Here’s some good news — Larry Summers has withdrawn from being considered for the Fed chairmanship. It appears opposition from some Dem senators persuaded Summers he wouldn’t be confirmed, anyway.
Opposition to Summers among Senate Democrats has been obvious for weeks but it escalated on Friday when Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) announced he would vote against Obama’s former economic adviser if he was nominated.
At least three other Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee were expected to oppose Summers — Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) – raising the politically uncomfortably scenario of Obama needing to rely on Republican votes just to get his choice for a Fed chief out of committee.
So that’s a relief.
Hat tip to those dems who stuck to their principles and insisted on a worthy nominee for this post
I’m glad Summers was forced out of the pool. The fact that Obama even considered one of Wall Street’s leading crooks hardly makes his administration look good though.
From the DailyKos:
In a statement, Mr. Obama said he accepted Mr. Summers’s decision. He described him as “a critical member of my team as we faced down the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and it was in no small part because of his expertise, wisdom, and leadership that we wrestled the economy back to growth and made the kind of progress we are seeing today.”
This would be like describing Ronald Reagan as a great friend of the poor and downtrodden.
I would love to reelect Jimmy Carter, I sometimes think. I believe he would speak more sharply to the Republicans. They need to be hit with a little snippiness.
That may sound off topic, but I don’t think he would have gone for Summers in the first place.
The Yankees got humiliated over the weekend.
Eli and the Jints, looked awful playing Peyton and the Broncos.
So this is the only piece of good news that I had over the weekend.
And good news it is.
Summers was the Clinton guy most responsible reo the repeal of Glass-Steagall, and other regulations, that put our economy into near free-fall half a decade ago.
GO YELLEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m surprised Larry’s ego could fit through the exit.
joan,
Larry knows not from exits.
All he’s ever seen are entrances.
I’m really surprised and elated. Summers seemed to be part of Obama’s trusted inner circle.
Gulag,
Maybe they tricked him, replacing the “Exit” sign with one that said, “This way to pie.”
After all he’s the ex-president of our President’s alma mater and he’s way too smart to subject himself to grilling by the likes of Rand Paul or some equally bent tea partier on another committee. Will Obama be lost without him? Maybe he’ll get someone without Wall Street ties abandoning the apparent idea that only those who broke it can fix it. Worse yet, he could get someone from Berkeley rather than Harvard. Oh my!
Summers also looks a little sleepy like he’d fall asleep in meetings.