffice to say, seeing as how you seem to want to discuss books and authors, Troy has two fans in Jonah Goldberg and Ben Wattenberger. Or would it be more appropriate to say that Jonah Goldberg and Ben Wattenberger have a fan in Tevi Troy? What was that old ditty about birds and feathers?)

I also think this thread should be deado, since most of us have had an opportunity to vent a bit of spleen.

However, I would like to take Steve's apparent not-so-subliminal subtext -- the military extravagances and flog that from my own point of view.

I have long found the obeisance that all politicos feel obligated to pay to military types -- in a [theoretical] democracy to boot – offensive. In a perhaps misdirected symbol of this disgusting practice, the brass are willing to ride the grunts’ hard earned ‘honor’ to extravagant heights.

But I’ll risk the wrath of a bunch of people (perhaps veterans of the flame wars of the pre- Iraq engagement period, when the keyboard ex-military types questioned the fides, for God’s sake, of anyone who questioned the trajectory to invasion). I’ve got a problem with the formulary reference to military personnel -- particularly deceased ones -- as being “America’s finest”? To me this is symbolic not just of hollow rhetoric, but of 1) genuflecting to a military ‘class’ and 2) manipulating the individual feelings of many military folks of whatever rank into a homogenous, mindless, simile.

The deification of the ‘warrior class’ is perhaps one of the least subtle indicators that we are losing our focus. I recognize it’s a time honored homily, but its getting about time we got over it and focused more on the higher pursuits that the lower.

Interesting thread.

I have no doubt that Mr. Troy is probably a nice person and
reasonable BUT Steve you seem to be missing the point in all
this. The venting etc isn`t really about Tevi but what he
represents. UNDESERVED privilage. Think about that. His
privilage is undeserved no matter his degrees, his knowledge or
his connections (which seem to be the real reason he is in the
office he holds.) And, as POA has managed to display, his deep
connections to the worse parts of the BushCheney cabal`s
maladministration.

You need to do some very deep thinking about how you see the
world and how you evaluate value in things. You appear to be
very isolated from reality & do yourself and what you believe in
a very bad disservice by not recognizing your psychological
blindness in these times of change (dangerous opportunity.)

Be very careful or you are likely to end up on the wrong side in
our own Battle of Sekigahara.

[second attempt - your captcha is buggy & knows not what it
displays]

"...it's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine..." -
REM

DaCascadian - thanks for your concerns, however - -i have
been out here on the battlefields of sekigahara and pushing the
needle in positive directions more than most.

Tevi Troy is an innocent victim of a blog post where I was trying
t make a point. The challenges against him -- for my just
mentioning him - -are inappropriate and just sadly too
consistent with some folks on the right and the left who would
rather engage in rage than serious discussion. Troy did nothing
at all except sit in the back of the plane. I commented on it --
and many of you have rudely, sadly attacked a guy who did
nothing at all. I'm ashamed of some of you.

Ben Rosengart raised a legitimate point at the very beginning
about my own views about power and privilege....and he had a
good point. But the digging into Troy's situation -- when he did
nothing at all except serve the public interest on a global health
ministerial in Brussels -- is wrong.

So you are very muc the one who is out of balance on this
particular post.

All the best, steve