None Dare Call it a Coincidence: Andy Stern and the White House Biodefense Program

by LaborUnionReport

There are many who argue that President Obama has (repeatedly) broken his promise to bring transparency and openness to the White House.  In literal terms, however, Obama may not have actually broken that specific promise (as opposed to all the others he has broken), it’s just that people may not have understood what Obama meant by transparency and openness.

andy_stern

For example, President Obama’s ”openness and transparency” is really open and transparent if you break it down into three categories:

Category One: Everything’s in the open, you’re just looking in all the wrong places

An example of this would be the current flap over White House staffers meeting with lobbyists.  Obama’s staffers are meeting with lobbyists in the open, it just happens to be away from the White House—at Starbucks. You see, it’s not the President’s fault the press corp doesn’t follow White House staff to get a cup of coffee.  Why wouldn’t the press think his staff would meet with lobbyists in the open over cups of iced mocha frappuccinos?

Category Two:  The I-openly-don’t-give-a-d**n openness

Two recent examples of Obama’s I-openly-don’t-give-a-d**n openness came just this week when the administration openly (but without explanation) released 10 Russians who had been spying on the U.S. for years and only hours after pleading guilty in U.S. Court, as well as Attorney General Eric Holder’s running of a racist “color blind” Justice Department.

Category Three:  The by-the-time-you-connect-the-dots-it-will-be-too-late openness and transparency

For Obama watchers, this last category is often the most intriguing one because it requires a vigilance that few have the patience for.

In this category, seemingly unrelated events become, at first, coincidental.  However, by the time all the pieces fit together, it is too late.

Here’s a case in point:

First Dot: Several months ago, the union world was shocked when Andy Stern, the ignominious president of the Service Employees International Union abruptly “quit” as leader of the Purple Hand.  Surprise and speculation swelled. Was it the Blago Trial?  Is he sick?

Then, as Andy signed up as a contract speaker, loaning his progressive creds to an anti-capitalist conference (at 27:35), and stayed on President Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform , it became apparent that Andy was not, in fact, riding off into the sunset (or going to the beach, as he told WaPo’s Ezra Klein).

Note: You can read Andy’s latest proposal to nationalize America’s publicly-held corporations here.

Second Dot: Then, in late June, a really curious thing happened.  Andy, after years of excoriating capitalism and attacking corporations did the unthinkable…he joined the board of directors of a (*gasp*) corporation!

SIGA Technologies, Inc. (SIGA 8.04, +0.12, +1.52%), a company specializing in the development of pharmaceutical agents to combat bio-warfare pathogens, announced today that Andy Stern, labor leader and prominent advocate for reform, joined SIGA’s board of directors. Mr. Stern is the former president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in North America.

[snip]

“Andy is a strong leader and a great addition to our Board of Directors. His insight, experience, and leadership, particularly his understanding of how our federal government works, will complement the skill sets of our existing board members,” said Dr. Eric Rose, SIGA’s Chief Executive Officer.

For his move into the land of the enemy, Andy has been chastised by his former cronies on the Left.

All the while, he’s building his own golden parachute from the burning wreckage he left, polishing up his WH insider portfolio — and then peddling his ass to fat cats and high hats everywhere who must enjoy having a pet labor leader who does tricks upon command — all for the same bastards who are actively destroying the American dream for the working stiffs and huddled masses this punk once claimed to speak for.

Third Dot [via Kenny Solomon]:  On Friday, July 2nd, as America was beginning what was, for most, a three-day weekend, the White House released an Executive Order (EO)which has, as yet, not been mentioned by the mainstream media.  Interestingly, this wasn’t just your average Executive Order.  This EO spells out America’s policy toward Biological Select Agents and Toxins (BSATs).

Executive Order– Optimizing the Security of Biological Select Agents and Toxins in the United States

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1.  Policy.  It is the policy of the United States that:

(a)  A robust and productive scientific enterprise that utilizes biological select agents and toxins (BSAT) is essential to national security;

(b)  BSAT shall be secured in a manner appropriate to their risk of misuse, theft, loss, and accidental release; and

(c)  Security measures shall be taken in a coordinated manner that balances their efficacy with the need to minimize the adverse impact on the legitimate use of BSAT.

[snip]

Sec. 3.  Findings.  (a)  The use of BSAT presents the risk that BSAT might be lost, stolen, or diverted for malicious purpose.  The SAP exists to provide effective regulatory oversight of the possession, use, and transfer of BSAT that reduces the risk of their misuse or mishandling. The absence of clearly defined, risk-based security measures in the SAR/SAP has raised concern about the need for optimized security and for risk management.

(b)  In addition, variations in, and limited coordination of, individual executive departments’ and agencies’ oversight, security practices, and inspections have raised concerns that the cost and complexity of compliance for those who are registered to work with BSAT could discourage research or other legitimate activities.

(c)  Understanding that research and laboratory work on BSAT is essential to both public health and national security, it is in the interest of the United States to address these issues.

Sec. 4.  Risk-based Tiering of the Select Agent List.  To help ensure that BSAT are secured according to level of risk, the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Agriculture shall, through their ongoing review of the biological Select Agents and Toxins List (“Select Agent List”) contained in regulations, and no later than 18 months from the date of this order:

(a)  designate a subset of the Select Agent List (Tier 1) that presents the greatest risk of deliberate misuse with most significant potential for mass casualties or devastating effects to the economy, critical infrastructure, or public confidence;

(b)  explore options for graded protection of Tier 1 agents and toxins as described in subsection (a) of this section to permit tailored risk management practices based upon relevant contextual factors; and

(c)  consider reducing the overall number of agents and toxins on the Select Agent List.

Fourth Dot: ‘What” is SIGA Technologies? [From the SIGA's press release announcing Stern's joining the company]

SIGA Technologies is applying viral and bacterial genomics and sophisticated computational modeling in the design and development of novel products for the prevention and treatment of serious infectious diseases, with an emphasis on products for biological warfare defense. SIGA believes that it is a leader in the development of pharmaceutical agents to fight potential bio-warfare pathogens. SIGA has antiviral programs targeting smallpox and other Category A pathogens, including arenaviruses (Lassa fever, Junin, Machupo, Guanarito, Sabia, and lymphocytic choriomeningitis), dengue virus, and the filoviruses (Ebola and Marburg).

From SIGA’s website:

SIGA is now considered a leading drug development company in the biodefense arena. Its portfolio of existing drug candidates and its platform for developing additional countermeasures against potential agents of biological warfare are intended to fill a critical need for safe and effective treatments. Its lead product, the smallpox therapeutic ST-246®, has completely prevented mortality in each and every animal efficacy trial and is now undergoing NDA-enabling studies. SIGA’s other antiviral agents against Lassa fever, Junín, Ebola and Marburg are currently undergoing efficacy testing. SIGA is also applying its high-throughput screening technologies to identify the most likely candidates for therapeutic intervention against bunyavirus, Dengue fever, anthrax, and other category A disease threats.

SIGA’s Board of Directors (Stern’s bio is not on the site) is also interesting. While SIGA’s stock prices appear to have been on a roller coaster ride, despite the fact the fact that SIGA is conducting “successful” trials on humans, company chairman, Eric Rose, has been working the halls of Congress (as recently as May) to fight funding cuts to biodefense programs.

Connecting the Dots (here’s where it gets exciting):  1) The most famous and well-connected union boss in the nation suddenly retires; 2) Among his other gigs, said union boss gets a seat on the board of a bio-warfare defense maker with wobbly stock prices that happens to be fighting Congressional budget cuts; 3) Three weeks after said union boss gets a seat on the board of aforementioned bio-warfare defense company, the President of the United States (who owes his job to said union boss) issues an Executive Order establishing protocols for the handling of bio-weapons; and 4) SIGA also has a lot at stake with its outstanding bids for government contracts:

A $2.8 million contract was awarded to Siga by the Department of Defense in early March, although this one was for ST-669, a broad-spectrum anti-viral.

That’s nothing in comparison to the big BARDA contract that investors of the company are waiting for, but it does have the potential to rake in up to ten million dollars for SIGA when it’s all said and done.

It has been a long wait for the BARDA deal to be awarded, and there is always the possibility that the Obama government does not want to spend that kind of money on a biodefense contract during this time of massive deficit spending, but the threat of a bioterror attack cannot be ignored – especially in light of the recent Times Square incident.

Now, some may call all of this a mere coincidence.  And, what will be really coincidental is if SIGA just happens to get its sought after BARDA deal–all thanks to Andy Stern!

Now, that would be some coincidence, wouldn’t it?

At the same time, however, it does seem to fit with the Obama administration’s culture of openness and transparency.


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Posted Jul 10th 2010 at 7:47 am in Big Labor, Politics | 178 Comments