Jonathan L. Snare has no relevant experience in the forays of occupational health and safety, but that hasn’t stopped Bush from appointing him as the new administrator of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. From Alternet’s Molly Ivins: No, he's not an expert in health or safety, but he used to be the lobbyist for Metabolife, the ephedra diet pill that attracted so much unpleasant attention. Ephedrine was finally barred in 2003 after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided it had caused 155 deaths. I guess we're lucky Bush didn't put Snare at the FDA. According to The Washington Post, Metabolife spent more than $4 million lobbying the Texas Legislature between 1998 and 2000. Snare was also general counsel to the Republican Party of Texas from 1999 to 2001 and has extensive experience in election law. Exactly how this qualifies him to head OSHA is unclear – maybe he's a quick learner. He did join the solicitor's office of the Department of Labor in June 2003, where the Labor Department's announcement says, "Snare focused on issues at OSHA, as well as the Wage and Hour Division and the Mine Safety and Health Administration." Wage and Hour, you may recall, has made what business considers a great leap forward by making overtime pay optional, whereas the Mine Safety people have just had their budget cut. Snare isn’t the only industry fox at OSHA. John Henshaw, the outgoing assistant secretary for OSHA, is also the former health and safety chief for the chemical company Monsanto. In 40 months on the job, Henshaw axed three dozen proposed regulations from the agency's agenda, according to NPR – toxic chemical exposure regs, metalworking fluids regs, flammable and combustible liquids reactive chemicals that kill people and so forth. . . . Henshaw also encouraged partnership with industry. According to NPR reporter Peter Overby, "What OSHA has done is turn away from regulating; less stick more carrot. Now its goal is to work with industry instead of mandating health and safety standards." He also reports the new alliances business encouraged by Henshaw do not include worker representatives. "That's not the only way in which previous policies at OSHA have been stood on their head. OSHA used to recruit its top appointees from state agencies and job safety organizations. In the Bush administration, it draws appointees from business and anti-regulatory groups."