MAY ACTUALLY DO A HECKUVA JOB. With Treasury Secretary John Snow finally on his way out, Bush has named Goldman-Sachs CEO Henry Paulson to be Snow�s replacement. Paulson is -- believe it or not -- a serious, competent guy who comes, like Robert Rubin before him, from Wall Street. Better yet, he retains a reputation of his own, has long ties to the private sector, and has plenty of money in the bank. In other words, the administration needs him, he doesn't need them, and both sides know it. Paulson should enjoy an easy confirmation, and Chuck Schumer has already offered his support. Guess the Bush administration didn't feel like picking a fight... Update: The Progress Report notices that Paulsen is also a serious conservationist who sits on the board of the pro-Kyoto The Nature Conservancy and has pushed Goldman-Sachs to demand "urgent" action from the government to curb emissions. One wonders what he thinks of Bush's belief that "Kyoto would have wrecked our economy. I couldn't in good faith have signed Kyoto."
--Ezra Klein
