The French saying that the more things change the more they stay the same definitely applies to Larry Summers leaving the Obama administration.  In fact, things may be going from bad to worse.

Obama keeps proving to be ever the corporatist and his economic policies are designed to placate and support Wall Street.   His remarks about the departing Summers were embarrassingly saccharine but indicative of his real love....the fat cats, not the common good.

(Where the hell is the 21st century New Deal jobs program....why wasn't Glass Steagll reinstated....etc.?)

From Robert Scheer at The Nation: "Obama’s effusive praise on Tuesday went well beyond the requirements of professional pink-slip courtesy and suggests that he is still in denial over the role of key Democrats like Summers in getting us into this mess:"

“ 'I will always be grateful that at a time of great peril for our country, a man of Larry’s brilliance, experience and judgment was willing to answer the call and lead our economic team.' ”

"A parsing of that one sentence will reveal much of what is rotten in our political system and distorted in the president’s response to the economic crisis he inherited. There is simply no serious accountability when Summers is lionized for his disastrous service and Wall Street’s high rollers are bailed out after their stark disgrace."

Ari Berman warns that Summers' replacement may be worse: 

"Names being floated include Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy and former Young & Rubicam Brands CEO Ann Fudge, based on the belief propagated by the business community that Obama needs a CEO inside his White House. But Derek Thompson of The Atlantic wrote a good column about why that’s not such a hot idea: CEOs care about making money for their own companies, while a top economic adviser should be concerned with pursuing the economic policies that will benefit as many Americans as possible. Those two poles aren’t always compatible.

"Other contenders include Summers’ deputies Jason Furman and Diana Farrell. Farrell used to work at Goldman Sachs, hardly a bonus in this economy nor a rarity inside Obama world, while Furman directed the Hamilton Project, the centrist think tank co-founded by Clinton deregulation czar Bob Rubin. Tim Fernholz of the American Prospect says the top contender is UC-Berkeley professor Laura Tyson, who held the job under Clinton. That’s a safe pick, though not very inspired."

Jim White at Firedoglake adds the following to that list of floated names and then aptly explains:

" 'General Electric Chairman Jeffrey Immelt and Richard Parsons, chairman of Citigroup, are among other names that have been have mentioned.' "  [From a Reuters link at his posting.]

"Seriously? The Obama Administration, after the largest ever transfer of funds directly from the US treasury to private businesses and after crafting a huge health care bill that guarantees even bigger profits for health insurance companies, needs to add MORE business people?....."

For an overview of some of the awful damage Clintonite Larry Summers inflicted on the American people which didn't bother this president, check here.

We're disappointed and dismayed by this corporatist DINO president who continues to demean his base: struggling regular Americans.

As Susie Madrak (via Digby) reminds the president:  "those of us left living on a wing and prayer thanks to your “half full”, half-assed economic policies just don’t have a sense of humor about our continuing plight. I know it’s been a long time since your mom got food stamps, but you might want to give that empathy thing some thought."