Orszag Is Economic Centrist Who Knows How to Deal
The gangly, bespectacled official who yesterday laid down the fiscal footprint of a new presidency is an unassuming man who proudly refers to himself as the administration's "super-nerd."</br></br>The gangly, bespectacled official who yesterday laid down the fiscal footprint of a new presidency is an unassuming man who proudly refers to himself as the administration's "super-nerd." "I hope I don't bore everyone else in the room," Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag deadpanned to an auditorium full of reporters as he unveiled President Obama's first budget.</br></br>Orszag, at 40 the youngest member of the Cabinet, has assumed an outsize influence among the tight circle of wonks Obama has dubbed his "propeller heads": a team of economists with big personalities and bigger intellects. Orszag has already surprised lawmakers on Capitol Hill with his apparent overnight transformation from the low-key academic they remember from his tenure at the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to a political dealmaker instrumental in negotiations over passing Obama's economic recovery plan.</br></br>In the past week, Orszag has unveiled a $3.6 trillion budget and convened a "fiscal responsibility" summit aimed at easing the country's economic crisis and advancing the president's domestic agenda. He is also expected to play a leading role in efforts to reform the nation's health-care system.</br></br>A self-described economic centrist who fought President George W. Bush's proposal to privatize Social Security, Orszag thinks the soaring costs of health care pose the biggest threat to the nation's fiscal health. Left unchecked, he fears, health-care costs will become "the primary driver" of a crisis.