Republican Congressman Christopher Cox of California has been nominated by President Bush to become the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cox is a fiscal conservative and a federalist. And he not only voted "no" on the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, but penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal titled "The Marriage Amendment Is a Terrible Idea."
Many liberals, however, are gunning for Cox, blasting him as
"pro business" (which is about the worst epithet they can think
of). Conservative columnist George Will, however, has
come to his defense, writing:
The [Washington] Post's headline on his nomination said: "Congressman Has Taken Pro-Business Stances on Issues." Who today, one wonders, is "anti-business"? And what does that mean?
A [New York] Times columnist disapprovingly said Cox "is a big-business advocate." Leaving aside the vacuity of such labels - what might it mean to be an "advocate" against "big business" and its big numbers of employees. . .?
Here's hoping the move to the SEC is just a step for Cox toward
even more prominence on the national level, and within the
GOP.
-- Stephen H. Miller