Matt Yglesias

Office of Management and Blogging

If reports are true and Barack Obama is really going to tap widely respected CBO Director Peter Orszag to head up the Office of Management and Budget (it’s like the CBO, but for the White House, so it makes sense) then I believe that would make him the highest-ranking blogger in the history of the United States of America. I was also going to say that he’d be the highest-ranking executive branch official who’s had the distinct honor of meeting Matthew Yglesias, but I actually met Obama twice so that’s out.

As a blogger, Orszag was only so-so, offering interesting content but not enough of it and presented way too sporadically. His CBO Director’s blog would have been a cutting edge public policy blog in 2004 or 2005, but by 2008 people have come to expect more from a blogger. But as an policy analyst, he’s first rate. And from his new, even more elevated position, perhaps he can organize some kind of interagency policy blog. Think CAPAF’s Wonk Room but with Senate confirmation.