More appointees...a liberal "Chief Economist" (!) and a CHA lawyer

[Manedwolf]

So we get a leftist from a leftist thinktank as a new CHIEF ECONOMIST AND ECONOMIC POLICY ADVISOR, and a Chicago Housing Authority lawyer as a bonus.

Small businesses...are...so...screwed... We're all screwed. This is getting really depressing. He created a new post, a chief economist, and put a socialist in it. A socialist whose entire career has been devoted to trying to wring more out of business owners to "bring up the income level" of their low-wage workers, that it's somehow unacceptable to pay people only a little to to a little work or some unskilled work. That's all business owners can afford to pay! How can we even survive the mess this is going to cause?  

President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden announced more staffers today.

Citing the economic crisis, Biden announced a new position -- chief economist and economic policy adviser -- and named Jared Bernstein of the liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute to the post.

“Jared Bernstein is an acclaimed economist, and a proven, passionate advocate for raising the incomes of middle class families. His expertise and background in a wide range of domestic and international economic policies will be an invaluable asset to the Obama-Biden Administration,” Biden said in a statement. “It’s an honor to have him on my team and I look forward to his advice and counsel.”

Obama, meanwhile, announced that Christina M. Tchen will serve as White House Director of Public Liaison and Michael Strautmanis will serve as Chief of Staff to the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison.

"I am pleased to announce that these two distinguished individuals will be joining my administration, as we seek to meet the big challenges of our time. They not only bring impressive resumes but also a deep commitment to public service -- and I know the American people will be served well by them," Obama said in a statement.

Their biographies, provided by the Obama-Biden transition office, are below.

Jared Bernstein, Chief Economist and Economic Policy Advisor to the Vice President
Jared Bernstein is an expert in the areas of federal, state and international economic policies, specifically the middle-class squeeze, income inequality and mobility, trends in employment and earnings, low-wage labor markets, poverty and international comparisons. Bernstein has been an economist at the Economic Policy Institute since 1992 and is a renowned author of several books and academic treatises on the economy and the middle class. From 1995-1996, he served as Deputy Chief Economist for the Department of Labor under Labor Secretary Robert Reich. Bernstein is on the Congressional Budget Office’s advisory committee and has been a contributor to the financial news station CNBC. He has also taught at Howard University, Columbia University and New York University. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts from the Manhattan School of Music; a Masters Degree in Social Work from the Hunter School of Social Work; a Masters Degree in Philosophy and Ph.D. in Social Welfare from Columbia University.

Christina M. Tchen, Director of Public Liaison
Tchen has broad litigation experience at all levels of the state and federal courts. She has represented companies, officers and directors in shareholder class and derivative actions, and she has also handled a wide range of commercial, intellectual property and employment-related litigation. Tchen also has represented public agencies in state and federal class actions, including the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, the Illinois Department of Public Aid and the Chicago Housing Authority. She serves on the board of the Chicago Bar Foundation; she is also Chair of the Board of Field Foundation of Illinois and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Chicago Public Library and the Board of the Chinese American Service League. She has served on the Judicial Nominations Commission for the Northern District of Illinois and she has been appointed to several leadership positions with the American Bar Association Section of Litigation.
Tchen is the recipient of many awards, including the Leadership Award from the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois (1999); “Women of Achievement” award from the Anti-Defamation League (1996); and Chicago Lawyer “Person of the Year” (1994). She was selected for inclusion in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business 2008 and The Best Lawyers in America 2009. She also was selected as one of the top three women business lawyers in Illinois by the Leading Lawyers Network 2007.
Michael Strautmanis, Chief of Staff to the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison
A native of Chicago, Strautmanis first came to know the Obamas when he worked as a paralegal at the Chicago law firm Sidley & Austin for Mrs. Michelle Obama. After law school, Strautmanis practiced complex litigation and employment law in Chicago, before joining the Clinton Administration at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Strautmanis also served as Legislative Director and Counsel to then Rep. Rod Blagojevich, aiding Governor Blagojevich in his successful 2002 Illinois gubernatorial campaign, and serving as Counsel for Legislation for the American Association of Justice.
Strautmanis served as Chief Counsel and Deputy Chief of Staff to Obama in the United States Senate. He then served as Senior Counsel for Obama for America where he played a leading role in political outreach as a member of the Congressional Relations team. Strautmanis received a B.S. from the University of Illinois, and a J.D. from the University Of Illinois College Of Law. He and his wife Damona are the proud parents of three.

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/12/more_staffers_n.html

[Balog]

Jamis better rethink the Sugar Momma, he's gonna take it hard under these clowns. 

[Manedwolf]

Ironically, my company has managed to keep all production inside the US as things are now. We employ people to do assembly work and such.

If all this crap this guy has pushed for in the past comes to pass, we might have to outsource manufacturing overseas, (Eastern Europe, maybe) because we wouldn't be able to afford to pay what is required to pay US-based workers and still make any kind of profit.

[MicroBalrog]

This is getting really depressing.

Getting?

This has been really depressing... for the last few months.

[Standing Wolf]

That Obama creature is a big believer in recycling, it seems.

[Physics]

I am really upset by this "share the wealth" crap.  Makes me wish my homeless days were... well, right around now.  I really wish I could be going INTO college rather than just about to graduate.  Nothing like working your ass off to get off of the street, and then working your ass off to get a masters degree in physics.  Only to have your livelihood taken from you at gunpoint from the government and given to the street urchin that doesn't even care enough about life to bath.  I've been in college now for almost 6 years, and my reward is a higher tax bracket... YES!!!!!!!!  :rolleyes:  This is so depressing to me, especially considering my wife is about to graduate from medical school.  Yeah, all that hard work really should translate into helping people that are not motivated or smart enough to do something with their lives.  Riiiiiggggghhhhttttttt....   

[Standing Wolf]

Nothing like working your ass off to get off of the street, and then working your ass off to get a masters degree in physics.  Only to have your livelihood taken from you at gunpoint from the government and given to the street urchin that doesn't even care enough about life to bath.

Welcome to socialism, the statist system under which those with intelligence, ambition, and the willingness to work hard are punished so those without intelligence, ambition, or the willingness to work hard can be rewarded. That "equalization," as socialist parasites refer to it, enables the state to grow stronger and stronger with ease, since it appropriates a portion of the wealth every time it changes hands.

The two most dangerous political questions in the world are: "Who pays?" and "Who benefits?"

[Tallpine]

Anyone surprised ...?  :rolleyes:

[RocketMan]

That Obama has appointed a "Chief Economist" should be no surprise.  Someone needs to generate the Five Year Plans in a socialist economy.

[buzz_knox]

This thread has been going for three days and none of the usual "Obama will save America" crowd has jumped in to explain how appointing these kind of individuals is a good thing.  Are they absent or just trying to figure out how to spin this?