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Another Obama cabinet discussion thread

by: desmoinesdem

Thu Jan 10, 2013 at 18:12:40 PM CST

President Barack Obama announced today that his Chief of Staff Jack Lew is his pick to replace Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary. I have low expectations, since Lew has been a "central player in two failed attempts at a grand bargain on deficit reduction with House Republicans." The "grand bargain" would have paired token tax hikes on the wealthy with significant benefit cuts for middle-class and low-income Americans. Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama did not rule out filibustering Lew's nomination.

I was surprised to hear that Hilda Solis is leaving as Labor secretary. She was one of Obama's better cabinet picks, but White House officials have undermined her on several issues, notably efforts to regulate child labor at agricultural facilities. Brad Plumer posted a good summary of Solis' record.

According to the White House, the following cabinet members will stay on for now: Attorney General Eric Holder, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. I'm concerned that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was not on that list.

Any comments about Obama's cabinet and/or the "embarrassing as hell" lack of diversity in the president's "inner circle" are welcome in this thread.

UPDATE: I did not realize that the Commerce secretary position has been vacant for almost six months.

desmoinesdem :: Another Obama cabinet discussion thread

Tags: women, Jack Lew, Labor, Hilda Solis, barack obama, federal government, federal budget, Eric Holder, Kathleen Sebelius, Eric Shinseki, (All Tags)

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Another Obama cabinet discussion thread | 3 comments

Rangel and Salar (0.00 / 0)

Charlie Rangel has done a lot of good things in his career and the lack of diversity is questionable, but I don't Obama will listen to Rangel. An argument could be made that Rangel should be in federal prison for tax evasion.

I wish Ken Salazar was still running for office, but he's helping take care of a relative with a disability. I don't recall all of the details. Salazar is probably the kind of Democrat that people on this blog aren't crazy about, but I like the guy because he hasn't forgotten his rural roots in my estimation. It's a shame he won't be staying on at Interior

by: ModerateIADem @ Fri Jan 11, 2013 at 03:15:26 AM UTC

by: you @ soon

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Salazar (0.00 / 0)

by: ModerateIADem @ Fri Jan 11, 2013 at 03:19:38 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

LaHood (0.00 / 0)

is rumored to be staying according to the local scuttlebutt.

by: albert @ Fri Jan 11, 2013 at 05:25:24 AM UTC

by: you @ soon

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Another Obama cabinet discussion thread | 3 comments

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