November 23, 2008

Obama to Name Lawrence Summers and a Stanford Professor to Advisory Posts

President-elect Barack Obama is expected to name Lawrence H. Summers, a former president of Harvard University, to lead the National Economic Council, according to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

The council was created during the Clinton administration to coordinate the White House’s economic policies, and its directorship is one of the administration’s top three economic posts, along with the secretary of the treasury and the White House budget director, the Times reported.

Mr. Summers, a former chief economist at the World Bank, had been mentioned as a candidate for secretary of the treasury, a post he held under President Bill Clinton from 1999 to 2001. He became Harvard’s president after leaving that cabinet post, but resigned five years later amid a controversy over remarks he had made regarding the intrinsic abilities of women in science and mathematics.

In another higher-education-related appointment, Linda Darling-Hammond, an education professor at Stanford University, has been named to lead the Democratic president-elect’s transition team on education policy, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Ms. Darling-Hammond, who was an education adviser to Mr. Obama’s campaign, has been mentioned as a possible candidate for secretary of education in Mr. Obama’s cabinet. (Mr. Summers was on that list as well.) Her research and teaching has focused on issues of school restructuring, teacher quality, and educational equity. She is co-director of the School Redesign Network, established in 2000 at Stanford to promote research that seeks to improve secondary schools. —Eric Kelderman

Comments

1. So much for Carter’s second term. It’s looking like Clinton’s third term. And to think people wanted “Change”

   www.nytimes.com/2008/11/24/us/politics/24rubin.html

   — rt    Nov 24, 08:45 AM    #

2. “Change”? When did Obama do anything for the sake of change or against the mainstream politicians? During his career he always exploited “change” demagogy while nodding to the establishment all at the same time. Masses wanted a “change” so they were easily fooled.

   — Mark de Goz    Nov 24, 09:12 AM    #

3. Take a close look at the appointments to date. Educated men and women who have rarely hesitated to speak their mind. Change is bringing together a diverse group of thinkers with varied opinions and listening to those opinions before drawing a conclusion. It is not necessarily bringing in new faces who have not yet demonstrated understanding or experience with the issues that face us today. We do not need another group of supplicants just because they are “outsiders.”

   — Henry    Nov 24, 09:49 AM    #

4. Henry,
   There are many independent thinkers and highly educated men and women in this country, and during the campaign we were repeatedly reminded that “experience” often means corruption and special interests. Yet, it turned out to be same old people. Hardly a surprise, though, since $1 bil investors into a presidential race are waiting for dividents.

   — Mark de Goz    Nov 24, 10:31 AM    #

5. More former Clinton administration officials (Summers was actually in the REAGAN administration too!), and avowed proponents of globalization and free trade. In other words, these appointments directly contradict every principle Obama ran on and every reason his supporters voted for him. Suckers.

   Change you can believe in!

   — TRB    Nov 24, 11:10 AM    #

6. Mark,
   I tend to disagree with you, but it is nice to see a simply stated and reasonable objection on these posts. It sure beats the noise. I guess time will tell, although I fear we don’t have much left.

   — Henry    Nov 24, 11:52 AM    #

7. Given Larry Summers’ opinion of women, I say this is really an obamanation!

   — Karen    Nov 24, 05:30 PM    #

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