^®: CRE Regulatory Action of the Week

John Edwards: OIRA Regulatory Czar?
There has been a tradition that OIRA(Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in OMB) often reports to the Vice President who oversees a government-wide effort to manage the federal regulatory state. The then Vice President George Bush assumed this role, as did Mr. Quayle and Mr. Gore. What about Mr. Edwards assuming this important role?

Mr. Edwards has considerable expertise in regulatory matters.

Mr. Edwards made millions of dollars "helping the little guy" by winning law suits against physicians who allegedly botched up child deliveries claiming that incompetence caused cerebral palsy. Consequently if market rewards are a test of competence, Mr. Edwards, more so than any of his predecessors, passes the test with high marks.

On the other hand, The Cerebral Palsy Foundation takes a more restrained view.

Dr. Murray Goldstein, a neurologist and the medical director of the United Cerebral Palsy Research and Educational Foundation, said it is conceivable for a doctor's incompetence to cause cerebral palsy in an infant. "There are some cases where the brain damage did occur at the time of delivery. But it's really unusual. It's really quite unusual," Goldstein said.