WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Tuesday reached for the nostalgia of long- gone Clinton-era budget surpluses to soothe debt-weary voters, choosing a Clinton budget veteran to run the White House budget office.
Obama nominated Jacob Lew as director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, returning Lew to the job he held under former President Bill Clinton from 1998 to 2001. He would replace Peter Orszag, who resigned.
Lew’s tenure as budget director coincided with the last time the U.S. government had a budget surplus, a fact that Obama stressed Tuesday in a message aimed at voters who have grown anxious about soaring budget deficits and debt under Obama’s watch.
“If there was a hall of fame for budget directors, then Jack Lew surely would have earned a place for his service in that role under President Clinton, when he helped balance the federal budget after years of deficits,” Obama said at the White House.
Lew, 55, also will play a major role in drafting the president’s next budget proposal due in February. McClatchy Newspapers
