BREAKING: Bloomberg is reporting that Larry Summers will leave the White House after the election.
This is great news! My colleague at the PCCC, Stephanie Taylor, just released this reaction statement:
"This is a big victory for anyone who voted for change in 2008 only to see Summers work from the inside to water down Wall Street reform, block President Obama's promise to protect Net Neutrality, and urge other pro-corporate positions. While we feel bad for Harvard students and faculty who have to deal with Summers again, Harvard's loss is America's gain. When President Obama fills this important economic position, Americans need him to appoint a champion for regular working folks, not Wall Street tycoons -- someone in the mold of Elizabeth Warren, Byron Dorgan, Robert Reich, Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Krugman, and Sheila Bair."
While I'm personally disappointed to have to deal with Larry Summers next year when I head off to Harvard, I'm delighted that he's out of the White House. Some "highlights" of his work at the White House:
- Summers consistently tried to water down Wall Street reform. Newsweek's Michael Hirsch: "chief economic adviser Larry Summers still questioned whether Volcker’s proposals were feasible...Obama hadn’t acted much like FDR in the ensuing months. Instead he had faithfully channeled Summers and Geithner and their conservative approach to stimulus and reform." Summers also opposed breaking up the big banks -- see Huff Post and Simon Johnson.
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Summers blocked Susan Crawford, a big Internet freedom advocate, from advancing Net Neutrality within the White House -- eventually forcing her out. (Net Neutrality prohibits Internet providers from picking which websites work fast or slow for their customers based on the financial interests or political views of the Internet providers. This non-discrimination rule has been a crucial part of the Internet's level playing field, until challenged in recent years by big cable and phone companies.)
Speaking of progressive champions, if you support folks like Warren,
please join over 20,000 others in signing this congratulations card to her. The PCCC will deliver your signature and note to her personally.
(Full disclosure: I'm proud to be the Senior Organizing Fellow for the PCCC)