I believe that Obama has the potential to be a transformative leader. And it will take every ounce of the grassroots energy that put him into office to keep him on track, accountable to the people.
For starters:
Former Clinton official Larry Summers is one of the leading nominees to become the Treasury Secretary for the Obama administration. In 1999, Summers was one of the key proponents of the banking deregulation that led to the rise of 'mega-banks' and the current financial crisis. At the time, Senators like Byron Dorgan and policy advocates like Public Campaign warned of the perils of the financial deregulation, but Summers did not listen. In addition to this remarkable lapse in judgment, Larry Summers has argued that:
-
women are innately less gifted in science than men,
-'
Africa is Underpolluted',
-
child sweatshop work in Asia can be justified, and that
- energy used to
oppose job-destroying trade agreements was "very, very badly misplaced".
President-elect Obama spoke eloquently and often about the perils of deregulation and trade agreements that do not include worker and environmental protection, and excesses on Wall Street due to governance failures. Let's ask him to put someone in charge:
- who did not actually help cause the current crisis,
- who did not contribute to the bleeding of America's industrial base, and
- who is not part of the corrupted failed elite that has ravaged the US and the world.
Naomi Klein and other prominent progressive thinkers and activists have already signed the
No On Summers petition.When you sign this petition, your comments will go to John Podesta and Michael Strautmanis of the Obama transition team.
Please re-post to listserves and networks.
