by Mike Dorning and Christi Parsons and updated
Chicago billionaire Penny Pritzker has told Barack Obama's team she does not want to serve as Commerce Secretary, said a senior Obama official.
"Penny Pritzker ultimately has decided she does not want to do the Commerce thing," the senior official said.
Pritzker has issued this statement: "Speculation has grown that I am a candidate for Secretary of Commerce. I am not. I think I can best serve our nation in my current capacity: building businesses, creating jobs and working to strengthen our economy. It has been my great privilege to serve in the Obama campaign.
"I look forward to helping our new president in every way possible and am excited about the future under his leadership,'' she said.
The senior Obama official also said reports that Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano will be Secretary of Homeland Security are premature.
"I expect Napolitano will end up in the Cabinet. But whether she ends up where the speculation is (has her), I don't know," the official said.
Comments
I was surprised her name even came up. I suspect Ms. Pritzker wants to hang up her family's financial laundry in Capitol Hill hearings about as much as Caroline Kennedy, whose name also crops up for an Obama post.
Posted by: Kenny Bunkport ☮ | November 20, 2008 12:10 PM
Why don't you list the reasons? Her family's failed bank. Her family's investments in casinos. Just as a start. Not to mention her sister's
involvement in the murkey Grant Park land grab by her Children's Museum. Come on; trot out the reasons.
Posted by: Erica | November 20, 2008 12:21 PM
She certainly was well qualified for the position anyway!
Posted by: chicagoan | November 20, 2008 12:34 PM
hey, quit picking on the rich people!
Posted by: Damfunny | November 20, 2008 12:37 PM
More of the change you can see through! All insiders with feet of clay.
Posted by: Den C | November 20, 2008 12:45 PM
Why would he even consider her? Now that is change we can believe in!!!
Posted by: Sean | November 20, 2008 12:56 PM
Too Bad. The Queen of Subprime Lending would have been a perfect addition to the Obama Administration!
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Says Nation Magazine --
"One reason Barack Obama might not want to talk about the role of financially irresponsible bank board members in creating the subprime mortgage foreclossure financial disaster is that the national finance chair of Obama's campaign, Penny Pritzker, is a former board member of the failed Superior Bank S&L that engaged in irresponsible subprime mortgage lending during the 1990s."
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And...
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"Penny Prtizker's chairmanship was apparently 'to concentrate on subprime lending, principally on home mortgages, but for a while in subprime auto lending, too,' after the Pritzkers' bank acquired its wholesale mortgage organization division, Alliance Funding, in December 1992."
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You can Google thousands of helpful articles about Penny and Barack and the "change" they represent. Here's just one. Enjoy --
http://www.freeople.com/blog/who-penny-pritzker-and-why-she-obamas-campaign-finance-chair/970
Posted by: MJ | November 20, 2008 1:08 PM
Hey, isn't Penny one of those evil rich people that Barack wants to tax the heck out of in order to spread the wealth?
Posted by: Cynical Kinda Guy | November 20, 2008 1:23 PM
It seems it was a good thing the republican ticket failed. It has provided a full time position for the likes of Limpbag and Vannity as well as the usual suspects to sit back and criticize. Maybe they should take the time to re-examine why their brand of politics seem to be in the crapper. Could it be that the term "conservative" has turned out to be anything but? Could it be that the type of divisional politics they use no longer work? If they could do that.......now that would be change.
Posted by: bill r. | November 20, 2008 1:26 PM
MJ,
Are you trotting out quotes from one of the most liberal magazines, which would make it most definitely a member of the Liberal Media, to prove a point you are trying to make? You can't have it both ways. Either the media is too liberal to give a biased point of view and all reportings from them should be ignored or you need to admit that you and your pals attacks on a "Liberal" media were phony distractions from the real issues.
tick, tock
Posted by: jackson | November 20, 2008 1:45 PM
Posted by: jackson | November 20, 2008 1:45 PM
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Sorry, but I never railed against the Liberal Media. Ever.
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Anyway, yours is a specious argument. Facts are facts, wherevever they may be published. By the way, I could have cited the Washington Times. How would you have reacted then?
Posted by: MJ | November 20, 2008 2:02 PM
Penny will be able to pull Barry's puppet strings from here, just as she did during his campaign.
Posted by: Ltd | November 20, 2008 3:08 PM
No way is Obama going to tax the rich, strictly a political,ploy to get elected--Wait and see------
Posted by: Inky | November 20, 2008 7:16 PM
Last night WTTW did a bio of Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman.
I had no idea she was so "close" to Bill Clinton.
I guess she never got to compare "notes" with Monica L.
Anyway, I remember when Penny P's brother restored one of the grand victorian houses in the 5800 block of Harper Ave. Then, lo and behold, our then alderman, Larry Bloom,took up residence there. Supposedly "renting" it.
I really began to wonder about Larry when I found that out. First, I wondered how much rent was being paid.
Wasn't too much longer before something called Silver Shovel came along.
Pritzkers have done a lot of philanthropy in Chicago.
They've also made way more than enough money in Chicago to pay for it.
However, I doubt very much she has any strings to pull with Obama.
He's way beyond that type of influence now, even assuming he was ever subject to it the first place.
Which I very much doubt.
Posted by: ornery | November 20, 2008 10:32 PM