President Obama often decries the avarice of Wall Street banks, but he didn’t hesitate to appoint a former bank executive as his new chief of staff this week, as the White House resisted suggestions that Obama is in any way inconsisent on his supposed relationship with Wall Street.
“Ed, I would suggest to you that you’re tilling very fallow ground, although I appreciate the effort,” Carney said dismissively when asked today if Obama’s decision to replace outgoing chief-of-staff Bill Daley with Office of Management and Budget Directotr Jack Lew is dissonant with the president’s rhetoric about Wall Street industry. The new chief of staff has extensive experience in government, but Lew also worked as a chief operating officer for Citigroup, where he oversaw the alternative investments division, which “made billions of dollars” betting on the fallout of the housing bubble.
Obama neglected to mention that Lew had any experience in the banking sector. Why? “I don’t know that there’s an answer to why,” Carney demurred. “Jack’s resume is quite long,” he noted.
