Goldman Sachs and the Well-Greased Revolving Door

Obama made two new appointments to his administration: Gene Sperling as Chief Economic Advisor and William Daley as Chief of Staff, both of whom come from Wall Street and one of whom earned nearly $900,000 as a Goldman Sachs consultant making speeches to financial companies. That old revolving door between Wall Street and Government continues to spin.

Presently, Sperling counsels Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. In Clinton's White House, he negotiated with Larry Summers to repeal Glass-Steagal which deregulated financial firms and helped bring about the financial crisis of 2008. Here's another "interested" guy who believes in deregulation and now will advise the President on economic matters.

William Daley, who is a senior executive VP of J. P. Morgan, will become Chief of Staff. According to Wikipedia, "Daley was an outspoken opponent — in public — of two of Obama's most prominent legislative items: health care reform and the financial regulation bill's consumer protection agency." These surely serve as red warning flags about his commitment to financial reform on Wall Street.

Washington's Blog describes the appointments below:

Obama Appoints Ultimate Wall Street Insiders to Top Posts ... Again

by Washington's Blog

Obama is replacing his chief economic adviser - Larry Summers - with Gene Sperling.

Sperling is currently a counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and is now being appointed as Obama's chief economic adviser. He's been there before: Sperling will hold the exact same post he held under Bill Clinton - National Economic Adviser to Clinton and director of the National Economic Council.

In that post, Sperling was principal negotiator with Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers in finalizing the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act Financial Modernization Bill which repealed Glass-Steagal.

And Shahien Nasiripour notes:

Sperling ... served as a consultant to Goldman Sachs, and in 2008 harvested sums reaching seven-figures for his work there and in delivering speeches to the highest ranks of the financial services realm.

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Economist Dean Baker and the liberal pundit Robert Kuttner [note that] a key item on Sperling's resume is the nearly $900,000 he earned as a consultant for Goldman Sachs, at the very time the bank was playing a leading role in the worst financial crisis since the Depression.

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Sperling earned Obama's enduring gratitude late last year when he played an instrumental role in delivering the deal to extend the tax cuts handed out by President George W. Bush to the wealthiest Americans in exchange for continuing emergency unemployment benefits.

(Granted, many on the left and right say that Sperling has a warm, cuddly streak, and he has done some good things, his background and past actions indicate that he think exactly the same as Summers. See this and this.)

Obama is also replacing chief of staff Rahm Emanuel with William Daley.

Daley is a senior executive VP of JP Morgan. He was Emanuel's mentor, and President Clinton's Secretary of Commerce. And yes, he is a scion of the Daley family of Chicago political fame.

Different day, same crowd ...

Read the article here