Top World News, Mon, 7 Dec 1998, 11:08am EST
from Drudge Report

U.S. Treasury's Rubin Wants to Resign After Dec. 25, Japan's Sankei Says
Tokyo, Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin has conveyed to President Bill Clinton his intention to resign after Christmas, the Sankei newspaper reported in a dispatch from Washington, citing U.S. government sources it did not identify. Clinton has asked Rubin to stay in the post at least until a successor is picked, the report said. Though a leading candidate to replace Rubin is Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, the Republicans may balk at that because of their criticism of the way Summers has dealt with Asia's currency crisis, the paper said.
The U.S. Treasury had no immediate comment on the report; Rubin has been Treasury secretary since January 1995.

What do you think of this? Sounds like he wants out fast. Did anyone know he was unhappy before this?
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-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), December 07, 1998

Answers

URL for above article:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news2.cgi?T=news2_ft_topww2.ht&s=337010242

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-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), December 07, 1998.

Also, this week, le grand fromage, the big cheese at EDS in California.(EDS are the bastion of Y2K remediation Mildred...)

Ooops, explain that one away.......

Keep your eyes and ears peeled folks, bale-outs will be accelerating in the next few months - the reason - new tax year (new identity?) - why wait 'til the bitter end, gets messy don't you know.

On the other hand, *never* underestimate greed.......

-- Andy (andy_rowland@msn.com), December 07, 1998.

rubin wants out, but it is not so fast. he has wanted out for about 2 years. i wouldn't doubt that y2k is having some influence but it is impossible without credible inside information to speculate too much.

-- martyn collins (martylaw@yahoo.com), December 07, 1998.

Andy: We have spoken before about high-level mucky mucks deserting the ship. Be careful about this one though. Rubin was rumored to have wanted to resign earlier this year too, if memory serves. If this proves valid, Wall Street may react very quickly. Stay tuned.

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), December 07, 1998.

Thank you, everybody, for responding so quickly with a few historical facts. As a newbie, my attention is quickly shocked by possible Y2K-related news items, and it is so helpful to get your experienced takes on these headlines popping up. Apparently the news media is awakening to the growing interest and alarm re Y2K and, as usual, they will exploit this fact to capture reader eye time.

Just saw this latest update: from Drudge Report

Top World News, Mon, 7 Dec 1998, 11:45am EST

Rubin to Stay as U.S. Treasury Secretary `A Good While,' Clinton Aide Says

Rubin Will Stay Treasury Secretary `A Good While' (Update1)
(Adds comment from Treasury spokesman in 3rd paragraph.)

Washington, Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin plans to stay in his job for ``a good while,'' White House spokesman Joe Lockhart told reporters, refuting a Japanese newspaper story that said Rubin wanted to leave soon.

Speculation about Rubin's desire to leave has been frequent in the last year. The latest appeared in today's editions of Japan's Sankei Shimbun, which said Rubin had conveyed to President Bill Clinton his intention to resign after Christmas. The report came in a dispatch from Washington, citing U.S. government sources the newspaper didn't identify.

``This never happened,'' said a Treasury spokesman. Lockhart said the story was like others that periodically filters around the financial markets and had no basis in fact.

``This comes up about once a week, normally on Mondays,'' Lockhart said. ``This came up two weeks ago as well, and Rubin plans to stay for a good while.''

In July, Rubin denied a New York Times report that he was considering leaving his job by the end of the year. The Times reported that members of Clinton's administration expected Rubin to resign, and quoted three unidentified members of the president's Cabinet predicting Rubin's departure.

At the time, Rubin used similar words to Lockhart's. ``I've always said about the same thing, which is, that I'm very much focused on what I'm doing, I plan to be here for a good while, and that's it,'' he told reporters traveling with him on a tour of African countries.

Rubin said he may have erred in telling the Times he'd ``do what seems to be appropriate'' when considering resigning -- a phrase borrowed from his deliberately vague answer on whether and when the U.S. might intervene in currency markets.

``I just liked my quip around that foreign exchange thing,'' Rubin said, sounding somewhat sheepish.
Rubin has been Treasury secretary since January 1995.

So now the question is, how much is real, how much a cover-up? And does it matter?

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-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), December 07, 1998.

Leska,

Always look for at least three totally unrelated data points to see if you might have a trend developing. Collect twelve unrelated "reliable" info puzzle pieces, and you may be able to call a trend, or not. The closer to the horse's mouth you can get, the better. Too often one is looking at information from the wrong end.

As a joke once indicated, if there is a large room, piled high with manure, there is bound to be a pony in there somewhere!

Keep digging.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), December 07, 1998.

Almost Diane, but not quite.

A room piled high with dung is absolute evidence that there is a pony someplace, but it may not be in the room you're looking at.

Keep looking, and look for more evidence before digging deeper in only one place.

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), December 07, 1998.

This is a surprise to me. I have heard Rubin deny this rumor several times. hmmmmmm Veeeeeeeeery Interesting. Actually though, do you blame him? Who would want to be associated with Clintdong?

-- Anti-Chainsaw (Tree@hugger.com), December 07, 1998.

Wall Street falt out LOVES Robert Rubin, and the current administration needs him in place to help stabilize what has been a most volatile market. As previous posters have stated, rumors about him leaving have been circulating for at least two years. I'm sure he'd love to go, but I suspect Bill'n'Hill have been just about begging him to stay on for as long as he can stand it.

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.com), December 07, 1998.

Mac: You hit the same points that my post did. FWIW, remember that Rubin came from Wall Street so he's one of 'their own'. The street also loves Greenspan too. Both are highly regarded on the Street's list as well as the administration. Wasn't it Greenspan who was honored by getting a seat next to Hillary during Clinton's first State of the Union? Also, regarding Deputy Summers, don't forget that he accompanied Clinton to Russia a couple months ago to help broker a deal to 're-package' the debt bailout for the international bankers. High stakes and connected player, he.

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), December 07, 1998.

Does anybody know how big a cut in pay Ruben took when he left the private sector and joined the government? He, like so many others before him, may have taken less money for a few years in order to be able to bleed the lecture circuit dry for some really big bucks after "public service." Maybe he just decided it was time to cash in?

He sure wouldn't be the first.

Or maybe he just decided he didn't like the pressure of being a public figure. Again, not the first.

Or maybe...

-- Paul Neuhardt (neuhardt@ultranet.com), December 07, 1998.

Just a few months ago, I watched him at some global economy summit. He was introduced by some guy who said something to the effect that Rubin "had the most character of the administration", to wich Rubin replied, "Considering the administration I work for, that is not saying much." OUCH!!! But anyways, I listened to him list all 346 reasons why the world was headed for some tough times economically- and you geussedit-y2k was never mentioned. So, wich is it, did he resign or no?

-- madeline (runner@bcpl.net), December 07, 1998.

If Mr. Rubin stays or Mr. Rubin leaves, it doesn't make much difference. Treasury is a reactionary position. It reacts to external stimuli and political calls for "action."

-- PNG (png@gol.com), December 07, 1998.

What I reckon, is that we'll all know what motivates these Capitol Hill movements when we become Treasury Directors, and Presidents, and such (there's a conspiracy behind every corner! BEWARE)

ya'll watch the X-Files, don't you? And of course you're aware that that show is what drives federal politics (not that it's all innocent, but sometimes I think the conspiracy crap in here gets a bit deep even for my hip boots)

-- John Howard (Greenville, NC) (pcdir@prodigy.net), December 08, 1998.

Could it be a case of rats leaving the sinking ship? Or is it a case of the captain not wanting to be on the helm when the ship sinks? Will the ship really sink? Or will they be able to plug the holes? When will the average guy notice the sinking of Fed and IMF? Who will be the last to know? Has anybody answers? Old Hans would like to know! Hans

-- Hans (eisehan@sunshinecable.com), December 12, 1998.