Bair Essentials

by digby

You’ve probably already read about this, but if not, here’s the new article saying that Obama’s choice for treasury, Tim Geithner, is trying to oust Republican regulator, FDIC chief Sheila Bair. When you see it put like that, it sounds good right? But actually, it’s downright politically bizarre.

First, Geithner is saying she should be ousted because she isn’t a team player. Except that the media (and even unnamed members of the Obama team) have made a fetish out of the idea of having a “team of rivals” who will hash out ideas from all sides. “Team player” has almost become an insult in the last few weeks — after all in politics it’s often it’s another word for …. (gulp) partisan.

Now, Bair is a Republican, which according to the conventional wisdom would make her a most coveted member of the post-partisan Obama administration, but which might explain why she isn’t considered a good team player. Except the complaint isn’t that she’s a loyal Bushie. It’s that she is overly concerned with main street and homeowners and demanding too much accountability from the financial sector. In other words, she’s behaving too much like you might wishfully expect a Democrat to behave.

I don’t know the details of the “problems” obviously and perhaps there’s more to it than meets the eye. But the whole thing doesn’t scan politically any way you look at it. The team of rivals concept is a bit of pop politics, so I don’t really care about it. But the idea that you would not want someone on board who believes in strong regulation of the financial sector and who will keep an eye on the concerns of the rest of the economy seems to me to be wrongheaded, particularly since having a Republican in such a position would be politically invaluable. (In any case it would probably be a good idea to balance out the Republican Iran-Contra, Iraqgate criminals with nearly extinct responsible ones, just for symmetry’s sake if nothing else.)

I don’t have a strong opinion about Geithner, but we have been assured many times that the buck stops with Obama on all decisions. If it’s seriously being considered, let’s hope he overrules it. The politics alone are dissonant and bizarre.

Both Dodd and Frank have reportedly written to Obama requesting that Bair be kept on, so that’s a positive sign.

Update: Also positive is Biden’s announcement of Jared Bernstein as his chief economic advisor. Bernstein is a progressive economist who will bring a much needed point of view to the team.

I recall during all the hoohah over the choice of Clinton for SOS, that everyone was freaking out over what it meant to Biden. I can’t recall who said it, but someone allegedly in the know said that Biden had indicated he was more interested in a domestic portfolio. If that’s true, then perhaps this is even better news than it appears.

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