Free Republic

Obama considers Republican for one of two seats on FedBy Neil Irwin, Published: August 12 President Obama is considering nominating two economists with backgrounds in finance — one of them a Republican — as Federal Reserve governors, according to a source familiar with the decision making. The White House is looking at Jeremy Stein, a Harvard economist, and Richard Clarida, of Columbia University and the bond investment firm Pimco, to fill two vacant slots on the seven-member Fed Board of Governors. Clarida served in George W. Bush’s Treasury Department as an assistant secretary. Stein did a brief stint at Treasury...

Mark Twain once said, “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” There’s a corollary to that quote in the political context: “Never let policy interfere with your politics.” The corollary has no known author because too many senators claim to have made it up. Last week, however, Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl claimed at least partial ownership of the quote when he voted in favor of Elena Kagan’s nomination for Solicitor General. Kagan is just one of a band of radical lawyers President Obama has nominated to lead the Department of Justice. These lawyers are the kind...