Does Running eBay Qualify You to Oversee the Treasury?
Washington Dispatch: John McCain apparently thinks so, naming Meg Whitman as a possible treasury secretary pick at Tuesday's debate.
October 8, 2008
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Does John McCain really think Meg Whitman would make a good treasury secretary, or was he just trying to win over a few Hillary voters when he was asked a question on this topic during Tuesday's debate? I suspect the latter. We all know that eBay is the province of millions of housewives making a few bucks selling yard-sale junk, votes McCain desperately needs. And clearly, by growing eBay into a billion-dollar company during her 10-year tenure as CEO, Whitman made many of those work-from-home jobs possible. But just because she got rich with one of the few early Internet companies to survive the dot-com bubble doesn't mean she's fit to run the Treasury Department.
On the plus side, Whitman has a degree in economics from Princeton and a Harvard MBA, and she spent her early career working for big companies like Hasbro, Stride Rite, and Disney. She also has the ego of a CEO that might serve her well among the G-men at Treasury. (She donated $30 million to Princeton to create a new college named after herself.) But she has virtually no experience in the financial sector for which the treasury secretary is directly responsible. Her resume shows scant evidence of fluency with such complex financial products as derivatives or credit swaps, which are in desperate need of thoughtful regulation, and little background in such mundane but critical things as monetary policy.
Her familiarity with the inner workings of Washington are equally thin. While she's supposedly mulling a run for governor of California, Whitman never registered with either political party until she went to work on Mitt Romney's ill-fated presidential campaign. She's also never held a government job, a problem that's hampered current Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, whose minimal political experience has affected his ability to move legislation through Congress.
More importantly, the treasury secretary has just been empowered to buy up $700 billion worth of toxic debt from troubled financial institutions. The job will require overseeing a massive cleanup operation, figuring out just how much those mortgages are really worth and not losing even more of the taxpayers' money on them. Whitman's track record on valuing assets isn't encouraging. As CEO of eBay, she way overestimated the potential of Skype, the online phone service eBay purchased in 2005 for vastly more money than it was worth. The purchase is one reason that when Whitman retired in early 2008, eBay's stock had lost nearly half its value over the previous two years.
If McCain really wanted to tap a woman for Treasury, he could have mentioned Sheila Bair, the head of the FDIC, who's already up to her ears managing the wreckage of the financial crisis. Bair has lots of government experience, which includes working on the Hill for Bob Dole and as an assistant secretary at the Treasury Department in Bush's first term. There, back in 2001, she sounded an early alarm about the potential dangers to the economy posed by the subprime lending industry and has won praise from consumer advocates for consistently calling for better regulation.
Bair spent some time as a regulator at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and as senior vice president for government relations for the New York Stock Exchange. Since taking over the FDIC in 2006, she has overseen the sales of Washington Mutual and Wachovia, as well as the takeover of IndyMac, which in July went down as the second-biggest bank failure in US history. One of Bair's first moves at the FDIC was to purchase a database of information about securitized loans, which quickly led to the discovery that mortgage companies were throwing underwriting to the wind. As a result, Bair was an early proponent of freezing adjustable-rate mortgage "resets" to prevent the massive number of home foreclosures that ultimately occurred, showing that she's had her eye on Main Street as well as Wall Street.
Bair has virtually every credential the next president might want in a treasury secretary. She's more qualified for the job than a lot of men who've taken it. Yet McCain only has eyes for Meg, an indication that he still doesn't have a serious handle on the economy or even what's going on in Washington to fix it. More cynically, his pandering to eBay moms with his plug for Whitman falls into the same category as his choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate. Women, in McCain's world, are peripheral figures at best, and at worst, they're affirmative-action candidates, chosen mostly for their appeal to voting blocs, not because anyone believes they are the most qualified candidates for the job.
Stephanie Mencimer is a reporter in Mother Jones' Washington, DC, bureau and the author of Blocking the Courthouse Door: How the Republican Party and Its Corporate Allies Are Taking Away Your Right to Sue (Free Press, 2006).
Personally, I stopped using eBay years ago. It used to be very buyer, and seller friendly. After several fee increases, it no longer is either.
Competition has increased. Many other auction websites are cutting into their market share.
Like most global corporations. Their focus is on shareholders, not on customers, or sellers who drive their engine.
Don't know if those are qualifications for a Treasury Secretary. May be - May be not.
Other than that heaven forbid ever to hear Sara answer, when asked "Sarah, what happened to the Nation's Treasury?", that she were to answer "McCain put it on e-Bay!"
However, being said that being treasury secretary require more expertise in financial system.
As he would say:" This bailout is like
a two headed rattlesnake, one head won't get you the other one will".Or,
this bailout is like bringing a belly
dancer to church picnic.
You are obviously a McPalin supporter, so let me ask you this - how proud of America is Sarah Palin's husband, seeing as he belongs to a SECESSIONIST organization that wants to NOT be part of the U.S.??
I'll be waiting for your reply...
That is, if you agree that being pilot in command for 5 plane crashes qualifies you to be President.
-Wexler
eBay cuts jobs, buys Bill Me Later, Danish websites; eBay Layoffs - Executives To Get 4 Years Pay; Merchant Group Blasts EBay.
Purchase price for above companies: $1.35 Billion dollars while laying off emplyees. This is real greed.
In communism you are guilty just for being in court. On eBay you are guilty when eBay says you're guilty.
Through the years many ebayers have been thrown out because they expressed their opinion. I was suspended for 30 days last July for expressing my discontent with eBay's new feedback policy. There was no appeal and I have not recovered since. Their initial reason for the suspension was "Non performance" I have almost 19000 positive feedbacks and there were 3 negative feedbacks last June and all 3 were received because of eBay's new policy and not because of non-performance. I expressed my feeling in the replies to the feedbacks and receiv3ed a call from Trust and Safety that my account is being suspended for 30 days. My eBay representative was the one that initiated the suspension when I told him that I am putting 50% of the money I am spending on eBay towards Amazon.com. He told me if I posted another reply to a feedback that belittles eBay, I would permanently be thrown out. Do we want a person that does not allow us to exercise the first ammendment to the constitution?? Type in "ebay suspensions" into Google and you'll see thousands of horror stories regarding eBay's "Trust & Safety". Imagine going into a court and there is no trial, appeal or any democratic procedure. You are guilty and that's all she wrote "pun". Meg Withman is no friend to eBayers, don't let the phony press releases fool you. eBay has sold prime positions on their auctions to large corporations, eliminating the level playing field that they were proud of since the beginning. All of this is being done so that investors get a bigger bang for their buck.
Some here amaze themselves and only themselves. In reality they are but a product of their own feeble minds.
As well, who we have now in this office and other offices controlled by the left are doing so great. I watched the news last night and the Speaker of the House, leader of the left, Pelosi, has a job rating that of Bush. Stammer on!
Is it just me or does Meg Whitman have a freakishly large forehead? She looks like that character from the Lawrence Welk skit on last week's SNL. Has anyone checked to see if has tiny doll hands?
As for the "Country-First" clone who thoughtlessly spews out the right wing rhetoric, I say, THINK FOR YOURSELF. Don't let Sarah Palin do that for you.
So, 'countryfirst,' you still haven't answered my question:
How proud of America is Sarah Palin's husband, seeing as he belongs to a SECESSIONIST organization that wants to NOT be part of the U.S.??
I'm still waiting for your reply...
Additionally, the predatory practice of forcing PayPal on users with 3.5% transaction fees to skim high profits is just another way that Ebay impoverishes sellers.
What's needed is the government to either break up the Ebay monoploy into maybe a dozen or so small online unrelated sites or impose strict and draconian regulations and high fines against Ebay to prevent it from gouging users and rein in its public predation.
A lot of fraud and trademark infringement is facilitated on ebay, wherein sellers in China sell fake Rolexes (for example) with impunity because they ship directly from China. In other cases, international buyers bilk USA sellers--using payments which are ultimately reversed (after the item ships).
About Ms. Whitman:
Nothing special and really not credentialed for a cabinet position. Part of what caused today’s problems is the dangerous concept that a 115-IQ is sufficient to be President and 110 for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. America has thereby begun to regress into a raw-meat eating Joe and Josephine 6-pack. Normally, 8 years of that would not have hydraulically flushed the entire economy down the drain. But Bush-W was a pro at wrecking the show. He put on a “Boogie-Nights” orgy of corporate abuse and misconduct. Who cares, throw another brat on the fire and turn on ESPN. We don’t need no fancy-talkin’ u-lumonato!
Today on O’Reilly Bill began to use the term “folk” to refer to the ordinary American (Not even Folks but Folk). This is the same process wherein Hitler began to convert quiet farmers into blood-thirsty storm troopers. In German its called “Volk” (not Volks). (The singular context infers a single-minded, single body with single leadership). It basically means tapping into the latent resentment and often the primal violent tendencies of simple (usually less educated) people. Yesterday, Mr. O’Reilly insisted that McCain supporters (and McCain) turn angry. This is yet another traditional step in the fabrication of storm-troopers.
I do not believe McCain will succeed, angry or not. But these will NOT be good losers. Expect cars with Obama/Biden bumper-stickers to be smashed to smitereerines—sadly with the passengers occasionally inside.
BTW: In the past 5,000 years of recorded Chinese history, that culture was only leading the world for about 400-500 years. The rest of the time they were starving peasants. The difference was the result of the method in which their leaders were chosen. During the time when China was first in science and technology, they chose their emperor from a group of gifted children. The smartest one became the next emperor and wealth or family lineage was irrelevant.
Lastly, here is an interesting quote:
"The weakness in the McCain campaign is now spreading through the conservative mainstream:" Columnist George F. Will, a Republican stalwart, accused McCain of “substituting vehemence for coherence,” and virtually endorsed Obama, saying, “It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?”"{end of quote}
http://globalnation.inquirer.n et/mindfeeds/mindfeeds/view/20 081010-165745/No-Drama-Obama
He said it better then I could." Another conservative columnist, David Brooks, highlighted the disturbing undercurrent of anti-intellectualism in the McCain campaign. In a forum posted on the Huffington Post, he said: “There has been a counter, more populist tradition, which is not only to scorn liberal ideas but to scorn ideas entirely... And I'm afraid that Sarah Palin has those prejudices. I think President Bush has those prejudices.” On the other hand, Brooks said that while he does not agree with many of the things Obama stands for, he nevertheless had a “great intellect” and “tremendous powers of social perception.” “He's phenomenally good at surrounding himself with a team,” Brooks said. "I disagree with them on most issues, but I am given a lot of comfort by the fact that the people he's chosen are exactly the people I think most of us would want to choose if we were in his shoes. So again, I have doubts about him just because he was such a mediocre senator, but his capacity to pick staff is impressive.”"
{end of quote)
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Billions of dollars in Fake tradmark items sell on ebay every year, and Whitman and new CEO Donahue always heavily promoted the very same lucrative product lines being sold on ebay where the most counterfeiting occurs and hides behind every concievable legal "we are just a venue" loophole to reap the revenues of counterfeit goods.
Ebay growth has come at the hands of corporate greed, monopolizing, hostil takeover attempts and stepping on anyone's toes that get in their way of total domination in the online shopping marketplace.
ANY ebay exuctive in charge of the treasury is the last thing this country needs. There's enough greed and corruption in government already!
From the New York Times article "Amid the Gloom, an E-Commerce War" dated 10/11/08:
"Ms. Whitman seemed to moderate this constant debate while never actually settling it."
"Ms. Whitman and other eBay managers spent considerable energy trying to integrate Skype, and last year eBay wrote down $1.4 billion of the $3.1 billion acquisition."
Does ANYONE really believe Meg Whitman is qualified as treasury secretary?
C'mon people, even Meg herself, when speaking of being CEO of ebay, admitted even "a monkey could drive this train."
Read ebay Discussions on ebay's own site at "Seller Central" to find out what Meg Whitman and the boy she groomed, John Donahoe, have done (and are STILL doing) to destroy ebay. Meg Whitman is still a paid ebay employees and continues to sit on the board.
I sure as heck do not want Whitman anywhere near ANY government position! Look what she's done TO ebay. The damage she could do to the government could be catastrophic!
Boeing CEO will become Secretary of Defense,
Monster CEO will become Secretary of Human services in McCain Admin
The author certainly doesn't know much about eBay! That was evident in the first paragraph. But I'm glad I read the whole article, because the above quote had me rolling on the floor laughing!
Most eBay sellers HATE Whitman, and wouldn't dream of supporting one of her supporters! Go read some seller forums on eBay for a better idea of how much and why we despise her.
Her hand picked successor is as "clueless" and is marching the troops into doom. One that will make eBay a secondary player in e commerce.
The other big money maker for eBay is PayPal and many countries are looking at it are not seeing it as a "safer way to pay".
If Meg is wanting to use the PayPal model in the US Treasury Dept. there would be NO FDIC Insurance. And might as well be back in the 1920's.
I have seen the Peter Principle in all it's forms. This appears to be the Peter principle to it's Nth degree.
Hopefully Sen. McCain has a better idea than Meg Whitman for Sec. of the Treasury. She would be in the top two goofy ideas he has.
Right up there with TAXING health care. WTF? Ok if US Senators are taxed as well, but can't see that happening! Only you and I.
Maybe Social Security medicare should be taxed? How bought veteran health care benefits? Seems like a slippery slope.
Better to vote for someone other than McCain. The alternative is not Meg or Sarah. Just a guy that has a nice tan (with big ears).
Clear choice for me!
Trollstein, I also was surprised at what David Brooks said about Palin (true, as far as I can tell from SouthEast Alaska), and the rather friendly tone of his comments re Obama. Brooks' approving tone seemed focussed on style, rather than issues, where he affirms his separation from Obama.
I guess, that the Palin spectacle has put the fear into some "merely" ideological thinkers like Brooks. They see what the mother of all bases is capable of, and they rightly fear the pogrom to come; even though it may start with their supposed fellow travelers, the super-patriotic evangelicals.
Seriously, who wouldn't quail at the thought of the New Minutemen for Jesus, out on the streets, gunning for terrorist "pal-arounders", while drunk from believing aptly-selected Bible verses, and the new Twelfth Commandment, "Ye Shall Drill Baby Drill?"
It should be clear, I am a wholesaler and not a good writer or a stock expert, but I have a first hand inside look having been a powerseller almost from e bay start, for over 10 years, 1.7 million per year sales and account for $156,000 paid to e bay per year for seller fees, this is the bases in which e bay shows profit or loss in a great way for there core business, this does not account for paypal fees charged, seller manager pro, e bay stores. Buyers and sellers are leaving e bay, this can be proved by http://www.sellerdome.com/
It is interesting how the 1500 employee lay off received so much attention, however, OVER 10% of total powersellers were laid off/suspended because of flawed aggressive policy poorly implemented has not had a placement. This is proved by http://blog.sellerdome.com/?p=16 between 15k-30K e bay powersellers who account for $3000-$20,000 in seller fees paid each month for each of those sellers. This seems a larger story than a simple layoff of e bay employees. Ebay saves money by laying off paid employees, but e bays profit takes a hit by getting rid of partners who contribute to e bay profit. For example: 20,000 powersellers/partners laid off/suspended that account for an average of $5,000 per month seller fees = $100,000,000 each month in seller fees not received by e bay. That is $1,200,000,000 per year in revenue given up for aggressively flawed policy by current management. The idea current ebay management had was by getting rid of 10% of its selling partners was going drive back 32% of its buyers, however, that has clearly not been the case, because the policy change was flawed and implemented with such aggression over a short period of time, 6 months total, 3 months aggressively. Ebay seems to have driven away buyers by this and the new search method that sellers or buyers don't like with no concern of management. The company has managed to drive its investors away in the same motion as stock prices show a drop since new management put in place 6 months ago, before market crash. Ebay management charged its sellers/partners for decline in its core business and seems not to have taken into account the increased competition of walmart, best buy, circuit city and many others putting marketing dollars into the online sector of business. Ebay pushing away its partners, sellers and buyers, is only going to make profit softer and push away investors. With 70% more competitors in the market e bay only dropped 30% seems a strong market hold for e bay and a reason to support its partners in a currently working policy rather than place blame partners and will prove to decline its future market share which is pointed out by many market analysis.