Obama to Likely Keep Shelia Bair at the FDIC

From the few news stories I've read or heard about Shelia Bair, she seems to be a good choice for a Republican holdover appointment. She has been very creative and proactive in helping people keep their homes.

To wit, she has proposed giving homeowners who are sixty days late on their mortgage a chance to reduce high interest rates and extend the length of the loan if they qualify. She has used this program already to help IndyMac customers. Those customers do not get a free ride; they just pay less for a longer period of time at a different rate. This is a good and an inexpensive solution and helps those in need, while not expecting taxpayers to foot the bill. Good job.

Sheila C. Bair, the senior banking official who infuriated the Bush administration with her independent approach to regulation, will most likely be kept in her job by the Obama administration, two senior advisers to the Obama transition team said on Wednesday.

Ms. Bair has been the chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation since she was appointed by President Bush in 2006 to a five-year term. She has said she will step aside if asked by the new administration.

But Mr. Obama was complimentary of Ms. Bair on Tuesday and two advisers said afterward that it was likely she would remain in her post.

“I do think that the F.D.I.C. and Sheila Bair have had the sense of urgency about the problem that I want to see,” Mr. Obama said in an interview. “And so, you know, we haven’t made any official statements on this yet, but I think generally they’ve been on the case with the resources that they have to try to shore up the system.”

If she remains, Ms. Bair will be one of a small handful of Republican holdovers in senior posts. [NY Times]