Why Obama Should Hire Eliot Spitzer

[FourScore]

I know this is just fantasy and could never happen, but I wish it cuold. I think Spitzer would do a great job.

EXCERPT:
...We can learn the most about Spitzer from his own words, not just his deeds. In a November 16, 2008 Washington Post op-ed piece – 7 months after the Mayflower Hotel sting – Spitzer wrote: “No major market problem has been resolved through self-regulation, because individual competitive behavior doesn't concern itself with the larger market. Individual actors care only about performing better than the next guy, doing whatever is permitted -- or will go undetected.”

Who could know better about the failure of self-regulation than someone who has a sexual addiction? And who could understand the power of greed better than one who regularly succumbs to sexual compulsion?

“Long-Term Capital Management, Enron, the subprime lending scandals: All are classic demonstrations of the bitter reality that greed, not self-discipline, rules where unfettered behavior is allowed.” The best way to stop a sexual perversion, such as an obsession with prostitutes, is to talk about it – telling one’s wife, for example. In marriage it’s called honesty; in business it’s called transparency.

“A market doesn't exist in a vacuum,” Spitzer continued. “Rather, a market is a product of laws, rules and enforcement. It needs transparency, capital requirements and fidelity to fiduciary duty. The alternative, as we are seeing, is anarchy.”

Substitute the words “marriage” for “market,” “emotional investment” for “capital requirements,” and “marital” for “fiduciary,” and there you have it.

What keeps most people from cheating, from straying, is a strong conscience – a sense of right and wrong. The impulses and fantasies are always there, lurking about, but our self-policing mechanisms prevent us from expressing them. On an unconscious level, Spitzer understood from his own experience that self-policing would never work any better with business behavior than with his own. Businesses need oversight because many executives can’t help themselves – just as Spitzer’s compulsive sexual behavior easily overwhelms attempts at self-discipline....

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-04-06/why-obama-should-hire-eliot-spitzer/

[TayTay]

1. What finance jobs are there in the Admin that do not require Senate approval?

Did Summers go through a confirmation process in the Senate? (I don't remember.)

I think that Eliot Spitzer would be a good addition to any team looking into regulatory control.

[aikoaiko]

2. Except now Spitzer can't be trusted....

... its really very easy to not have sex with hookers.

[stillcool]

3. He won't be holding a government position..

any time soon. Might be just as well. I think that people have more of an impact outside of government than they do inside. Instead of getting ripped for every aspect of their life, past and present, write a tell-all..and hire good security.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

4. Spitzer is trying to rehabilitate his image and was on The Today Show this AM. Video

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=125&topic_id=237369