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Jamie Dupree's Washington Insider

Posted: 10:10 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010

Economic Adviser Change 

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By Jamie Dupree

It's not as sexy a story as Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) causing trouble while presiding over the Senate.  But the news that one of the President's top economic advisers is leaving can't be ignored.

The boilerplate news release quietly popped up on my blackberry, and then almost made it explode.

"Dr. Christina Romer announced today her plans to step down as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, effective September 3rd, to resume her position as professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley," said the White House release.

Let's be realistic - Romer isn't the only economic adviser to the President.  But she obviously has been a trusted one.

The White House said she was going back home at a critical time, as her son will be starting high school in the fall back in California.

That's probably the kid that I saw with Romer and her husband early on Christmas Eve morning at the Capitol, as she and other administration officials arrived to watch the final vote in the Senate on health care reform.

That kind of thing can be understood, that family is more important.  But Romer has also been a very important part of the public Obama economic team, and that part might not be as easily replaced.

The announcement of Romer's decision came about 12 hours before the release of the latest unemployment numbers by the Labor Department, which will give another indication as to the direction of the economic recovery.

Romer co-wrote a report about the plan for an economic stimulus package that has given Republicans a big, fat target this election year, as it stated that the stimulus would bring the jobless rate back under 8 percent.

Instead, it sits at 9.5%, a dangerous number for both the White House and Democratic lawmakers in the Congress this election year.

 
 

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