As progressives, we can view President-Elect Obama’s emerging economic team in one of two ways. Either he has disappointed us by picking a group of Clinton retreads–the very people who brought us the deregulation that produced the financial collapse; the fiscal conservatives who in the 1990s put budget balance ahead of rebuilding public institutions. Or we can conclude that he has very shrewdly named a team of technically competent centrists so that he can govern as a progressive in pragmatist’s clothing–as he moves the political center to the left.

– Robert Kuttner on Huffingtonpost.com

Well Folks, I was wrong. Apparently Obama did not even get out of November without pissing his base off. All this hoopla about who Obama is picking for which position is kind of fun to watch. It’s like the NFL draft but only one team gets to pick.

Clinton, Secretary of State – Now, I base this comment on no factual evidence. This is merely my own speculation but this deal was sealed a while ago. I bet Obama asked her to be VP and she said I want Secretary of State. Why, you might ask? Because this position actually does things. Funny thing is Clinton makes more sense as VP and Biden makes more sense as Secretary of State. But at least we did not put Kerry in the slot.

Larry Summers, Head of Econ Team – Haha feminists take that. Now despite this man’s inability to recognize the competence of women, a position that got him canned as president of Harvard, he is really smart and a great choice. It is also better that he is here than as Treasury Secretary because he should be creating creative policy not being a technocrat. I am also all for educators in government (although Bernanke failed). Oh also, Summers once advocated dumping all our garbage on poor countries (constructing a very good argument with poorly chosen language). Basically, if Obama can keep him away from cameras it should be good.

Timothy F. Geithner, Treasury Secretary – Hooray for youth….okay he is 47 but that’s young in government.  He has headed up the Fed in New York (the one that actually does things) quite well throughout his post. He is a good pick because unlike our current Secretary Paulson he is not from Wall Street. Paulson calls friends in Wall Street to get a sense of things. Geithner reads charts. I am going to support anyone Obama picks who clearly reads academic literature. Now that’s Change we can Believe in.

Tom Daschle, Health and Human Services – Poor Daschle. I forgot he was still alive. Not only alive but he is current sporting hip new glasses. Daschle was last seen losing his senate seat despite being the minority leader. (Side Bar: Dear South Dakota, You are small. When someone from your state is in a position of power you should not kick them out of power…it’s dumb. Love, Common Sense.) Daschle is not super progressive but this position does not demand such. I think he was chosen because he knows everyone in DC and healthcare is an issue that needs everyone on board.

Eric Holder, Attorney General – I have nothing to say here. I am sure he has good points and bad points. Frankly this is a boring pick. How about someone who would scare the daylights out of people like John Edwards or Nancy Pelosi?

Bill Richardson, Department of Commerce – Does New Mexico really suck so much that you want to leave it for this? Honestly, I have been to New Mexico — it’s pretty nice.

????, Department of Labor – The rumors about Andy Stern, president of SEIU, are almost assuredly false, as are the ones about Rich Trumka, Deputy Secretary of the AFL-CIO. The AFL-CIO would flip a silly if Stern was chosen and Stern’s federation Change to Win would do likewise if Trumka got the nod. I think John Edwards would be good here.  Someone said maybe David Bonior, who was the house whip for a while. Apparently he hates NAFTA but that’s all I know about him.

The Journey begins.