“President Obama’s pick to run the Treasury Department isn’t much of a financial reformer. And it looks like his potential pick for Treasury’s No. 2 spot might not be, either: She actively lobbied for Wall Street.
Obama is reportedly considering tapping Morgan Stanley chief financial officer Ruth Porat to be the “number two” at Treasury under his pick for Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew. Picking Porat would address two problems for Obama: the notable lack of women named so far to his second-term cabinet, and Lew’s professed lack of financial expertise.
But it might create yet another headache: Though Porat is accomplished and apparently knows financial markets, she has also frequently lobbied regulators over the rules in the Dodd-Frank financial-reform law, according to an incomplete tally by the Sunlight Foundation.
Of course, a new job might bring a new attitude about financial reform. It also seems that Porat’s primary role will be as the glue that binds banks and the White House together during the debt-ceiling fight and other fights ahead, according to Bloomberg. No need for a lot of financial-regulatory zeal in such a job.
Still, a strong regulator might have made a good deputy for the budget-focused Lew. It is hard to imagine that Porat, who has spent the past couple of years arguing Wall Street’s case to regulators, will be that regulator….”
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