White House Gives Top Billing to Volcker

The seasoned, careful, inside player, Paul Volcker, has edged his way to a top economic advisory position in the Obama White House.

Here's the start to the White House press release that was just emailed to me:

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 21, 2010 President Obama Calls for New Restrictions on Size and Scope of Financial Institutions to Rein in Excesses and Protect Taxpayers

WASHINGTON, DC- President Obama joined Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve; Bill Donaldson, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission; Congressman Barney Frank, House Financial Services Chairman; Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Banking Committee and the President's economic team to call for new restrictions on the size and scope of banks and other financial institutions to rein in excessive risk taking and to protect taxpayers....

Top billing goes to Volcker! This is the biggest signal yet, along with the fact that there won't be any reconfirmation vote for Bernanke this week in the Senate, that Bernanke is in serious trouble. It's Volcker, or Volcker's pick, that could replace Bernanke.