[lbo-talk] The Bird-Watching Businessman

[Doug Henwood]

On Jun 1, 2006, at 1:46 AM, Steven L. Robinson wrote:

>  Yes, Treasury Secretary designee Henry Paulson, Jr.  is a  
> supporter of the
> Nature Conservancy. That, predictably, draws the ire of the  
> Republican right
> wing and produces human interest headlines such as this piece by  
> the Los
> Angeles Times.  Less noticed is the fact that he comes from Goldman- 
> Sachs
> and even less noticed is the fact that he comes from the same firm  
> that
> produced Clinton Treasury Secretary and prominent New Dem Robert  
> Rubin. It
> is hard to imagine that Paulson is going to pursue economic  
> policies much at
> odds with his former colleague- and boss-  Rubin.

Eh? Everything I've read about him notes prominently that he's with  
Goldman Sachs (no hyphen, by the way). That was presumably the reason  
Bush chose him - to win some credibility with The Establishment after  
two TreasSecs who were dim industrialists. His conservationist  
tendencies have been noted as a quirk, not as his essence. And he's  
not likely to pursue the same policies as Rubin - he's to the right  
of old Bob on fiscal and social issues. All GS people aren't the same  
- look at Corzine, who's one of the most liberal figures in American  
political life.

Doug