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Paulson 'Promotes' Reagan Legacy

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The Associated Press

Published: November 21, 2008

-WASHINGTON - Managing the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression has left Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson little time to sleep, let alone fly across the country to speak at fundraisers.

However, that's just what he did Thursday, delivering a speech at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif., that organizers said would help "promote the legacy of Ronald Reagan."

Critics said the trip was ill-timed given the financial crisis and economic slowdown that are roiling global markets.

They also pointed out that Paulson's recent actions, nationalizing the banking system and beginning to overhaul financial regulation, are out of step with Reagan's legacy of small government and deregulation.

"Anybody who has engaged in the actions of Henry Paulson and then said he's promoting the legacy of Ronald Reagan I think is historically illiterate," said Craig Shirley, author of two books about Reagan's campaigns.

Even the event's organizers were surprised that Paulson kept the appointment just two days after being pilloried by lawmakers critical of his leadership on a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry.

Brookly McLaughlin, a Treasury spokeswoman, said Paulson's address was like other public events cabinet secretaries use as forums to discuss official policy.

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