Hank to the rescue!
Friday, September 19, 2008 at 07:01AM One thing has become clear over the past several days: Hank Paulson was an inspired pick for Treasury Secretary.
Could there be any better steward for our economy during these chaotic times than Paulson?
The developments over the past several days have been nothing short of remarkable, and he's been more than up to the task. He stuck his neck out for AIG -- and put together a truly unprecedented bailout -- and is now proposing some type of RTC-type entity to absorb another $500 billion in bad loans. That means taxpayers are on the hook for over $1 trillion in commitments -- which represents approximately one-third of our GDP.
Paulson clearly has the instincts and credibility to get these things done, knowing full well the consequences of inaction.
Which begs the question: Will Obama or McCain surround themeselves with similarly capable people? Do they truly appreciate the magnitude of the problem? There's probably only a handful of people who could have pulled off what Paulson did, and I'm not sure any of them are advising either camp.
Reader Comments (2)
McCain has Franklin Raines. He managed...oh yeah, Fannie Mae.
Carly Fiorina...oh yeah, HP just laid off 24,000 people on top of the tens of thousands after they pushed her out with a $42 million golden parachute.
Jack Kemp, who I might have voted for president. Oh yeah...every problem can be solved with supply-side.
Obama has Austan Goolsby, some liberal hack from the home of all things left, the University of Chicago ;-). I'm enrolled there, and once I understood he's taking advice from one of their leading economists, I understood his plan to manage the economy was going to be much more reality based than most other Dems, and definitely way more than the GOP.
Sorry, Raines isn't with anyone.