Christie Whitman Resigns As EPA Chief

[iggy1I]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=513&ncid=716&e=5&u=/ap/20030521/ap_on_go_ot/whitman_resignation

WASHINGTON - Christie Whitman, sometimes at odds with the Bush White House over environmental issues and a lightning rod for the administration's critics, resigned Wednesday as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (news - web sites).
Whitman said in a letter to President Bush (news - web sites) that she was leaving to spend time with family.
"As rewarding as the past two-and-a-half years have been for me professionally, it is time to return to my home and husband in New Jersey, which I love just as you do your home state of Texas," she wrote Bush.
With Whitman's departure as EPA administrator, Bush loses one of the most prominent women in his Cabinet — a moderate former New Jersey governor selected by the president to help soften his image as a political conservative, particularly on environmental issues.


Whitman had a history of clashing with the White House, starting with the president's abrupt decision to withdraw from the Kyoto global warming (news - web sites) treaty.

[carogonza]

Well that's 2 in a week. I wonder who's next??

[alwitmayer]

I lived in NJ when she was elected governor. She ran on a "cut spending, reduce taxes" platform. However, once elected, the only spending she cut was by requiring cities/counties to pay for state required services (so local taxes went up). She balanced the budget by raiding the state worker's pension fund. And she eliminated a popular property tax refund program. By the way, her $3.5M estate was taxed as a farm - so she paid almost no property tax. The "farm exemption" was not available to farmers, only to the rich. When confronted with the facts, Whitman replied; "If you tax the rich, they'll move." She was elected despite such scandals as hiring illegal aliens as servants and not paying social security taxes on their salaries.

Since as governor of NJ, she fought EPA regulations, the White House must have assumed she would rubber stamp its dismantling of air and water protections. To her credit, she did not roll over and play dead. Unfortunately, President Bush was able to weaken or eliminate at least 75 regulations by Executive Order - thus avoiding debate in Congress and even public disclosure.

[moviemave]

Thanks for the background on her. sounds like a fun lady