Obama Nominates America’s Biggest Walmart Cheerleader as His Chief Economic Adviser

[damnedifIknow]

" President Obama announced his intention to nominate Jason Furman to become the next chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. This is a big-time, highly influential post. So what kind of economist is Furman?

One who thinks Walmart is the best thing since sliced bread. "

"For Furman, Walmart is nothing short of a miracle for America’s poor and working-class folks. For him, progressives should be cheering the firm: he even wrote a 16-page paper titled, " Wal-Mart: A Progressive Success Story," which was posted on the Center for American Progress."

http://www.alternet.org/economy/jason-furman-obama-and-walmart

[MrSlayer]

1. Of course.

This is what he does, appoint Republicans, banksters and corporatist scum.

[ProSense]

2. "So what kind of economist is Furman?"

Originally posted here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022930587

Jason Furman to Chair the CEA?

Well, well—I see from the Twitterverse that Council of Economic Adviser Chairman Alan Krueger is going back to Princeton, to be replaced Jason Furman. That’s a great choice—Jason will make an excellent CEA chair.

Even though economic policy isn’t going anywhere fast these days given Congressional gridlock, the CEA chair is an important post. S/he is the public face of the administration when important data are released—think jobs day—and, at least in my limited experience, the CEA chair spends a fair bit of quality time with the POTUS, interpreting the economy and explaining the impacts of administration policy.

The CEA chair also can be highly influential in moving policy, as Alan was on the minimum wage and UI extensions, Christy Romer on the Recovery Act, and Glenn Hubbard on the Bush tax cuts.

I’ve worked closely with Jason, and there are few economists I can think of who both get macro (which is to say, see it the way I do) and have such a deep, granular knowledge of federal economic and fiscal policy, in no small part because he’s played a role in shaping those policies since the Clinton years. This is a guy who can hold forth on the history of the tiers of the unemployment insurance system as well as the exemptions in the corporate tax code, including the Senators who snuck them in there.

Roughly speaking, I’d describe the values of Furmanomics thusly:

–Progressive taxation that raises ample revenue;
–Boosting efficiencies and squeezing out inefficiencies in the tax code and the health care system;
–Solidly Keynesian in recession (he was ally in those arguments back in the day);
–Crafting policies with a clear eye to implementation constraints (something you only develop from pretty long experience in the gov’t sector);
–Strong supporter of the safety net (see here, e.g., re the little-known Furman effect).

- more -

http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/jason-furman/

Jason Furman
Recent Reports
http://www.cbpp.org/experts/index.cfm?fa=view&id=145

[forestpath]

3. Who else would Obama pick? He doesn't even pretend he's on our side anymore.

[vi5]

4. Here, let me get out in front of this.

-The person who wrote that article is rumored to not have washed their hands once after using the restroom. Therefore anything they say is null and void.

-What did you expect Obama to do with such an obstructionist Republican congress?

-This is an incredibly smart move on the part of Obama. I'm quite sure the cheerleading from this fellow for Wal Mart was all part of some grand master plan on the President's part to lull the other side into complacency only to pull some 10 level political ju jitsu.

-Why are you against sick kids getting healthcare? Did you know Obama did that?

-Why do you love Mitt Romney?

-Enjoy President Ted Cruz.

-Enjoy President Michelle Bachman.

-I'm sure someone on "both sides" hates this person and this choice so that means Obama must be doing something right!

-Bipartisanship something something.

-Making the hard decisions something something.


Did I miss anything or does this cover all the bases?

[QC]

6. That Alternet person has a messy garage, I bet.

And don't even get me started on how he treats ballerinas!

[QC]

5. Hopetastic!

Furman was one of the earliest clues that Obama was strictly DLC.

Back during the 2007-2008 primary campaign, Furman moved directly from the DLC, where he was the head economist, to the Obama campaign.

A number of people tried to point this out but were shouted down, accused of hating hope, being bitter, loving Hillary, etc.

That's been a recurring theme here these past few years--people who see how things are and try to talk about it get shouted down and driven away.

Furman is just one of many corporate appointments the president has made, starting with his chief of staff. Anybody remember Rahm?

[WestStar]

7. President Obama only has about 3 more years in office.

He'll be a young man when his current career is over and has to look toward the future. I don't think that he is independently wealthy and is probably doing a few things to set himself up. Contacts, networking and favors are important.

As a mater of fact he'll be about the same age as Al Gore was when he "retired" from politics. Al went on to be a member of the Board of Directors of Apple, a senior adviser to Google and a partner in the venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Bill Clinton hasn't done to shabby for himself either.

Bush already had more money than God so he can afford to paint nudes of himself in the bathroom.

You've got to look out for yourself because nobody else is going to.