Nancy Pfotenhauer

Nancy Mitchell Pfotenhauer (nee Wadley) was formerly executive Vice President at Citizens for a Sound Economy, President of Independent Women's Forum (IWF) and Americans For Prosperity. She is currently working as an advisor to Sen. John McCain.

Background
She started her career as graduate research assistant to Walter Williams at George Mason University, where she was taking an MA in economics. At George Mason, Pfotenhauer studied under Walter Williams, a substitute host on the Rush Limbaugh Show. Williams referred Pfotenhauer to George H. W. Bush, and she served as a member of his transition team advising on appointments to the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Federal Trade Commission.

In 1987 she became a senior economist at the Republican National Committee, as was promoted to Chief Economist in 1988. She was selected by the Bush transition team at the age of 24, she made recommendations for the Federal Trade Commission and the Interstate Commerce Commission. She has also worked for Senator William L. Armstrong and as chief economist on the President's Council on Competitiveness.

Lobbyist for Koch Industries
Through her association with the administration of George H. W. Bush, Pfotenhauer swiftly leveraged herself into a series of appointments in Washington that culminated in her landing the key job of Washington Lobbyist for Koch Industries, the second largest privately held company in the United States. 

A biographical note from 2004 stated that "at Koch, Pfotenhauer experienced first-hand the legislative and regulatory labyrinth that faces American companies and ultimately has an impact on consumers."

Her biographical note also stated that "as a daily morning talk show host for NET (National Empowerment Television - ed) (carried on cable and television networks nationwide), she made the case for free market policy solutions to problems facing the nation."

In 2002, she was appointed by John Ashcroft to the National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women.

Energy policy position
On August 4, 2008, on Newshour, Ms Pfotenhaur stated her belief in the the safety of offshore oil drilling. "And we had evidence, because we had survived some really fairly horrific storms, with Katrina and Rita, and seen that the technology was pretty remarkable and that there were no significant spills during that period of time."

However, a Houston Chronicle review of the hundreds of spills reported after the two hurricanes concluded, "The quantity and cumulative magnitude of the 595 spills, which were spread across four states and struck offshore and inland, rank these two hurricanes among the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history." The reported spills were from "oil and chemicals stored at massive industrial facilities, in pipelines and on platforms." The breakdown of onshore versus offshore spills is not clear.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Americans For Prosperity
 * Citizens for a Sound Economy
 * Independent Women's Forum
 * John McCain: U.S. presidential election, 2008

Interviews with Pfotenhauer

 * Tammy Haddad, "Q&A: Nancy Pfotenhauer: The McCain Economic Adviser On The Downfalls Of A Windfalls Profit Tax", National Journal, August 1, 2008.

General articles

 * Dana Milbank, "Going Backwards: Ashcroft Appointments Assailed: Domestic Violence Law's Foes Tapped for Oversight Panel", Washington Post, September 5, 2002.
 * Shawn Zeller, "'Free Market' Crusaders," National Journal, January 11, 2003: "Just two weeks into her tenure as president and CEO of the newly formed Americans for Prosperity, Nancy Pfotenhauer is brimming over with ideas and enthusiasm for her new mission. ... Pfotenhauer said that AFP -- the nonprofit advocacy group that recently replaced the CSE Foundation after Citizens for a Sound Economy and the CSE Foundation parted ways -- wants to 'change the way decisions are made [by state and local governments], particularly on spending." Pfotenhauer said her immediate goal is to establish AFP operations in five to 10 states. Before joining the Independent Women's Forum in 2001, Pfotenhauer headed the Washington office of Koch Industries, a conglomerate with holdings in oil and gas, chemicals, minerals, ranching, and securities; Koch Executive Vice President David Koch was a founder and a chairman of the CSE Foundation and is now on the AFP board."
 * Brad, "Nancy Pfotenhauer, McCain’s Dirty Energy Spokeswoman", Think Progress, June 28th, 2008.
 * Judy Woodruff, "Candidates Focus on Energy, Spar Over Oil Resources", Online NewsHour, August 4, 2008.
 * Carol Eisenberg, "McCain adviser Nancy Mitchell Pfotenhauer honed her skills as lobbyist, conservative crusader," Muckety.com, September 26, 2008.