I said the other day that Obama’s national security appointments were as good as a hawk could hope for. Well his pick for US Trade Representative is much better than what free traders expected. The former Mayor of Dallas Ron Kirk (pictured with Obama) is on the right side of the issue which considering Obama’s protectionist demagoguery during the primaries and the general is a pleasant and most welcome surprise.
Given the protectionist nature of the Democratic Congress it is unlikely that much progress will be made on liberalising trade over the next few years. But the nomination of Kirk suggests that Obama is, thankfully, not prepared to give the unions all that they want on trade. I expect that we’ll see more Democratic opposition to Kirk than to any other of Obama’s nominations.
The other good news on the appointments front is the choice of Arne Duncan for the education slot. US education is in desperate need of reform but many of the changes that are needed—charter schools, merit pay and the end of teacher tenure—are opposed by the teachers’ unions, a powerful interest group within the Democrat party.
Picking Joel Klein or Michelle Rhee, who have—in the face of strong opposition from the teachers’ unions—done great work with the New York and Washington school systems respectively, would have been a clear indication that Obama was up for a fight on this. But Duncan is not a bad choice at all. Despite his good relations with the teachers’ unions, he is a reformer. In British terms, he is more Gove than Balls.
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