. . .

THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME

welcome! this is a space to discuss the Obama crew as it develops.

(like the assemblage of the administration, this page is a work in progress)

Cabinet

Rahm Emanuel: Chief of Staff

- champion of Israeli interests

- supported the iraq war

- 100% pro-choice

- voted against bush's energy policy

- voted for the Patriot Act

- voted to require FISA warrants for wiretapping in US but not abroad

- inspired the West Wing character Josh Lyman

- gets a sideways thumb from Jesse :\

Foreign Policy

(once these selections have been officially announced, i will fill in the details)

Hilary Clinton: Secretary of State

Janet Napolitano: Secretary of Homeland Security

The Economic Team

(these have been officially announced)

Timothy Geithner: Treasury Secretary

- Rubin protégé (for more on this, google "Rubinomics")

- president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York

- played a key role in the government bailouts of Bear Stearns Cos. and American International Group

- got his first job working for Henry muthafuckin' Kissinger

- profiled in this 5,000-word Portfolio article

- knows how to lean forward and glower very effectively

Lawrence Summers: director of the National Economic Council

- another Rubin protégé

- served as Treasury Secretary for two years during the Clinton administration

- supported the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, allowing many derivatives to go unregulated

- economic views characterized as centrist

- former chief economist at the World Bank

- served on Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers

- reminds me a little bit of Rodney Dangerfield

Christina Romer: chair of the Council of Economic Advisers

- economics professor at the University of California at Berkeley

- expert on the Great Depression and the New Deal

- opposes tax increases; believes they discourage investment

- a member of the National Bureau of Economic Research, which decides when a recession has officially started or ended

- looks like she'd be a good hugger

Melody Barnes: director of Domestic Policy Council

- elucidated her views on domestic policy (as well as foreign policy) in this 2007 editorial, What a Progressive President Might Say

- currently executive vice president for policy at the Center for American Progress

- from 1995 until 2003, served as chief counsel to Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee

- advocated for civil rights, women's health/reproductive rights, commercial law, and religious liberties.

- worked with members of Congress to pass the Voting Rights Improvement Act of 1992

- Jesse's favorite appointee (so far)

- oh, she's got style