ECONOMIC CRISIS MAKES “RUBINOMICS” IRRELEVANT

WASHINGTON – Responding to concerns that President-elect Obama’s new economic leadership team is dominated by people who played a role in creating the current crisis, Campaign for America’s Future co-director Robert Borosage said that deepening economic emergency makes “Rubinomics” irrelevant. Borosage said that today’s announcement is a key step toward enacting a bold economic recovery plan.

Many progressives are concerned that the president-elect’s economic team is dominated by allies of former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, who opposed the regulation of derivatives and other measures blamed for the economic crisis. Rubin is senior counselor and director of Citigroup Inc., which has just received a $20 billion cash infusion and hundreds of billions of dollars in loan guarantees from taxpayers.

STATEMENT OF ROBERT BOROSAGE
It's not the personnel, it's the policy. And on this, Obama has been clear. He's announced a massive recovery plan based on putting people to work with public investment in areas vital to our future.

The crisis we face makes Rubinomics irrelevant. Deficit spending must go up, finance must be re-regulated, trade imbalances must be reduced and manufacturing can no longer be scorned.

Obama is choosing experienced hands for the crisis, trusting that their experience does not impede the new thinking needed to get us out of this hole. He'll set the direction. And so far, he’s on course.

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**NOTE: To schedule an interview with Borosage, please contact Jennifer Ettinger at jettinger@ourfuture.org [2] or 202-587-1614.**