Starting, as we always like to do whenever possible, with some Good News, we have the news that Antonio Weiss has withdrawn his name from consideration for nomination to a government post.Who is Antonio Weiss? He is a senior banker at the financial giant Lazard who had been proposed by Obama to become Undersecretary for Domestic Finance in the Treasury Dept., the third highest post in the department.
His nomination was opposed by some of the more progressive members of the senate, lead by Elizabeth Warren, who denounced the revolving door between Wall Street and the administration and argued about Weiss in particular that he is unqualified for the position considering that his former work centered on international mergers and his government post would involve overseeing consumer protection and domestic regulatory functions.
The fact that if he got the Treasury spot, Weiss stood to be paid $20 million by Lazard for not going to another financial group also rankled people, since Lazard would be among those he would be regulating as part of overseeing the Dodd-Frank regulations.
With six Dems openly opposing him and others clearly wavering, things got too hot for PHC*'s latest kowtow to Wall Street and he pulled out.
This doesn't mean the next one will be any better and there's always the risk that, having shown they can be "tough," Dems might well just roll over for whoever is nominated in Weiss's place, but for now, enjoy the Good News. Progressives win one.
*PHC = President Hopey-Changey
Sources cited in links:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/12/antonio-weiss-treasury_n_6458874.htmlgn
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/10/joe-manchin-antonio-weiss_n_6303544.html
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