DC's Daley news

Former Commerce Secretary William Daley, the brother of Richard M. Daley, the mayor of Chicago who is retiring, will be the new White House chief of staff. It's a smart move and one I applaud. One of the criticisms of the Obama administration is that it has few people with significant private sector experience in senior positions. Daley is currently an executive with JP Morgan Chase. He is a former president of SBC Communications, which later transformed itself into AT&T.

When Bill Clinton needed a someone to push the North American Free Trade Act through a Democratic-controlled Congress--which was legislation unions abhorred--he called on Daley, who got the job done.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, President Obama said he wanted to renegotiate NAFTA. It was merely sabre-rattling, but it shows that NAFTA is still anathema to unions and the far-left almost twenty years later.

Yes, Daley's a Democrat, but like his brother, he's a moderate.

Finally there is someone who will be able to tell President Obama if he decides to push an anti-business measure such as cap and trade, how it will hurt the private sector--he'll be able to cite numerous examples.

And here's a bit of trivia: William Daley's first national campaign was the abortive 1988 presidential campaign of Joe Biden, which collapsed because "Crazy Joe" was caught plagiarizing a speech from British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock.

Another reason why the Daley pick is a smart one. As Larry Kudlow noticed, liberals are angry about it.

Like his brother, heck, like his father Boss Daley, William knows that a prosperous private sector makes governing a lot easier. It also helps with collecting campaign contributions.

Related post:

Steve Goodman: Daley's Gone

Technorati tags: politics business democrats news  illinois politics  Richard Daley chicago Obama Barack Obama unions organized labor NAFTA UK labour