A Snowy Day at the White House

Posted on December 9, 2004

The Wall Street Journal reports that Treasury Secretary John Snow has been asked to stay on for a second term, after weeks of rumors that he was going to be shown the door. The word is that the bigwig Wall Street executive that the inner circle wanted for the job turned them down flat, no doubt horrified by what happened to the last big exec who took the job, Paul O'Neill, who clashed repeatedly with the White House because of his incredibly annoying habit of telling the truth to reporters. Snow is said to be loyal and is willing to go along with Bush's plans to privatize social security and revamp the tax system.

Rumors are also swirling around D.C. that Snow is just a placeholder until another exec can be found to take the job in a year or two. Those rumors were not put to rest when Snow refused to answer questions about whether he will be staying for Bush's entire second term. With the AARP already sending out 55 million letters to its members opposing the proposed partial privatization of social security, Snow better be ready to rumble come 2005.