UPDATE: Jason Furman emailed to clarify that the statement I paraphrased was specifically in reference to the Obama healthcare proposal and the way in which its costs, as reflected in the budget are divided between tax cuts and investments with the former larger than the latter.
UPDATE II: Paul Krugman weighs in, says Furman is a “good guy” and that his job is a process job. That’s a good point. At this point, the policies are pretty set and well-publicized, Furman’s job is more or less directing the campaign’s economic messaging.
Just got off a conference call with Obama’s new economic policy director Jason Furman. He just said, and I’m paraphrasing, but not by much, that Obama’s economic plan is much more focused on tax cuts than investment.
Whuh?
Also, I asked if the Sen. had a position on the newly introduced TRADE Act. It’s a piece of legislation, sponsored in the Senate by Sherrod Brown and Byron Dorgan that would attempt to lay out at the very minimum some benchmarks for what we want trade agreements to accomplish and then-gasp!-have a committee set about seeing if the existing deals live up to said benchmarks. The bill is supported by a large coalition of unions, farm groups, food justice and hunger organizations.
Furman told me he wasn’t familiar with the bill. I’ll follow up.
Man, I’m already beginning to miss the primary.
