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Mr. Lew, the current Chief of Staff, has run the Office of Management and Budget for both Obama and Clinton. Lew has also served as a Democratic adviser to Thomas P. O'Neill where he participated in fiscal talks with the Reagan administration.
Lew is described as a progressive liberal and has had bitter meetings with congressional Republicans in the past. Both Lew and Obama have similar views on entitlement programs like Medicaid and both want to avoid the large budget cuts that are being proposed for them.
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As secretary of the Treasury, Lew's distinctive signature will be printed on every new dollar bill.
What do you think of Jacob Lew and his skills and experience? Do you think he will be successful in helping negotiate a deal with the Republicans? What do you think of his signature?
2 comments:
It looks like Mr. Lew is well equipped to take on this position, but if he has had rocky experiences with Republicans in the past, I have to wonder whether or not he would be the best choice. Regardless, I suppose it is really his grasp of the nation's financial needs that is the most critical factor.
The fact that that signature may appear on new money actually made me laugh--but maybe Lew is skilled enough to make the mess that is our economy seem less like a roller coaster than his name.
As Eavan said, Jacob Lew seems competent enough to be nominated for Secretary of the Treasury. With our current budget problems, it is important that we have someone who can work to solve it. However, the "bitter meetings" he is said to have had with Republicans is not a good sign that he will be able to garner bipartisan support.
That being said, President Obama considers him a "master of policy" and even Republican Pete Domenici called Lew a worthy choice for Secretary of the Treasury. Oh course, this is all assuming Obama does actually nominate him. They could be more competent candidates, maybe preferably female, for the job.
Well, now that he has been officially nominated by Obama about five hours ago, hopefully the divided Congress has enough sense to quickly approve Lew when we are facing such a serious economic crisis. However, this hope seems to be dim as there are some Republicans who are vehemently opposing Obama's nominations to the Cabinet.
In conclusion, most non-Republican commentary indicates that Jacob Lew is well qualified to become our next Secretary of the Treasury. Once he is approved (how long that takes depends on Republican opposition), he will have a heavy workload to handle and deals to hammer out. Our debt has become too large and must be curbed as soon as possible. Even Alexander Hamilton, who advocated for a debt, said that: "A national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing." Personally, whether there is actually any "blessing" from today's debt is not seen by me.
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