Obama Is Set to Shuffle His Staff

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Obama is planning the first major reorganization of his administration, preparing to shuffle several positions in the West Wing as he tries to fortify his political team for the realities of divided government and his own re-election.

The president is studying how to maximize the power of the executive branch, advisers said, seeking insight from veterans of previous administrations and fresh advice from business leaders to guide the second half of his term.

He is reviewing the restructuring plan during the holidays, aides said, and intends to make the first announcements in the opening days of January.

A reshaping of the economic team, beginning by naming a new director of the National Economic Council, is among the most urgent priorities of the new year. Gene Sperling, a counselor to the Treasury secretary who held the position in the Clinton administration, is among the final contenders to succeed Lawrence H. Summers in the job, along with Roger C. Altman, a Wall Street investment banker who also served in the Clinton administration.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/24/us/politics/24obama.html

[w4rma]

1. Try getting rid of the sabotour/wimp DLCers, Mr. Obama. (nt)

[msongs]

2. maybe import some more bipartisan repubs n wall street insiders lol nt

[saigon68]

7. Yes a Few More of those CLOWNS will "Fire Up the Base"

</sarcasm>

[WhiteTara]

5. It's hard when they are replaced with more

of the same!

[notesdev]

3. Sort of like three card monte

[saigon68]

8. Or a "FULL MONTE"

[JDPriestly]

4. What a joke! Altman is just Summers under another name.

I think Altman is a Republican in Democratic clothing. Obama just becomes more Republican every day.

The Senate got some good work done in the last weeks, but Obama and the Republicans will no proceed with Plan RepubliDem which has as its goal the end of the middle class and the beginning of the end of democracy.

Obama has made a mockery of hope. This is just the worst news yet. Replacing RepubliDems with more RepubliDems.

[fascisthunter]

6. more corporate stooges, just different names no doubt

[MrTriumph]

9. Obama is preparing for W's 4th term

x

[BadGimp]

10. He should just let Michelle do that...

Eom

[and-justice-for-all]

11. With repukes I am sure.

[JackRiddler]

12. It's important because there are still some Clinton retreads that haven't had a turn.

[katnapped]

13. More Republicans please, Mr President...

That's the way you get the turnout of liberals and independents to boom come 2012...track further to the right!

:sarcasm:

[No Elephants]

14. Sperlling, who "served" as deputy to Goldman Sachs alum Rubin, and investment banker Altman. Swell.

"Following Clinton's election, from 1992-1996, Sperling served as deputy director of the <[United States National Economic Council|National Economic Council while the Council was directed by Robert Rubin, who was promoted to Treasury Secretary. Sperling became National Economic Adviser to President Clinton and director of the National Economic Council from 1996 to 2000.[br />
Sperling is the author of The Pro-Growth Progressive, a book arguing that liberals should seek to harness market forces in pursuing progressive goals.....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Sperling


"Robert Edward Rubin (born August 29, 1938) served as the 70th United States Secretary of the Treasury during both the first and second Clinton administrations. Before his government service, he spent 26 years at Goldman Sachs eventually serving as a member of the Board, and Co-Chairman from 1990-1992. His most prominent post-government role was as Director and Senior Counselor of Citigroup, where he performed ongoing advisory and representational roles for the firm.<1> From November to December 2007, he served temporarily as Chairman of Citigroup.<2><3> On January 9, 2009, Citigroup announced he was resigning after being criticized for his performance.<4> He received more than $126 million in cash and stock during his eight years at Citigroup.<4>"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Rubin

"Altman holds a B.A. from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

He was a general partner of Lehman Brothers from 1974 to 1977.<1> From 1977 to 1981 he served as the Assistant Secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury, during which time he helped oversee the then-troubled financial affairs of Chrysler. In 1981, he returned to Lehman Brothers, where he became the co-head of investment banking and served on the board of the company and the management committee. During the 1980s, he was a lecturer and adjunct professor at the Yale School of Management. In 1987, Altman joined the newly-formed Blackstone Group as vice-chairman, head of its mergers and acquisitions advisory business and a member of the investment committee.<2>

Altman served as the Deputy Treasury Secretary, before resigning in 1994 following a record-keeping scandal.<3><4> In 1996, instead of returning to Blackstone,<5> he co-founded Evercore Partners, a boutique advisory and private equity investment firm in New York City, and currently serves as firm's Chairman.

Altman has served as advisor to two presidential candidates: John Kerry in 2004,<6> and Hillary Clinton in 2008.<7>

Altman is founder and chairman of Evercore Partners, which advised on the GM deal. Evercore, after being paid $46 million by GM pre-bankruptcy, asked for a $17.9 million "success fee." A U.S. bankruptcy trustee termed the fees "staggering" and "inordinately large" and said it "clearly exceeds the bounds of reasonableness" given that "Evercore had no success at finding a purchaser or funder for the Debtors."<8> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Altman


Hope and change.

[Odin2005]

15. More conservadems, it sounds like.

[Overseas]

16. Sad how we "move forward" on Torture, but backward on economics.

Gotta move forward
Gotta move forward

and we went to the "New Democrats" approach that was outdated even when Clinton pushed it back in the 90's.