Sigh. Obama nominates Pritzker for Commerce Sec

[cali]

<snip>

Pritzker, who raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Obama's two presidential campaigns, is on the board of Hyatt Hotels Corp. Her personal fortune is estimated at $1.85 billion, and she is listed among the 300 wealthiest Americans by Forbes magazine.

Pritzker's nomination, long-rumored, could draw fire from Obama's union supporters.

Hyatt and the hospitality workers union United have been involved in a long contract battle, and workers have protested the company's treatment. The AFL-CIO and other organizations have called for a global boycott of Hyatt properties.

<snip>

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/05/02/obama-pritzker-froman-commerce-secretary-trade-representative/2128601/

[AzDar]

1. Ugh.

So sick of this man's one-step-forward, two-steps-back governing.

[Cal Carpenter]

2. Yay for billionaires in the cabinet

Cuz the last thing we need is an administration that resembles the general populace in any way or can be trusted to work for our interests.

[Recursion]

6. I'm tired of those eggheads in the FAA, too: they should appoint a passenger

Not one of those snooty pilots or air traffic controllers...

[Cal Carpenter]

7. Analogy fail

$$$ =/= Qualifications.

[Recursion]

11. $ =/= qualifications, but the qualifications require $

That's a huge difference

[Cal Carpenter]

14. Yep, keep defending the status quo. We can see where you stand. n/t

[cali]

8. are you actually suggesting that no one but a very wealthy person would

be qualified to serve as commerce sec? I think your comparison is just bizarre. Yes, one wants someone trained as a pilot or air traffic controller, but how is Pritzker's inherited wealth and history of political contributions a qualification?

[Recursion]

10. I think you'd have to be familiar with boardrooms

And unfortunately in 2013 that requires not only being rich, but being from a rich family.

If we start giving labor and the supply chain a voice in boardrooms like they have in Germany, that will change.

[cali]

15. baloney. An academic can know the ins and outs of boardrooms

[Cal Carpenter]

20. Unfortunately, the econ academics

already know the ins and outs of boardrooms, pushing the status quo in academia too, in between paid corporate board member positions. The documentary "Inside Job" provides some lovely examples.

That said, I agree with your overall sentiment. The defense of the status quo and the appeal to authority (as granted by wealth in particular) are not surprising but still appalling.

[RandiFan1290]

3. how shocking!

not

[Demo_Chris]

4. Same $^% different day

[Recursion]

5. The whole family owns Hyatt, not just Penny. She's poured tons of money into arts and education

Are there objections to her other than the fact that her family owns a bad hotel chain?

[cali]

12. she's not qualified. It's a fucking political favor.

and how about this:

In 1989, Ms. Pritzker's late uncle, Jay Pritzker, purchased a 50% stake in Hinsdale, Illinois-based Superior Bank from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which had taken over the bank when it failed.[27] Penny Pritzker was Superior's chairman from 1991-1994. In 1993, the bank "embarked on a business strategy of significant growth into subprime home mortgages," according to a report by the United States Treasury Department.[27] In 2000, it became clear the bank was faltering. In the months leading up to 2001, the Pritzkers tried to work out a recapitalization plan.[27] In July 2001, FDIC seized the bank after the recapitalization could not be resolved. .[28][29] Subsequently, the Pritzker family reached an agreement with regulators to pay $460 million.[27][30][31][32]

According to the FDIC, by 2011, the uninsured depositors of Superior had each received 81% of their uninsured monies, in addition to the $100,000 each previously received of their insured amount.[33] Industry experts have criticized the Pritzkers in regard to Superior.[34] Consumer advocates and government investigators asserted Superior "engaged in unsound financial activities and predatory lending practices."[27] Responding to the Wall Street Journal, Pritzker noted she had no ownership in the bank, either direct or indirect, and that the bank's reasons for failure "were complex, including changes in accounting practices, auditing failures, reversals in regulatory positions and general economic conditions."[27] She said the bank complied with "fair lending laws" and ethical business practices.[27] A 2001 Business Week article described the bank's other owner, Alvin Dworman, as the more dominant partner in its operation as a result of agreements made by Jay Pritzker.[28] Quoted in the New York Times, a Pritzker family friend observed Pritzker was trapped in a deal of her uncle's making: "Penny got sucked into this…this was really the legacy of Jay>"[35] Jay Pritzker passed away in 1999.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Pritzker#Superior_Bank

or that she parks money in offshore tax havens?

[ProSense]

17. If she isn't "qualified,"

I'm sure Senators Brown, Leahy, Merkley, Sanders, Warren and others will vote against her confirmation.

She has to be confirmed, right?

[cali]

19. So it doesn't bother you that a billionaire who is a big time

benefactor of the President and who was involved with an ugly subprime bank scandal, who parks large sums of money in offshore tax havens, is the nominee?

and I expect Warren and Sanders and Brown to vote against her.

[Octafish]

13. Greg Palast brought them up and the Ladies Who Lunch...

...it's more than a Rich v Poor thing. It's really a Have-Most + Have-Mores v the RestofUs.

Billionaire Burglar Breaks
into Obama's Cabinet

Pinch-Penny Pritzker pockets Commerce post

Wednesday, February 13, 2013
By Greg Palast for Truth-out

A parade of media reports this week name Penny Pritzker as Obama's prime choice for Secretary of Commerce. No longer will criminal bankers have to lobby the administration - because now they'll have one of their own in the Cabinet.

We never heard of this guy Barack Obama until 2004. Less than three years before taking the presidency, he was in the Illinois state senate, a swamp of scammers, backhanders, and party machine tools - not a stellar launch pad for the White House. And then, one day, state Sen. Barack Obama was visited by his fairy godmother. Her name is Penny Pritzker.

Penny's from Heaven?

Pritzger's net worth is listed in Forbes as $1.8 billion, which is one hell of a heavy magic wand in the world of politics. Her wand would have been heavier, and her net worth higher, except that in 2001, the federal government fined her and her family $460 million for the predatory, deceitful, racist tactics and practices of Superior, the bank-and-loan-shark operation she ran on the South Side of Chicago.

Superior was the first of the deregulated go-go banks to go bust - at the time, the costliest failure ever. US taxpayers lost nearly half a billion dollars. Superior's depositors lost millions and poor folk in Sen. Obama's South Side district lost their homes.

Penny did not like paying $460 million. No, not one bit. What she needed was someone to give her Hope and Change. She hoped someone would change the banking regulators so she could get away with this crap.

Pritzker introduced Obama, the neophyte state senator, to the Ladies Who Lunch (that's really what they call themselves) on Chicago's Gold Coast. Obama got lunch, gold and better - an introduction to Robert Rubin. Rubin is a former Secretary of the Treasury, former chairman of Goldman Sachs and, when Robert met Barry, co-chairman of Citibank. Even atheists recognized Rubin as the Supreme Deity of Wall Street.

CONTINUED...

http://www.gregpalast.com/billionaire-burglar-breaks-into-obamas-cabinet-pinch-penny-pritzker-pockets-commerce-post/

This way, the banksters will sleep well at night. Meanwhile, more and more American families will sleep in their cars, if they still have them.

KoKo started an excellent thread on the subject in February:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014392899

[99Forever]

9. Is anyone really surprised by this?

Government By the 1%, Of the 1%, For the 1%. It's the Third Way in full bloom.

Thanks Mr Obama.

[Enrique]

16. she bought it fair and square n/t

[woo me with science]

18. QUIT MESSING WITH THE PRETEND GAME!

DON'T YOU KNOW WE'RE SUPPOSED TO PRETEND THAT REPUBLICANS MAKE HIM DO EVERYTHING?!

[cali]

21. we're also supposed to pretend that only a mega wealthy person is qualified.

[Cal Carpenter]

22. Kick