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A Competent Bush Nominee?

Ezra Klein notes that Bush's nomination for Treasury Secretary, Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson, is a "serious, competent guy" who—shockingly—supported the Kyoto Protocol. (More to the point, he has stated that unless the United States puts emissions limits in place, "U.S. companies will lose ground to their competitors.")

That sounds nice (insofar as a pro-Wall Street Treasury Secretary can sound "nice"), but it also sounds a lot like a description of Bush's first Treasury Secretary, Paul O'Neill, who, despite helping Ron Suskind produce a very nice book exposing the sheer mendacity and close-mindedness of the current administration, didn't really affect much in the way of policy.

Posted by Bradford Plumer on 05/30/06 at 9:58 AM | E-mail | Print

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Comments

My guess is that the corporate big guys were instrumental in getting Paulson to be considered and selected. The usual loyalty and Republican hackness tests couldn't be used since the clock is ticking on the dollar. It was time for a serious adult in charge at Treasury, with clout.

Thinkgs are getting serious in the international financial world with the US$ falling about 8% against the Euro and 6% against the Yen since the first of the year.

I'm thinking he can't be ignored by the WH, for another departure couldn't hidden under Rovian slime. His personal wealth is in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and he is highly respected as one of a few real experts on international finance, with a special emphasis on China.

Posted by: JimPortlandOR on 05/30/06 at 6:29 PM