Since the beginnings of the Obama administration I have watched his appointments with sadness. From the very start, Obama loaded his cabinet with people who made his promises of change impossible to fulfill. Norman Solomon has a nice summary of three of the nominees which I will summarize even further. The entire article is linked below.
President Obama has nominated Penny Pritzker for Secretary of Commerce. She has been a major fundraiser for Obama. She also serves on the board of Hyatt Hotels which her family began. Both Pritzker and Hyatt have a history of bad relations with unions. She is mentioned by Forbes as among the 300 wealthiest Americans.
“Her pioneering sub-prime operations, out of Superior Bank in Chicago, specifically targeted poor and working class people of color across the country. She ended up crashing Superior for a billion-dollar cost to taxpayers, and creating a personal tragedy for the 1,400 people who lost their savings when the bank failed.” -Dennis Bernstein
Tom Wheeler, another fundraiser for Obama, has been nominated to chair the Federal Communications Commission.
“Wheeler’s background is as a trade association representative for companies appearing before the Commission, a lobbyist in Congress for other FCC customers, and a venture capitalist investing in and profiting from others whose requests he’ll have to pass on. He has no record, of which I am aware, of challenging corporate abuse of power on behalf of consumers and the poor.
“Nor does Wheeler’s membership on the president’s Intelligence Advisory Board bode well for those who believe Americans’ Fourth Amendment privacy rights should be getting at least as much attention as the government’s perceived need to engage in even more secret snooping.” -Nicolas Johnson, former FCC chair.
Finally Mary Jo White was appointed as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Solomon concludes:
Obama’s recent appointment of Wall Street insider Mary Jo White as SEC chair is playing out in predictable fashion. Days ago, in an editorial, the New York Times faulted her role in an SEC decision on regulating the huge derivatives market: “Last week, in her first commission vote, Ms. White led the commissioners in approving a proposal that, if finalized, could leave investors and taxpayers exposed to the ravages of reckless bank trading.”
Liberals can blame some of Obama’s compromises on the Republicans, but that does not explain why he keeps nominating foxes to watch the hen house, in exactly the same manner Bush did before him. If only we could find a leader who says what Obama says, and actually believes it. Better still, if only we could find voters who vote on issues not personalities.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/05/09/obama-in-plunderland/
Agreed. These appointees are all very compromised.
O was a disappointment to me right out of the gate; when he took office in 09, I really wanted to see him come in and take some scalps on Wall Street and the too-big-to-fail banks. There have been just about zero consequences for everyone involved in the crash of 08, and I can get into more trouble for a quarter-pound of marijuana than those operators did for bringing the world economy to a standstill.
I wanted a Teddy Roosevelt-style reformer; instead, Obama is looking more and more like GWB’s 3rd term.
Hey -run for office.We are all people.
Kathleen, I’m not being critical of the individuals. I’m pointing out conflicts of interest.