Up in smoke: Will Ramstad’s faith-based earmark hurt his chances to win drug czar post?
By Andy Birkey |
12.09.08 | 10:12 am
Throughout his career, retiring Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad championed the needs of people battling mental illness or chemical addiction, often through the lens of his own experience as a recovering alcoholic. For that reason, his name tops the list of possible appointments by the Obama administration as either drug czar or administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. But, should he get the nod for either spot, one Ramstad-sponsored earmark could raise questions in his confirmation hearings — $235,000 that went to the Minnesota Teen Challenge, an Assemblies of God drug treatment center with a history of controversial therapies and overt religious indoctrination.
