A Competent Bush Nominee?

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Ezra Klein notes that Bush’s nomination for Treasury Secretary, Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson, is a “serious, competent guy” who—shockingly—supported the Kyoto Protocol. (More to the point, he has stated that unless the United States puts emissions limits in place, “U.S. companies will lose ground to their competitors.”)

That sounds nice (insofar as a pro-Wall Street Treasury Secretary can sound “nice”), but it also sounds a lot like a description of Bush’s first Treasury Secretary, Paul O’Neill, who, despite helping Ron Suskind produce a very nice book exposing the sheer mendacity and close-mindedness of the current administration, didn’t really affect much in the way of policy.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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