Obama's "Centrist" Cabinet

President-Elect Barack Obama is quickly filling in his cabinet positions, and it is a mixed bag.

Obama has moved quickly to announce his economic team: Timothy Geithner, Treasury Secretary, is a veteran Treasury player and president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He is also close to Bill Clinton's Treasury Secretary Richard Rubin, and is part of the "centrist" Clinton economic team which emphasized pleasing Wall Street by cutting the deficit and restraining government spending. It looks like Larry Summers, another Clintonite, will also be an important economic advisor. This is not a very progressive economic team.

On the good side, Obama has announced a board Economic Recovery Plan to Create 2.5 million Jobs

On international affairs, Obama is surrounding himself with war Hawks like Hillary Clinton (Sec. of State!) who supported the Iraq War, which Obama promised to end. The anti-war groups who supported Obama are not happy and have reason to be nervous. When Democrats win the Presidency, they always seem to become supporters of the U.S. imperialist war machine, no matter how progressive they were in the campaign.

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Obama Accused of Selling Out on Iraq

Obama and the Paucity of Progressives

Robert Kuttner: Team of Rubins

There's already talk of Obama postponing letting the Bush tax cuts on the rich expire, and putting off lifting the ban on gays in the military until his second term.

If we want CHANGE, we are going to have to give Obama a push!