No to Lawrence Summers

President-elect Obama rightly spoke often on the campaign trail about the perils of deregulation and trade agreements that do not include worker and environmental protections.

The deregulation of our financial institutions has led to our current economic crisis, and it is critical that the next Treasury Secretary discontinue the failed policies of both the Clinton and Bush administrations, a legacy of deregulation of financial markets and trade agreements that dramatically slant toward corporate interests.

Given all this, as Mark Ames asks in a new Nation.com article, and in light of all of the corruption and cronyism that have marked the career of Bill Clinton's last Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, why is Obama considering him for a repeat performance? Please sign The Nation's new petition, inspired by a similar campaign started by the invaluable blog OpenLeft, asking Obama's transition team to end the consideration and take Summers off the list.

Comments (52)

1. There is a similar effort to oppose Joel Klein as Secretary of Education. Here it is: Teachers, educators, read the entire petition and sign it at:

   http://www.petitiononline.com/campd227/petition.html

   Posted by Dcampbell at 11/11/2008 @ 3:24pm

2. Thanks DCAMP. We'll try to amplify this petition in the coming days. Klein would be a terrible choice!

   Posted by Peter Rothberg at 11/11/2008 @ 3:46pm

3. 'The deregulation of our financial institutions has led to our current economic crisis, and it is critical that the next Treasury Secretary discontinue the failed policies of both the Clinton and Bush administrations, a legacy of deregulation of financial markets and trade agreements that dramatically slant toward corporate interests.'

   But Peter....those who made the crisis understand the crisis......hahahaha - The Wall Street rationale. So we entrust them again to fix it. Absolutely ridiculous. Only in Washington does such logic make sense.

   Posted by OneVote at 11/11/2008 @ 3:58pm

4. intelligence?

   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122636726473415991.html

   WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama is unlikely to radically overhaul controversial Bush administration intelligence policies, advisers say, an approach that is almost certain to create tension within the Democratic Party.

   Posted by frosty zoom at 11/11/2008 @ 4:00pm

5. Posted by HAPPYLonghorn at 11/11/2008 @ 4:09pm

   Posted by lvliberty1 at 11/11/2008 @ 4:22pm

   Weren't you guys talking about "How bad it is that Obama appointed a vicious partisan who says 'FU Repubs' in Rahm Emmanuel"????

   Won't you flip tunes and decry the next choice if he's more liberal?

   BTW, PETER, that goes for you too. Again, Obama's cabinet is NOT going to be Howard Zinn, Noam CHomsky, Naomi Klein, or Dennis Kucinich.

   Word from the wisely cynical....Prep yourself for disappointments.

   Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 4:35pm

6. Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 4:35pm |

   I can't agree more. The Progressives want the extreme left. The right want the extreme right. The man ran on bridging the gap. Why is everyone complaining now that he is doing that?

   Posted by Cccomfo1 at 11/11/2008 @ 4:56pm

7. Tsk, tsk, all of this effort to prevent our dear messiah from doing what comes so naturally to him: Cow-towing to the corporate and foreign policy interests that own him. Seem to me as though he wants to do a Cinton redux, what say? And you thought you were going to get something new. Oh, you douche-nozzle, you. Hate to say I told you so.

   Here we are now on the verge of salvation but the savior won't save, he'd rather give us sloppy seconds. You ain't seen nothin' yet. Wait 'til we're into this one month.

   Posted by john lowell at 11/11/2008 @ 5:00pm

8. Word from the wisely cynical....Prep yourself for disappointments.

   Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 4:35pm | ignore this person | warn this person

   Let the children play Mask.

   Posted by OneVote at 11/11/2008 @ 5:06pm

9. Take a load off..Larry Take a load for free

   Posted by Sorelish at 11/11/2008 @ 5:11pm

10. I agree "No to Summers" he is one of the architects of voodoo economics along with Kudlow, Rubin and to a lesser degree Reich, hatched in Las Vegas casinos. These guys can really make a cogent argument, albeit flawed, for wealth creation and the self regulation of the markets. Even Greenspan has admitted that greed and gluttony are not self regulating, and that wealth creation may have more to do with the multiplier effect of value adding labor, (i.e. making stuff like nuts and bolts). These suits that our Scrappy Senator has surrounded himself with, are really scary, but let's wait and see. He may, in fact, be listening to people like Naomi Klein, Sheila Bair, Paul Krugman, Jamie Galbraith. This if one smart mutt, his words not mine, and things can't get much worse, can they?

    Posted by lachatte at 11/11/2008 @ 5:21pm

11. Its just not Summers we have to watch out for, its the entire Transition Economic Advisory Board. Half of the 17 board members are suspect. Richard Rubin advised Enron and cooked Citigroup's books. Anne Mulcahey (Xerox)and Richard Parsons (Time-Warner) got nailed by the SEC for accounting fraud; they were also directors of Fannie when accounting fraud was uncovered. Not to be outdone, the gang at Freddie did the same whilst director Rahm Emanuel was wrapping dead fishes to send to his enemies. Da Mayor's son (William Daley, now on the executive committee of JPMorgan Chase) was in cahoots with this Freddie-Fannie cabal. The list could go on. Under Reagan we had to watch out for the "Chicago Boys" from the Economics Department at the U of C. Now we have to watch out for the Chicago Boys from the DLC. Its only been a week, but it looks like the Party is changing Barak rather than Barak changing the Party. We knew it all along: Barak ain't no socialist. More and more he ain't even looking like a progressive.

    Posted by Masaniello at 11/11/2008 @ 6:03pm

12. I can't figure out who is more disapointed, the left or the right. The left wanted Marx, the right wanted Regan, and Obama is yet to be figured out.

    Posted by sntauri at 11/11/2008 @ 6:24pm

13. Posted by lvliberty1 at 11/11/2008 @ 5:52pm

    Sorry, LL....meant to say "your side", but specifically targettted at HAPPY's mentor Rush Limbaugh and the Boy Blunder Sean Hannity, et al.

    Posted by Mask at 11/11/2008 @ 8:57pm

14. Posted by HAPPYLonghorn at 11/11/2008 @ 4:09pm

    Let's hope he doesn't follow Bush's example, and have 3,000 civilians murdered by terrorists on American soil on his watch.

    7 years of "safety" preceded by the worst attack on American soil EVER.

    Great track record! LOL!

    Posted by TexasFlood at 11/11/2008 @ 11:06pm

15. Although I can see where you're coming from.

    Poorly trained morons making $9/hr. harassing old people and making children take off their shoes before boarding airplanes has made this country SO much safer.

    LOL!

    Your tax dollars at work!

    Posted by TexasFlood at 11/11/2008 @ 11:15pm

16. And lest we forget, wiretapping American citizens, without warrants, on the basis that these criminal masterminds are so stupid and ignorant, they'd talk to terrorists in foreign countries...on their home phone?!?!

    LOL

    Sounds fool-proof! Don't see what could possibly go wrong there...

    "Hello, operator, could you connect me with Mr. Terrorist, at 293-5TE-RROR? Yes, the Mr. Terrorist who lives on Terrorist Terrace...Thank you so much, have a Terror-iffic day!"

    Posted by TexasFlood at 11/11/2008 @ 11:19pm

17. I would not be a bit suprised to see Summers appointed Treasury Secretary, after Rahm Immanuel. Obama is determined to govern as an Eisenhower Republican, like Clinton II. Reward the corporate masters, suck up to the Israeli lobby, be a whore for the large banks. Generally suck up to big money. A Republican-light administration. That is why I voted for Nader. Obama did not seduce me. I see the game he ran on progressives. It is called bait-and-switch.

    Posted by philbq at 11/12/2008 @ 12:08am

18. Amen on Nader. The slicing and dicing of the economy has already started. There will be a lot of smoke and mirrors in the first 100 days, no doubt paid for with secret loans and deals similar to those being made and cut even as I write this. Paulson and Bernanke have made over $2 trillion of loans to corporate interests and banks in addition to the $700 billion bailout and the assorted $500 billion of other deals that are public. And while Move On and other progressive organizations (including our beloved Nation)party on, Bloomberg.com has taken the lead in filing freedom of information to get the details out on the secret deals. I wonder what Larry Summers and the Chicago Boys have up their sleeves starting on January 21st. The fish stinks from the head down.

    Posted by Masaniello at 11/12/2008 @ 05:10am

19. Robert Rubin and Larry Summers are directly responsible for the bank deregulation frenzy that spawned the housing bubble. The thought of them in an Obama administration is sickening. If either is named to this administration, the messege to progressives is: meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

    Posted by philbq at 11/12/2008 @ 07:00am

20. Why is it so difficult to understand that no market system, nothing can protect humans from themselves. However, I see no possible mechanism in a mixed market for anticipating and responding to such events but that doesn't mean it's not there. You fail to understand that we are not operating under a free market capitalist system in any sense of the word. Also is a basic law of economics that cannot be repealed without undo consequences as we see. I place a high value on personal freedom. I don't argue for anarchism or ever have; I argue for a form of limited government that protects our rights to life, freedom and the property of individuals. Increasingly desperate means will be used by those who think we can continue to have business as usual "bailout". If some among you fear taking a stand because you are afraid of reprisals from customers, clients, or even government, recognize that you are just feeding the crocodile hoping he'll eat you last. In a nutshell, the current crisis is destroying debt (a.k.a. money), which is perforce lowering all prices. The silliness of policymakers the world over is that they keep acting to artificially prop up asset prices, via replacing private with public debt. That's a remedy straight out of Keynesian, but it won't work because it can't work. There's simply way too much debt out there, compared with current earned income and it will continue. The type of people, who saw these problems unfolding on the other hand had much less career risk or none at all. The market will stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent. What we need is neither anti-socialism nor anti-communism but an open positive endorsement of that system to which we owe all the wealth that distinguishes our age from the comparative past to think and save.

    Posted by independant at 11/12/2008 @ 09:46am

21. When the american people find out who Obama really is - that's when the trouble starts. This is more than a left or right issue. The majority of americans voted for an end to the War in Iraq and immediate improvement in the economy. With continued bailouts and more hawkish appointments in the Obama administration - neither will happen. Watch out.

    Posted by jimijazz at 11/12/2008 @ 11:38am

22. Summers - and any Treasury Secretary candidate - needs to lay out their plan for economic recovery and have this plan vetted publicly before getting the appointment.

    Wall Street and Main Street have a right to know where our new Treasury Secretary stands on a number of economic issues and whether his/her economic recovery plan makes any sense given our current circumstance.

    I still lean toward Laura Tyson or even Robert Reich as treasury secretary because at least you know helping Main Street will be a big part of the equation with them.

    Larry has not been very persuasive in noting the downside of trickle-down supply-side economics and de-regulation, and doesn't seem oriented toward Main Street at all.

    Larry's failures in his economic advisory roles in Lithuania and Russia should NOT be overlooked, as these may suggest disastrous consequences if his Reaganesque approach to the economy is pursued now under these unique conditions.

    Posted by Metteyya at 11/12/2008 @ 12:17pm

23. I might add that the corporate media and shills for Obama are already defining any criticism of Obama as coming from conservatives or the right-wing when nothing could be further from the truth. This is more diversion from the fact that americans are going to figure out Obama pretty fast - and not like the result.

    Posted by jimijazz at 11/12/2008 @ 12:18pm

24. Posted by jimijazz at 11/12/2008 @ 12:18pm

    Historically, MOST of the American people are usually pretty happy if the President is hated by the extremes of the political spectrum!

    Remember there were the out-and-out socialists of the 1930s who thought Roosevelt was "too pro-business".

    If Obama gets those kinds of attacks....I know I'll be pretty happy.

    Posted by Mask at 11/12/2008 @ 12:55pm

25. I might add that the corporate media and shills for Obama are already defining any criticism of Obama as coming from conservatives or the right-wing when nothing could be further from the truth. This is more diversion from the fact that americans are going to figure out Obama pretty fast - and not like the result. Posted by jimijazz at 11/12/2008 @ 12:18pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    whattabunchofcrap

    Posted by emile duBois at 11/12/2008 @ 2:01pm

26. Obama voted for the TARP bailout - in fact he advocated for it. He is no leftist. Everyone should have seen that before election day, and voted accordingly. Your expectations should be set accordingly as well.

    And Peter, although you may not like Summers, keep in mind who will be the boss. Summers will serve at the pleasure of the president.

    Personally, I voted for Nader (although he wouldn't be a very good president, I knew he wouldn't win). Obama lost his chance of winning my vote when he endorsed TARP, aka the Hank Paulson smash-and-grab.

    Good to see LL and Mask still here after years. You guys have staying power!

    Posted by ILOVEPHYSICS at 11/12/2008 @ 2:32pm

27. Posted by ILOVEPHYSICS at 11/12/2008 @ 2:32pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    whatamIchoppedliver?

    Posted by emile duBois at 11/12/2008 @ 2:39pm

28. LOVEPHYSICS

    you haven't been around in a while, so it's not your fault. I used to post here as johannesrolf.

    Posted by emile duBois at 11/12/2008 @ 3:13pm

29. Paul Volker would be an excellent choice, though given his age, he may not be interested. Enough with all the leftover Clintonites who are being touted by the press as likely Cabinetos.

    Posted by jackwells at 11/12/2008 @ 3:16pm

30. Obama is and never was "Far Left". He is a centrist Democrat. Maybe even a right of center Democrat.

    Not my first choice just the lesser of many evils. So, as a real socialist I have no expectations. I voted for him and may live to regret it. Or I could be pleasantly surprised. At least he was far better than the alternative. And he does listen. Which means he may be able to be pushed a bit further to the left.

    For those of who are really on the left our job is to do the pushing. Push On...

    Posted by chaoszen at 11/12/2008 @ 3:26pm

31. Ilovephysics, great seeing you here again. I'm still hanging out too.

    Obama and McCain lost my vote for the same reason you cite in your post.

    Johannesrolf hates me now and Mask is a crazy leftist.

    Haha, just kidding about Mask.

    Posted by freiheit1 at 11/12/2008 @ 7:54pm

32. Posted by chaoszen at 11/12/2008 @ 3:26pm

    As a real socialist, how can you not be pleased with the direction of our country? Like, since Woodrow Wilson?

    I wonder, do you think Obama should holodomor red states? LOL!

    Real socialist. Funny!

    Posted by freiheit1 at 11/12/2008 @ 7:59pm

33. Posted by HAPPYLonghorn at 11/12/2008 @ 10:35pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    this is the idiot who posts that the economy is NOT in the toilet.

    you need no more. a trillion $ in wealth wiped out, is reported

    Posted by emile duBois at 11/12/2008 @ 10:56pm

34. I had no idea all the dis-affected Bush loyalists like to profer their brain dead "opinions" on sites like this.The man for Treasury is Paul Voelker,and it has nothing to do with left,right or whatever. it's about competence something all you right wing clowns are totally unfamiliar with.

    Posted by IdiotsAll at 11/12/2008 @ 11:30pm

35. LOVEPHYSICS

    you haven't been around in a while, so it's not your fault. I used to post here as johannesrolf.

    Posted by emile duBois at 11/12/2008 @ 3:13pm

    That's right.

    Posted by Wolfgang1 at 11/13/2008 @ 04:40am

36. Posted by freiheit1 at 11/12/2008 @ 7:59pm

    Have you ever noticed that your posts make absolutely no sense?

    Did you press the wrong button in the dimensional warp machine?

    Posted by chaoszen at 11/13/2008 @ 07:19am

37. Posted by ILOVEPHYSICS at 11/12/2008 @ 2:32pm

    Hey ILP, good to see ya again, man.

    Posted by Mask at 11/13/2008 @ 09:09am

38. Posted by HAPPYLonghorn at 11/12/2008 @ 10:35pm

    Answered your "Obama caused the Market crash...before he was elected, much less inaugurated" theory on the "Ted Stevens May Lose His Seat" thread, HAPP.

    Posted by Mask at 11/13/2008 @ 09:11am

39. Posted by chaoszen at 11/13/2008 @ 07:19am

    I'm not too concerned about not being understood by someone foolish enough to claim to be a "real socialist." Have you ever been to a real socialist country? Like the former USSR, or the DDR? (Oh, wait, were they Communist? LOL!)

    I did in the 70's. China last month.

    What country do you live in Chaoszen? Are you a college undergrad and your "socialism" lives in books?

    Funny, but typical for the left, you attack my mental state for not thinking like you. While I'll just attack your experience. Unlike you, I don't assume you are crazy for not seeing things as I do. I think you're probably a very smart and engaging person.

    Did you look up the holodomor?

    Posted by freiheit1 at 11/13/2008 @ 09:26am

40. Back on topic, I fully agree that Summers should find somewhere else to work. I'd like to see Obama actually commit to change and shake the Clinton retreads out of his circle.

    Posted by freiheit1 at 11/13/2008 @ 10:20am

41. Posted by freiheit1 at 11/13/2008 @ 09:26am

    FREI, got to say I'm leaning towards the "you're crazy" camp for THIS kind of "logic" on your part-

    "Obama" = "socialist" = "Holodomor"

    or "America since Wilson" = "socialist" = "Holodomor"

    (Posted by freiheit1 at 11/12/2008 @ 7:59pm)

    Posted by Mask at 11/13/2008 @ 12:20pm

42. Vote Vets has been circulating a petition in favor of Max Cleland or Tammy Duckworth as Secretary of Veterans Affairs. The alternative--retaining current Secretary James Peake--would be an enormous insult to the veterans who continue to endure his insensitivity to their needs: http://ga3.org/campaign/petition_cleland_duckworth

    Posted by rfn at 11/13/2008 @ 12:49pm

43. Naw, that's not my "logic" at all Mask. It is my "sarcasm".

    I think Obama, like much of the current Federal Government leans towards a Fabian Socialistic vision of America's future. This trend took root during Professor Wilson's Administration. It gave birth to the Federal Reserve. The Fabians differ from the Marxists only in style. The end result will be the same tyranny.

    Good chance the dollar may collapse as a currency in 2009. It won't be by accident. What we are seeing today is all according to plan.

    Or, do you believe that congress gave the treasury secretary $850B of our future, you know, kinda hoping they, uh, know what to do to fix our "crisis"?

    Might be a good time to wake up and determine who's really crazy here.

    Posted by freiheit1 at 11/13/2008 @ 4:37pm

44. Posted by freiheit1 at 11/13/2008 @ 4:37pm

    Can I just tell you, how much you sound exactly like all the left wing nutters that have been squawking for the past 8 years.

    Secret cabals of shadowy figures, controlling our destiny in some grand scheme to take over America, just so they can turn it into a fascist/marxist/socialist/right-wing/left-wing heaven.

    Spooky!

    Posted by TexasFlood at 11/13/2008 @ 6:24pm

45. Which is, of course, why nothing ever actually gets accomplished.

    All the "patriots" are spending all their time posting on blogs!

    Quiet! I think the black helicopters are watching.

    Posted by TexasFlood at 11/13/2008 @ 6:25pm

46. Haha, I get what you're saying TexasFlood. Seriously though, there is nothing shadowy about it at all, and it is hardly partisan.

    What is happening is shrouded only by our ignorance.

    Ask yourself this. Whom does Paulson really answer to? What is the Federal Reserve, really? What backs the US Dollar? Do you trust our politicians have YOUR best interests at heart?

    No, sorry TexasFlood, this isn't some secret tin-cap, black helicopter conspiracy. It is happening right in front of us. At least those of us with the courage to question authority.

    Posted by freiheit1 at 11/13/2008 @ 7:01pm

47. Can see.

    Posted by freiheit1 at 11/13/2008 @ 7:02pm

48. Media identity of Lawrence Summers as a "brilliant economist" is odd considering his being a neoclassical economist. Neoclassicism failing, Summers cannot be a "brilliant economist." Recently embracing Keynesianism, he is a neophyte. Being so, necessarily he must be learning, which is not the character of "brilliance."

    Posted by philandrel at 11/13/2008 @ 8:46pm

49. I never said not to question authority.

    I'm the first person to call these chumps out, believe me.

    But to do so in such a way, does nothing.

    Posted by TexasFlood at 11/14/2008 @ 02:05am

50. "Good chance the dollar may collapse as a currency in 2009. It won't be by accident. What we are seeing today is all according to plan."----Posted by freiheit1 at 11/13/2008 @ 4:37pm

    Sounding AWFULLY familiar, FREI--

    "When, say, March-ish, maybe April 2008 rolls around and it becomes legislatively, much less politically, IMPOSSIBLE to impeach Bush and Cheney and they are inevitably going to finish out their 2nd terms and leave on Inauguration Day January 2009.....what are you going to say about them and why will it matter? ----Posted by MASK 01/26/2007 @ 08:44am

    "By then then will have Nuked and invaded Iran. The Draft will be in operation, probably Martial law too and no body will be able to say anthing against them, because all openents will be classified enemy combatants and shipped to work in the New Reich concentration camps" ----Posted by RESE 01/26/2007 @ 1:18pm

    "I'll shut up if it doesn't happen!"----Posted by RESE 05/22/2007 @ 09:58am

    "Time is up. World War III starts Friday – and it will coincide with conditions inside the US that lead to Martial Law, through either an Anthrax attack or a phony Bird Flu Outbreak."----Posted by PLUNGER 03/28/2007 @ 7:46pm

    "There will be no Dem in the White House. In fact, there will be no elections at all. No Constitution either."------Posted by PLUNGER 07/12/2007 @ 09:47am

    Posted by Mask at 11/14/2008 @ 09:41am

51. Heehee! So I single out the Federal Reserve and I'm Plunger and Rese?

    Any chance you saw Hank Paulson interviewed on the News Hour last night? If you did, it was hopefully clear to anyone watching that we are being duped. Paulson - current Sec of the Treasury, member of the International Monetary Fund Board of Governors. He previously served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs. His MBA is from Harvard... Yet he acts like he has no idea what is happening with today's economy. Wide-eyed and as amazed as all of us... Oh, but has $850B at his disposal to fix the problem "as the facts change." Tell me Mask, do the facts change?

    No mention of the practice of fractional reserve banking. No mention of the mechanism of how our system creates money. No, no, it's all a mystery to one of the key players...

    Sorry Mask, I'm not prone to conspiracy theories. What is happening is occuring right before our eyes. The vast majority of Americans don't even know what backs our currency. Do you Mask? I contend if you even have a clue of how the Federal Reserve System actually works and is designed to work, even you'd have to agree that none of what we are currently seeing in our economy is an accident or a mystery.

    And even a fundamental understanding of economics can lead one to conclude the dollar is currently at risk as a solvent currency.

    Or maybe you can remind me Mask, of success indicators for all of the countries in history that created money out of thin air, and used the force of government to mandate the use of worthless currency.

    You'll have to speak up so we can all hear you over the governments printing presses.

    Posted by freiheit1 at 11/14/2008 @ 10:20am

52. I don't know why The Nation is not reporting on all this talk about Hillary as Secretary of State?

    Aside from her obvious disdain for direct talks to adversaries, which puts her squarely at odds with Obama's approach, Bill has NOT come clean with who these donors are to the Clinton Library and what do they want in exchange for their donation?

    It is clear that Bill promised these donors "something", and we need to know if fulfilling such promises through Hillary would undermine Obama's foreign policy vision or his foreign policy objectives as president.

    Also, Hillary's photo-op at an illegal Israeli settlement signals more of the same foot-dragging in bringing this conflict to an end.

    Posted by Metteyya at 11/16/2008 @ 10:53am