Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Bitter Jon
New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine and Secretary of the Treasury nominee Henry Paulson have a history. Both were top executives with the powerful Wall Street firm Golman Sachs in the 1990s. Both ended up serving as co-chairmen of the firm and co-CEO. But in early 1999, while Corzine was off on vacation in Colorado, Paulson orchestrated Corzine's ouster from the top job and took control of the firm. Corzine left. Paulson stayed and has been at the helm of Goldman Sachs ever since.I think its safe to say that there is no love lost between the two. Despite that, Corzine had a few nice (although tempered) words for Paulson in a statement released by the Governor after yesterday's announcement by President Bush:
"With the selection of Henry Paulson Jr. as the next secretary of the Treasury, President Bush has placed an intelligent and diligent businessman at the helm of our nation's economic team; I expect he will do as good a job in this new position as he has done at everything else in life."But could Corzine leave it there . . . without taking a single political pot shot?
Of course not. Corzine's statement continued:
"It is my sincere hope that Henry Paulson Jr. will move this administration towards a path of sound fiscal policy that grows our economy, creates jobs and capitalizes on our unique position in a worldwide economy."
Has Corzine been asleep at the wheel over the past few years or does he really believe that he can spout off any ridiculous and inaccurate "fact" he wants in an attempt to score a political point? His poll numbers -- with approvals around 35% -- would suggest the former; his obvious hatred for Paulson (and of course Bush) suggest the later. Maybe its a bit of both.
In any event, Governor Corzine, you might want to read up on the state of the U.S. economy -- with over 2.1 million new jobs created in the last 12 months and over 5 million created since August 2003 and a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that grew at a rate of 5.3% for first quarter 2006 and 3.5% for full-year 2005, it would seem that the Bush fiscal policies are "growing the economy" and "creating jobs."
Bitter is not a pretty color on you.
More:
According to Red State Aspirant, Corzine was a little emotional after the Paulson-led ouster.
Some more details on Paulson's and Corzine's relationship at the New York Post and Dealscape, including that Corzine was near tears when he was sent packing from the top job at Goldman.
