Mark Leibovitch writes about John Snow's long 'deathwatch' in the New York Times: Rumors May Fly, but Treasury Chief Hangs On:
Against all odds and punditry, Treasury Secretary John W. Snow keeps showing up for work. He persists despite a stream of damning quotations attributed to unidentified White House officials, tepid votes of confidence from President Bush and countless predictions that had him out the door by spring. Of 2005.
Mr. Snow was supposed to be among the first casualties of the White House shakeup under the new chief of staff, Joshua B. Bolten, administration insiders say. Last Friday, for instance, when the White House said the president would be making a personnel announcement, legions of Snow forecasters thought his day had finally come. Instead, Mr. Bush reported that Porter J. Goss, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, had resigned. Mr. Snow, a genial former railroad executive, survived.
While every presidency includes officials deemed on-the-outs, no other cabinet member in recent memory has endured so lasting a deathwatch as Mr. Snow. He has become a legendary spectacle in a capital kabuki: a president and his surrogates delivering indirect signals about an official's status while everyone else tries to decipher what they mean — by parsing public statements, decoding anonymous ones and studying body language.
...But Mr. Snow, who took office in February 2003, is an atypical case. He has committed no memorable gaffes, and his tenure has coincided with an improving economy. He has drawn few enemies and is hardly combative or outspoken..
Rather, Mr. Snow, who declined to be interviewed about his job status, is a courtly storyteller with an avuncular bearing who often punctuates sentences with a sudden grin, even if there is no apparent amusement in things like "global imbalances" or "currency flexibility."
"I don't know a single person who is mad at Secretary Snow," said Representative Tom Feeney, a Florida Republican who joined him in a conference call last week to discuss April employment numbers. "There are tons of blogs about Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld. But not Snow." Mr. Feeney describes the secretary as a "personable, likable guy" who "no one really thinks that much about."
Talk about being damned with faint praise.
UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire blog qUotes from Snow's recent testimony before a House Commitee. It seems Dr Snow does not understand the difference between real and nominal earnings growth. Nor does he appear to know the rate of inflation in the United States:
“Mr. Secretary,” Frank said, “I agree with much of your statement, but I confess to some trouble with your citation of the rise in hourly wages. What’s the CPI increase over the past 12 months? Do you know?” Replied Snow: “Well, about 5, I think, 5.1.”
Actually, CPI figures released by the BLS the morning of his testimony reported a headline annual CPI rate of 3.5 per cent. Does he not read his briefs? John Irons comments that Snow needs Databot:
I don't know what I find more disturbing... that Treasury Secretary Snow is looking at nominal wages, not real. Or that he doesn't know the inflation rate.
Lazy, stupid or senile? Whatever the cause, one must wonder if he is fit for office. And how on earth did he get a PhD in economics? Hat tip: Brad DeLong.
But, but.....didn’t you note that I was quoted? "Freelance economic commentator" no less?
Posted by: Tim Worstall | Sunday, May 14, 2006 at 11:30 AM