Free Republic

We've been astonished to see that Americans fail to realize the economy is booming, and many actually think it's in recession. A big reason for that is the media's open antipathy toward all things Bush. Neither O'Neill nor Snow was able to overcome that. Bush's tax cuts were just right. Since his last cuts in 2003, we've had 12 straight quarters of economic growth, added 4.9 million jobs, seen productivity soar 14% and tacked on $12.96 trillion in wealth, about the size of our entire economy. There's a lot more, but no one seemed to be hitting it — and...

Treasury Secy. Snow to resign. Being replaced by Goldman Sachs Chari, Henry Paulson.

The US dollar fell sharply on Tuesday as Hank Paulson, Goldman Sachs’ chief executive, was named as the new US Treasury secretary, replacing the increasingly pressurised John Snow. Mr Paulson has extensive links with China and some saw him as potentially better equipped than his predecessor to encourage Beijing, and the wider emerging Asian bloc, to allow a faster appreciation of the renminbi in order to help reduce global economic imbalances.....

President Bush’s nominee to lead the Department of the Treasury has a history of giving money to Democrats and liberal causes. Former President Bill Clinton, Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley, Sen. Chuck Schumer and the pro-abortion Emily’s List have benefited from his largesse, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The nominee, Henry M. Paulson Jr., chief executive of Goldman Sachs, has given tens of thousands of dollars to Republicans over the past 15 years, but prior to 2000 he also donated money to Democrats who are staunchly opposed to Bush’s agenda. In fact, during Bush’s campaign for the White...

The Senate should reject President Bush’s nomination of Goldman Sachs CEO Hank Paulson for Treasury secretary. Under Paulson’s leadership, Goldman Sachs participated in ethically, and perhaps legally, questionable business practices. Paulson also supports the economy-killing Kyoto Protocol and has demonstrated little respect for private property rights. On the ethical front, Paulson has refused to answer questions about his apparent use of Goldman Sachs’ corporate assets to advance his personal interests. In 2002, Paulson used at least $35 million of shareholder money to help environmental groups stop a “sustainable forestry� project in Tierra del Fuego, Chile. Environmental groups had delayed the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush left on Friday for a holiday weekend with his longtime friend Don Evans amid speculation that the former commerce secretary was a top candidate to succeed Treasury Secretary John Snow. The Wall Street Journal online reported that Evans had emerged as the front-runner for the Treasury post. A Republican with close ties to the White House also told Reuters that he believed Evans was the leading candidate. A barrage of media stories in the past two days have suggested that Snow may leave within a month and people with close ties to the...

Treasury secretary signals he may resign By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer 22 minutes ago Treasury Secretary John Snow has signaled to the White House he is ready to resign once President Bush has picked a successor, administration officials and people close to Snow said Thursday. They said Snow has made clear he eventually intends to return to the private sector. They spoke on condition of anonymity because Snow is not ready to discuss his plans publicly. It's unclear when Snow will offer his resignation, these people said. Treasury Department spokesman Tony Fratto declined to comment. "I don't speculate on...

One of the most enduring rumors in Washington has resurfaced. The Wall Street Journal reported online in its Washington Wire column Thursday that Treasury Secretary John Snow could leave office after the Group of Eight meetings in Russia on June 9 and 10. "Republican sources say White House has homed in on successor," the Journal reported. Declining to speculate, a senior administration official told the Journal, "Why would I start now?" The names being floated as a successor to Snow are familiar: Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, former Commerce Secretary and presidential buddy Don Evans, U.S. Ambassador to India...

U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow is expected to resign by mid-June, according to CNBC. "What we are now hearing from Republican sources in Washington is the likeliest scenario is that John Snow will leave sometime in the middle of the month of June," said John Harwood, national political editor of the Wall Street Journal, in a CNBC interview. Snow is expected to leave either before or after the G8 finance ministers' meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia. The report is expected in Friday's edition of the Wall Street Jour

In Washington speculation, Phil Gramm, the former Texas senator, gets increasing attention as a potential successor to Treasury Secretary John Snow. The thinking is that previous secretaries and other candidates have either too much politics and not enough economics or too much economics and not enough politics. His assets: Credibility on Capitol Hill, strong on substance, good communicator, private sector experience at UBS. His liabilities: A reputation for being an independent thinker in an administration that wants an implementer rather than a policymaker. Gramm — who, like Snow, has a Ph.D. in economics — taught economics at Texas A&M University...

CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) -- Presidential press secretary Scott McClellan and Treasury Secretary John Snow could be next in a shake-up in the Bush administration, according to White House and GOP sources. The possible departure of both men could be among "several senior-level staff" announcements to come within the next couple of weeks, said former White House staff members, GOP strategists and administration officials. "You're going to have more change than you expect," one GOP insider said. One change already has been announced: Chief of staff Andy Card officially will leave April 14 and is being replaced by Josh Bolten, director...

By Caren Bohan and Glenn Somerville 25 minutes ago President George W. Bush looks increasingly likely to replace Treasury Secretary John Snow and is considering former lawmakers and some Wall Street executives to succeed him, Republican sources said on Monday. The Bush administration wants a more compelling figure than Snow to lead its effort to highlight the economy's strength in the hope of bolstering Republican chances in November's congressional elections, the sources said. A Republican in frequent contact with the White House said there have been discussions about trying to attract Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Henry Paulson for the job,...

Mexico City – U.S. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow lauded Mexico on Thursday for instituting strong macroeconomic policies, saying that under the leadership of President Vicente Fox and Mexican Treasury Secretary Francisco Gil, "the finances of Mexico have improved dramatically." Snow also said it would not matter to Mexico's economy if Fox's conservative government were replaced by a leftist administration next year as long as the new administration continues with "good (economic) policies." In a joint news conference with Gil, Snow commended Mexico for being an economic leader in Latin America, saying "its voice is important for the region." The...

Treasury Secretary John Snow urged Congress to set aside partisan bickering and raise the US national debt ceiling this week, or face a disastrous cash crunch for the federal government. In a speech here to a conference of regional bankers, Snow said it would be inconceivable for Congress not to pass legislation on the debt limit before it heads into a recess at the end of this week. "I am urging members of Congress in the strongest possible terms to resist coupling an increase in the debt ceiling with other issues," Snow said. "Rather, they should vote to raise the...

DANBURY, Connecticut - Rejecting an Arab company's takeover of operations at key U.S. ports would have sent a bad signal about investment in the United States from "certain parts of the world," Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Wednesday. The purchase of a British company that runs several U.S. ports by state-owned Dubai Ports World has created a furor on Capitol Hill, with many lawmakers saying the deal should be overturned because of security concerns. "Our failing here, if there was a failing, was in explaining this process," Snow told reporters as he visited a plant that makes fuel cells,...

21:45 EST Wednesday, December 08, 2004 DUBAI, HONG KONG and JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Dec. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Dubai Ports International ("DPI"), one of the world's leading port operators, announces that it has signed a definitive agreement with CSX Corporation (NYSE: CSX) to acquire the international terminal business conducted by CSX World Terminals ("the Company") and other related interests for a cash consideration of US$1.15 billion, subject to customary adjustments. The transaction will be financed from a committed facility arranged and underwritten by Deutsche Bank. Completion of the transaction is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2005 CSX World...

DETROIT (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow, aiming to boost the ailing domestic auto industry and encourage conservation, on Friday outlined details of proposed tax breaks for people who buy hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles. ADVERTISEMENT At a Ford Motor Co. research center in suburban Detroit, Snow discussed tax policy changes that would give people who buy or lease increasingly popular hybrid cars and trucks a tax credit up to $3,400.

President George Bush has shrugged off weaker-than-expected jobs figures, hailing the strong US economy as "the envy of the industrialised world". Mr Bush also declared the US economy was heading into 2006 "with a full head of steam", at a speech in Chicago. He trumpeted rising consumer confidence and strong retail sales as evidence of America's economic strength. The claims came despite figures showing 108,000 jobs were created in December, less than half analysts had forecast. Trend warning However, Treasury Secretary John Snow warned it was unwise to read too much into the latest employment data, pointing out that November's...

Banking on more good economic news, President Bush and his top economic team made plans before Friday's reports were even out to fan out across the country to trumpet positive new numbers.

Close Bush's Friend To Head Russian Oil Giant 19.12.2005 13:18 Donald Evans, the former commerce secretary and a close personal friend of U.S. President George W. Bush, is “seriously considering” becoming chairman of Rosneft Oil Company. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin offered Mr Evans this post last week. Speculation about Evans’ potential move has already drawn comparisons in Washington to the recent decision by Gerhard Schroeder, Germany’s former chancellor, to oversee the North European Gas Pipeline Company, a business controlled by the Russian oil giant Gazprom. The prospect of Evans joining Russian oil giant could generate intense criticism in Washington, however,...

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. economy's recent strength, with plentiful new jobs and little inflation, has legitimized the Bush administration's economic approach, Treasury Secretary John Snow on Wednesday. The White House strategy to cut taxes on labor and capital and spur entrepreneurial activity has triggered an economic recovery resilient enough to endure a series of Gulf Coast hurricanes, and it is likely to continue, Snow said. "Along with sound monetary policy from the Federal Reserve, these policies are delivering results and proving the pessimists and naysayers wrong," he said in prepared remarks for a joint press conference with...

Dear Secretary Snow, The final report of the President's tax Reform Panel has been laid at your feet for your team's review. I hope you will give the report the same score as most Americans and Tax groups have given it - Grade F. This Failed report needs to be thrown out and a better solution presented to the President and the American People. Please correct the mistakes of the Tax Reform Panel and submit an "A" Paper of your own. The Panel's failure to properly meet the goals that the President laid down would have had Donald Trump saying,...

Greenomics. Embodiment of Prosperity. Maestro. Sacred cow. Fraud. Political hack. All these terms have been used to refer to Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. He's the world's most powerful economic official. As captain of the monetary crew steering the globe's largest economy, he's important to almost everyone, everywhere. That makes him a target for both virulent attacks and worshipful praise - especially now since Mr. Greenspan's 18-year Fed tenure is ending. Greenspan's term as a governor of the Fed expires Jan. 31. Unless the Senate hasn't confirmed a successor by then, that's it. He won't report to congressional committees anymore....

WASHINGTON - A presidential commission looking into how to make income taxes fairer and simpler heard pitches Wednesday from experts with ideas about revamping or replacing the current system. ADVERTISEMENT The commission examined plans to base taxes on spending rather than income, which could mean a national sales tax or a European-style value-added tax. As for transforming the income tax, the commission heard proposals for comprehensive change and minor tinkering. "Not one person who we encountered as we traveled the country told us that our current tax system was good for America and that we should leave it alone," said...

The White House wants to see oil prices fall by about half to around $25 a barrel although reaching that goal may take time, President George W. Bush's top economic adviser said on Wednesday. "We would like to see the price get back to around $25 a barrel, somewhere around there," Allan Hubbard, director of the White House National Economic Council, said in an interview with Reuters as crude oil prices hovered around $50, down from the record-high above $58.

A Treasury Department official said yesterday the government may soon require more financial institutions to report signs of mortgage fraud. Currently only about one-third of the institutions that make mortgage loans are federally chartered and thus covered by federal reporting requirements. "We are presently considering whether to expand the reach of the Bank Secrecy Act to include other parts of the industry" such as mortgage brokers and finance companies, William J. Fox, director of Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), said in an interview. Snip… In recent months, the FBI has been pushing for more reporting and greater coordination between...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Energy prices are "way, way too high" and act as a headwind against growth, but the U.S. economy has so far powered through the higher costs, Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Sunday. Reuters Photo Related Quotes DJIA NASDAQ S&P 500 10936.86 2090.21 1225.31 -3.69 +19.60 +3.19 Delayed Data Providers - Disclaimer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsored by: New Pro Platform "These higher energy prices act like a tax on the economy. They are way, way too high," Snow said in an interview on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos." But asked if energy prices were in a "danger zone,"...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 - President Bush on Wednesday named Harvey S. Rosen, an economist on leave from Princeton University, to be chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Mr. Rosen will replace N. Gregory Mankiw, who resigned last week and returned to Harvard University after two stormy years as one of Mr. Bush's top economic advisers. But White House officials indicated that Mr. Rosen will serve only as an interim chairman and plans to resume teaching at Princeton next fall. Mr. Bush's decision to name Mr. Rosen came as a surprise to some Republicans, who had been expecting...

NEW YORK (AFP) - US Treasury Secretary John Snow said the record US trade deficit was the result of strong economic growth and the United States outpacing the growth of other countries. AFP/DDP/File Photo "The trade gap reflects two things: that our economy is growing at a fast pace and we are growing faster than our trading partners," Snow told reporters. The United States posted a record trade deficit in November, the government said Wednesday. The Commerce Department (news - web sites) estimated that US exports sank 2.3 percent in November, driving the US trade deficit to all-time high of...

Friday’s job report shows that White House economist Greg Mankiw was very nearly right when he projected almost a year ago that jobs could rise by 2.6 million in 2004. Of course, he was widely ridiculed inside Washington after making this statement, and at one point even the White House turned its back on the Harvard professor’s estimate. But the Labor Department’s latest employment release shows the yearly gain for nonfarm payrolls coming in at 2.3 million. That’s close enough for government work. It’s also the best jobs performance in five years. Why so good? The labor market responded powerfully...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Friday called streamlining and reforming the U.S. tax code an "essential task for our country," but offered few hints of how he intends to get it done. Treasury Secretary John Snow said "everything's on the table," including possibly the popular home mortgage and charitable deductions and a former senator leading a tax-reform panel for Bush said that a national sales tax or flat tax also could be in the cards. "I am firm in my desire to get something done," Bush said at the end of a White House meeting with former Sens. Connie Mack,...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar sprang higher across the board on Friday in a technically-driven rally that gained momentum after remarks by U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow, traders said. The currency erased earlier losses sparked by lower-than-expected U.S. jobs growth in December as traders turned to unwinding bets against the dollar. That sent the euro to six-week lows well below a key support level at $1.3140, auguring more near-term losses, technical analysts said. In late trading in New York, the euro (EUR=) was at $1.3051, down 0.9 percent from levels late Thursday and more than six cents below the...

The mainstream media are carping and whining that the president’s recent economic conference in Washington was comprised of supporters rather than dissenters — as though this is some great surprise. The president, they said, was just preaching to the choir. They called the meeting an exercise in political propaganda that was just paying off big campaign donors. As usual, big media missed the big story: In a master stroke of message communication the president spoke directly to the nation in certain terms about his visionary economic plans for the next four years. Over two days last week, George W....

US Treasury Secretary John Snow said all options remained open for a bipartisan panel that will examine potentially far-reaching reforms to the American tax code. "The president will ask the panel and ask me to give him the very best thinking across the board on how to produce broad-based reform of the tax system. So everything is on the table," Snow said. The panel, which President George W. Bush has yet to appoint, will make its recommendations as soon as possible in 2005, and proposals could go to lawmakers before the end of next year, Snow told the "Fox News...

(looked for this thread and could not find it) White House economic summit on now on Cspan. Live thread for those who want to participate. "Live" of the replay though I have not seen it played during the live event....only on tape. Cspan will have the second part of this on tomorrow.

The Credibility Deficit Is President Bush's new economic team up to handling a falling dollar, rising interest rates, and the oil problem? PRESIDENT BUSH'S CHANCES of keeping world financial markets calm while pushing through Social Security and tax reform took a dive last week. Remember: If the president is to succeed in privatizing a portion of the Social Security system, he will have to persuade financial markets that it is safe to run even larger budget deficits, at least for awhile, as between $2 trillion and $5 trillion are diverted from the government pot into private accounts over the...

WASHINGTON - In early January 2001, President-elect George W. Bush got a sobering warning from a railroad executive he invited to an economic conference in Austin, Texas. "Mr. President, you're inheriting a recession," CSX Inc. chairman John Snow remembers saying. For sure, Bush is hearing much more upbeat counsel these days from Snow, whose lease as treasury secretary was just extended by the president after weeks of suspense. Nobody is forecasting a recession ahead of Bush's second term. But the prognosis for the economy is mixed as the president begins his campaign to sell an ambitious and costly domestic agenda....

Secretaries of commerce tend to be plucked from the business world, and for good reason. As commonly understood by the public and the presidents who appoint them, the secretary's role is to be a cheerleader for American business, to promote enterprise and trade and - to the extent he cares to listen - to advise the president on economic policy. That was certainly President Bush's understanding when he described his nominee, Carlos Gutierrez, chief executive of the Kellogg Company, as a man who "knows exactly what it takes to help American businesses grow and to create jobs." But that is...

WASHINGTON — President Bush has asked Treasury Secretary John Snow to remain in his place and the secretary has accepted, FOX News learned Wednesday. Snow had frequently been cited in the press as a Cabinet member who would be leaving in Bush's second term, but a White House official said Wednesday that Bush is happy that he is staying on. Snow had lunch at the White House with members of the president's economic team and later met with Bush, said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. "The president is pleased Secretary Snow agreed to continue to serve," McClellan said.

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush has chosen Carlos Gutierrez, chief executive officer of Kellogg, to be secretary of commerce.</p>

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- U.S. President George W. Bush plans to overhaul his economic team for the second time in two years and wants to tap prominent figures outside the administration to help sell rewrites of Social Security and the tax laws to Congress and the country, White House aides and advisers said, The Washington Post reports in its Monday edition. The aides said the replacement of four of the five top economic officials - including the Treasury and Commerce secretaries, with only budget director Joshua B. Bolten likely to remain - is part of Bush's preparation for sending Congress...

With Treasury Secretary John Snow's continuation in office uncertain, the White House is seriously considering former Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas as his possible successor. President Bush has never been an intimate of Gramm's, and did not think of him for Treasury four years ago when he made the disastrous choice of industrialist Paul O'Neill. However, according to sources close to the president, he is giving his fellow Texan a serious look this time. Gramm is now an investment banker. Snow at the Treasury has been a hard worker who loyally presses the Bush program. However, there are complaints inside...

President Bush plans to overhaul his economic team for the second time in two years and wants to tap prominent figures outside the administration to help sell rewrites of Social Security and the tax laws to Congress and the country, White House aides and advisers said over the weekend. The aides said the replacement of four of the five top economic officials -- including the Treasury and Commerce secretaries, with only budget director Joshua B. Bolten likely to remain -- is part of Bush's preparation for sending Congress an ambitious second-term domestic agenda.

PORTLAND, Maine (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow began sharpening his message on Thursday about the need to rein in lawsuits, only days after Democrats tapped a trial lawyer to run for vice president in November's general election. Interviewed on a local radio station in Portland at the beginning of a two-day swing through Maine and New Hampshire, Snow said so-called tort reform was moving higher on the nation's economic agenda."Frivolous, abusive" lawsuits restrained the nation's economic growth, Snow said. "It's become a drag on the American economy, hurts job creation and sends jobs off-shore."Earlier this week, Democratic presidential...

DES MOINES, IA - Today, the Honorable Don Evans announced the Iowa Small Business Leaders for Bush Coalition. The Iowa Small Business Leaders coalition will be an active part of recruiting others to support President Bush and Vice President Cheney. These leaders will spread the message of how President Bush's policies are working to strengthen small businesses and the economy. "Small businesses fuel 70% of job growth and are helping to keep Iowa's unemployment rate one of the lowest in the country," said Evans. "I am confident that the Iowa Small Business Coalition will recruit others and spread the word...

The Great (Trade) Wall of China By Don Evans President Bush believes that open markets and a level playing field are vital to job creation and economic growth. That is why the president rejects economic isolationism and why this administration is continuing to aggressively engage with China. Last week, along with Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, I led the president's Export Council to China to advance economic engagement, expand access for U.S. exports and address areas of trade concern. China is America's fastest-growing export market and our third-largest trading partner. Two-way trade exceeds $190 billion and over the last three...

WASHINGTON -- The surge in the U.S. economy is beginning to produce jobs in battleground states where the 2004 fight for the presidency might be decided. Employment growth isn't overwhelming; in many cases it totals only a few thousand jobs. Still, the growth comes in some politically significant regions, such as the Industrial Belt of the upper Midwest, at a time when the Bush White House is scrambling to shift public focus away from Iraq. The Labor Department, which Friday released a survey of labor conditions in all 50 states in May, reported job growth last month in 10 of...

When Vice President Cheney and the 14 other statutory members of President Bush's Cabinet meet, 10 of them have one thing in common: They are millionaires. In fact, one-third of the Cabinet members, according to their financial disclosure statements, are in the $10 million-plus range, while another third are in the $1 million to $5 million range. The heaviest hitter is former Alcoa chief executive Paul H. O'Neill, now the treasury secretary. He is worth between $67 million and $253 million. Disclosure forms do not give specific price valuations for holdings, but instead require officials to state whether an asset...

The Bush administration is convinced that Saudi Arabia is newly committed to financially starving terrorists, Treasury Secretary John Snow said Sunday. "Over the course of the last year, Saudi Arabia has taken a number of really important steps," Snow said. "I am convinced they're deeply committed and sincere about this effort." He said the Saudis are working with U.S. experts "to make sure Saudi Arabia is not a source of terrorist money, that Saudi Arabia takes all the steps they can to close off those flows."

11:39am 04/15/04 Snow says Bush would eye tax simplification in 2nd term By Greg Robb WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- The Bush administration would try to pass legislation simplying the tax code if President George Bush is re-elected in November. "I'll commit we're going to be addressing Congress with new proposals on the code," Snow said in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Philadelphia, according to Reuters. The flat tax merited some discussion as part of the effort, Snow said. The White House will have to take steps to change the Alernative Minimum Tax, which is capturing more and...