Sometimes A Little Obstructionism Can Be Just What The Doctor Ordered-- Bernie Sanders Does The Right Thing

Gary Gensler points to the man who will save us from more Phil Gramm economics

Peter Orszag, Obama's Director of OMB (Office of Management and Budget) is looking more and more like his best economic advisor. Some of Obama's other finance and economic advisors... well, I'm still worried about Geithner and Summers, who seem too predisposed to think of themselves as the representatives of capital or, even worse, Wall Street. These people have gotten Obama into some hot water and are jeopardizing his program-- and our country. The other day a friend of mine told me she had been telling her family members that Geithner really is a good Treasury Secretary but that what he needs is some media training. I suggested she stop telling her family and get word to the administration. Turns out she has; her brother is an undersecretary of the Treasury. Judging by Geither's performance in front of the House Financial Services Committee yesterday, he hasn't acted on her advice yet.

Meanwhile, though, one of the Senate's most trustworthy members, Bernie Sanders (I-VT), has put a hold on Obama's nominee to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Gary Gensler, another Goldman Sachs author of the economic catastrophe that the country was dragged into. Here's the problem, straight from Senator Sanders' website:

“While Mr. Gensler clearly is an intelligent and knowledgeable person, I cannot support his nomination. Mr. Gensler worked with Senators Phil Gramm and Alan Greenspan to exempt credit default swaps from regulation, which led to the collapse of A.I.G. and has resulted in the largest taxpayer bailout in U.S. history.  He supported Gramm-Leach-Bliley, which allowed banks like Citigroup to become ‘too big to fail.’ He worked to deregulate electronic energy trading, which led to the downfall of Enron and the spike in energy prices.  At this moment in our history, we need an independent leader who will help create a new culture in the financial marketplace and move us away from the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior which has caused so much harm to our economy.”

Did I mention that Senator Sanders, like Chuck Schumer, went to my high school, James Madison?


UPDATE: Bernie on Olbermann

He was on last night explaing the power of the special interests and Republican obstructionism: