While
the attention of the world is on the G20 in London, Washington still percolates
with discussions on related and other issues. Here are a few snippets picked up
in casual encounters in the past day or so:
- Bankers woo
the Congressional Black Caucus: A
former senior government official who sat in on the Congressional Black Caucus
meeting about the toxic asset bailout plan came away perplexed. During the
meeting, representatives of several big financial companies, including Pimco,
told the C.B.C. they'd helped the Treasury design the plan to have the
government buy up the "bad" assets. They also said they were expecting to
be awarded the right to participate in the plan. While Caucus members were, not surprisingly,
concerned that minority firms might not be well-represented in the
program, they also had concerns that were more fundamental. The person
with whom I spoke was, for example, was particularly taken aback by the
fact that these financial firms apparently felt it was perfectly
appropriate to have a process in which the same companies that help the
government design the program should also be the ones who were awarded
participation in the program...and especially if the same firms would be the
ultimate beneficiaries. I hope Treasury thinks the appearances on this
through a little more carefully or I'm afraid there is likely to be more
blowback of the kind no one needs right now.
- Dem FP
heavyweights get no satisfaction from the White House: An extremely well-known top Democrat,
once a candidate for national office, complained that he has been trying
for months to get in to see top national security people at the White
House -- without any luck. "They are living in a bubble," he ruefully
observed, commenting that even when he tried to get in to see a mid-level
Treasury official with a concrete plan to help address a central economic
concern, his requests fell on deaf ears. This individual, a household
name, was one of no fewer than half a dozen people who have made similar
complaints or observations to me in the past week.
- A crunch to
come again in Oil: In
a conversation with a highly respected senior executive at one of the
world's leading energy companies, I asked about the price of oil over the
next several years. He offered several responses. One was that when King
of Saudi Arabia said $75 a barrel that meant something. Two, he felt that
a number of important projects for difficult-to-process or difficult-to-extract
oil become viable at $65 a barrel. And three, while this might suggest an
average price of $70 or $75 going forward, he concurred that the global
economic situation really complicated things. Investment in new production
dried up due to the crisis and the consequence is a material decline in
productive capacity. And that's why, he said, a few years down the road,
when the recovery happens and demand rebounds particularly from emerging
economies we will therefore very likely see oil price spikes.
- A shift
underway on U.S. Israel policy?: Over
dinner, one of the most important Democratic international policy leaders
on the Hill said he felt that there was an appreciable shift seeming to
emerge with regard to U.S. policy toward Israel. He felt that even engaged
Jews who might have historically considered themselves pro-Israel were, in
the wake of Gaza and a broader sea-change in attitudes in the U.S.,
beginning to expect a much tougher line from the U.S. government toward
Israel if the Israelis do not move more constructively toward progress
with the Palestinians and their neighbors. This individual was not,
however, as convinced as other foreign policy experts around the table that
Israel would not follow through on threats to strike at Iran. For more on
the Iranian dimension and to help you draw your own conclusions, go to Jeffrey
Goldberg's attention-grabbing recent interview with Bibi Netanyahu at The Atlantic.
- Franken,
finally: Oh,
and it increasingly looks
like former Saturday Night Live
star Al Franken is about to become the junior United States Senator from
Minnesota. As one keen observer said to me yesterday, "Let's just hope he
is a better politician than he was a comedian..." Amen.
KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images
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