Another centrist joins Obama’s team

Another paragon of the system joins the Obama economic team — welcome Paul Volcker, as chairman of the new Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Obama says the new advisory board

will be responsible for bringing fresh thinking and “vigorous oversight” to the administration’s efforts to jumpstart and reshape the nation’s economy.

“The reality is that sometimes policymaking in Washington can become too insular,” Obama said. “The walls of the echo chamber can sometimes keep out fresh voices and new ways of thinking–and those who serve in Washington don’t always have a ground-level sense of which programs and policies are working for people, and which aren’t.”

His argument sounds good, but why not diversify these appointments — bring in some labor movement folks, or those who work on antipoverty efforts rather than the bureaucrats and Wall Street-types he’s tapped so far? It’s a good question that Obama has yet to answer.

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet