Obama Narrows Field for Fed Chairman to 3

[abelenkpe]

Obama Narrows Field for Fed Chairman to 3

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/02/business/economy/obama-narrows-field-for-fed-chairman-to-3.html?_r=1&

WASHINGTON — This week, in a closed-door meeting of Congressional Democrats with President Obama, Representative Ed Perlmutter of Colorado bluntly said what has been on many politicians’ minds: “Larry Summers. Bad choice.”

Mr. Obama was visibly annoyed and mounted a defense of Mr. Summers, his former economic policy adviser who also served as Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton. Mr. Summers, who the president said had become something of a “progressive whipping boy,” appears to be a strong contender to succeed Ben S. Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

With the vigorous attacks on Mr. Summers that have erupted in recent days, now his supporters are engaged in a more public campaign to smooth his knotty reputation as being not just brilliant but also bullheaded and brusque.

“It’s my experience, and the experience of a lot of people, that he’s a great person to work with,” said Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, who worked with Mr. Summers at the Treasury Department and the World Bank.

(more at link)

[Safetykitten]

1. Larry by a mile. He even has the requisite smary business fuck you puss.

[PoliticAverse]

2. Summers suffers from 'not as smart as he thinks he is' syndrome. n/t

[Safetykitten]

3. Such drama when the fix is already in.

[abelenkpe]

7. Hope not

But it is truly disappointing to see the president supporting his nomination.

[DreamGypsy]

4. Express your opinion about Fed director to President Obama

Petitions at WhiteHouse.gov.

Nominate Janet Yellin as the next Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and not Larry Summers -- NO MORE CRONIES !!!

The petition references a Facebook post by Robert Reich (search for 'Yellen'):

Janet Yellen has impeccable credentials. She's now vice-chairman of the Fed, after having been head of the San Francisco branch of the Fed, and before that, an economics professor at Berkeley. In 2007 she was one of the very few voices sounding the alarm about the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Not incidentally, she's also a delightful person. Those who have worked with her tell me she listens carefully to all views, and is respectful of her employees. If selected, she'd be the first woman to head the Fed.

and Do not nominate Larry Summers to head the Federal Reserve.

Reich's take on Summers:

I worked with Larry Summers in the Clinton administration, where he eventually became Treasury Secretary. Under Obama, he ran the National Economic Council. Personally, I like Larry. He's very bright, and able to see the nub of most policy problems very quickly. But he has the tact and personality of a bull in a China shop, and he's been notoriously wrong about a few big things. In the late 1990s, he urged Clinton to sign off on legislation killing off Glass-Steagall, and was also part of the Rubin-Greenspan cabal that rejected the arguments of Brooksley Born, then chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, for why the CFTC should regulate financial derivatives. Summers' subsequent tenure as president of Harvard came to an end after he suggested one reason women were not well-represented in the sciences is they don't have the mind for it. As chair of the National Economic Council under Obama, he and Tim Geithner, then Treasury Secretary, bailed out Wall Street while refusing to impose tough conditions on the banks.

Easy to sign both.

[Safetykitten]

5. If every person on DU sent a letter, and every Democrat on th planet sent a letter...

Larry still would get it. OTHER people want him.

[abelenkpe]

6. Yes please sign petitions!

Cant hurt.