Paul O'Neill & Donaldson Endorse Obama; Bush's rogue ex-officials now advising Obama on econ panel

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Monday July 28, 2008 · 8:01 AM PDT

2008/07/28 · 08:01

This is the sort of news that has to really piss off McCain et al...

ABC News has learned that two former administration officials for President George W. Bush will appear with Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, at an economic meeting today, having signed up to be Obama economic advisers.

Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill former Securities and Exchange Commissioner William Donaldson

They aren't your run of the mill Neo-Con Spend and Burn GOP types... these are two rogue former officials now out of favor with the GOP who certainly know what went wrong, from the inside, and likely know 'where the bodies are buried'. This is nothing short of a coup by Obama's team in positioning his team/perspective. He'll now hopefully gain new fresh insights in how to critique the BushCo economy and its failings.

Update: Since this is now on the rec list, please click below for Obama's special message

Donaldson's tenure at the SEC was notable for his attempts to work with the Democratic Commissioners, for angering the US Chamber of Commerce and Republican legislators, and for abandoning an effort for shareholder proxy access.

O'Neill, the former CEO of Alcoa, had a stormy tenure as Bush's Treasury Secretary, and revealed his frustrations with the Bush administration -- especially over the war in Iraq, economic policy, and the President's leadership style -- in a book written with Ron Suskind, The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill.

Keep in mind, they are among a board of advisors, not a super key position, but rather spreading the intelligence among the group which also includes

former Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, billionaire liberal Warren Buffett, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, and SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger.

One thing that is increasingly becoming apparent... ~~Obama does like to include Bipartisan perspective but only engages in this action with people who've burned their bridges with the current GOP/Bush White House.~~ "Obama does like to include Bipartisan perspective but only engages in this action with people who are independent-minded, intelligent, willing to listen to others' views, and not locked in to one model." (h/t)

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