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Change: We Can't See It!
Nov. 6th, 2008 12:03 pmWatching the elections a couple days ago. MSNBC commentators talked to Obama's campaign staff and said that he was going to bring people who were "bipartisan and new" into his power structure. Well, take a look at the list of proposed US Treasury Secretaries in. NONE of them could possible qualify as "new", although a few are bipartisan (interesting - even the Democratic candidate would rather have a Republican overseeing the economy).
The best pick -- the absolutely best pick, the one pick on that list that would reassure everyone that Obama is willing to do what's best for the American people instead of what's best for his cronies -- would be Paul Volcker. He's not new, but he is reliable and trustworthy on the economy. He was Fed chair in the 80s and eminently qualified to control the Treasury. Unfortunately, the noises coming out of the Volcker spokespeople are sounds of "it's a great honor to be considered, and of course we wouldn't turn the future president down, but...."
Another mentioned pick is a close buddy of Obama's, Lawrence Summers at Harvard University. You may remember him from the scandal a few years back when he nearly lost his job for promoting sexism at a conference through statements about how women were inherently bad at math. Which is complete BS, as years of neuroscientific studies have shown. Overall, no difference in math ability between the sexes.
So will it be the publicly-pilloried crony-pick, the excellent-pick, or one of the random former officials thrown in their for contrast? We'll just have to wait and see.
Another thing to watch is Obama's White House Chief of Staff pick. New Politics? Yeah right. Obama picked the Democratic House whip. The man wanted someone who would make people jump when wanted them to, and that's what he got. This isn't change, people. Obama isn't change. He's a smart guy who looks sharp in suits, knows how to manage PR and can pick people who know what they're talking about. That may make his administration better than a McCain administration would have been. But it likely won't - Obama doesn't know a lot of people in the Capitol, which makes him vulnerable to the Democratic flunkies he's surrounded himself with. And Obama's a lot more liberal than people want to think. The flap about Bill Ayers aside, Obama's a left-wing socialist. That's not always a bad thing, but it very easily can be. And given Obama's lack of governing experience, I think it will.
Hopefully, Obama will keep himself to the charismatic diplomatic roles he's had so far, and make decisions with lots of advice. That will likely save him from drastic missteps. But I wouldn't count on it.
The best pick -- the absolutely best pick, the one pick on that list that would reassure everyone that Obama is willing to do what's best for the American people instead of what's best for his cronies -- would be Paul Volcker. He's not new, but he is reliable and trustworthy on the economy. He was Fed chair in the 80s and eminently qualified to control the Treasury. Unfortunately, the noises coming out of the Volcker spokespeople are sounds of "it's a great honor to be considered, and of course we wouldn't turn the future president down, but...."
Another mentioned pick is a close buddy of Obama's, Lawrence Summers at Harvard University. You may remember him from the scandal a few years back when he nearly lost his job for promoting sexism at a conference through statements about how women were inherently bad at math. Which is complete BS, as years of neuroscientific studies have shown. Overall, no difference in math ability between the sexes.
So will it be the publicly-pilloried crony-pick, the excellent-pick, or one of the random former officials thrown in their for contrast? We'll just have to wait and see.
Another thing to watch is Obama's White House Chief of Staff pick. New Politics? Yeah right. Obama picked the Democratic House whip. The man wanted someone who would make people jump when wanted them to, and that's what he got. This isn't change, people. Obama isn't change. He's a smart guy who looks sharp in suits, knows how to manage PR and can pick people who know what they're talking about. That may make his administration better than a McCain administration would have been. But it likely won't - Obama doesn't know a lot of people in the Capitol, which makes him vulnerable to the Democratic flunkies he's surrounded himself with. And Obama's a lot more liberal than people want to think. The flap about Bill Ayers aside, Obama's a left-wing socialist. That's not always a bad thing, but it very easily can be. And given Obama's lack of governing experience, I think it will.
Hopefully, Obama will keep himself to the charismatic diplomatic roles he's had so far, and make decisions with lots of advice. That will likely save him from drastic missteps. But I wouldn't count on it.
