Bush administration veterans former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and former Securities and Exchange Commissioner William Donaldson will join former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, and more traditionally Democratic economic advisers such as former Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, billionaire liberal Warren Buffett, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, and SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger.

Donaldson's tenure at the SEC was notable for his attempts to work with the Democratic Commissioners, for angering the US Chamber of Commerce and Republican legislators, and for abandoning an effort for shareholder proxy access.

O'Neill, the former CEO of Alcoa, had a stormy tenure as Bush's Treasury Secretary, and revealed his frustrations with the Bush administration -- especially over the war in Iraq, economic policy, and the President's leadership style -- in a book written by Ron Suskind, The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill.

There was one quote on Tapper's blog over at ABC which I'm still laughing about, right here:

O'NEILL SAID BUSH WAS TOTALLY OUT OF TOUCH AND A MORON:

'BUSH WAS "LIKE A BLIND MAN IN A DARK ROOM, LOOKING FOR A BLACK HAT."  '

Posted by: ROBERT_PARKER | Jul 28, 2008 8:07:55 PM

I love that quote from O'Neill!

And, here are two more comments from Tapper's blog, which pretty much sum up my sentiments better than anything that I could say about this:

This is change. Obama is looking to Republicans as well as Democrats to put together a squad of the best people for the job. We haven't seen bi-partisanship in this country for 7 1/2 years, and I'm all for getting back to doing what's right for the nation and not the party.

Posted by: Henderson | Jul 28, 2008 7:02:19 PM

And, this...

For those too ignorant to notice, Obama is getting a wide cross section of economic advisers to hear, not just a couple of Bush guys. He's not "stealing" anyone's plan, but looking for the best answers from a wide array of opinions. I know this sounds novel to some on the right, but for those more interested in what's best for the country at large, it makes sense.

Posted by: Javalation | Jul 28, 2008 4:52:51 PM

I don't know about you, but IMHO this represents a stunning and huge endorsement of Obama on what is by far and away the number one issue among all voters this cycle.

I really hope the Obama campaign makes some t.v. spots on this episode, today. These are, perhaps, the most compelling and "telling" endorsements of all this year!

Do you know that a projected, one-year budget deficit of just under one-half trillion dollars represents approximately $1,650 for every man, woman and child in this country?

That's for just one year!

We're not even talking about the trillions of dollars of overall national debt already on the books. Put another way, if every family in this country paid an extra $6,600 in 2009, that would be tantamount to just keeping the national debt where it is now...and that's assuming the government's projections for 2009 are accurate. (We all know that's a crock, too, of course!)