Did Peter Orszag “bail” on Obama?
Unless some other mighty Obama administration potentate steps down between now and July, after a mere 18 months in office, Peter Orzag, White House budget director, will be the “first official to leave the Obama Cabinet.” This is not entirely unusual. There were four different White House budget directors during the eight-year administrations of both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. True, Clinton’s first OMB director, Leon Panetta, lasted 21 months, and Bush’s Mitch Daniels lasted 29. But does that justify Politico’s snarky headline, “Peter Orszag to bail next month”? To “bail” implies abandonment, but there’s precious little evidence that Orszag is leaving because of any disgruntlement or dissatisfaction. In fact, when you compare Orszag’s record against his predecessors, the track record is pretty impressive. Orszag crunched the numbers on an $800 billion stimulus package and the first major healthcare legislation to pass Congress in generations. During Panetta’s term in office, heal
