Cesar Conda Quotations

Josh would have a calendar up in his office, where he would, in consultation with everybody else, map out when the president would be briefed on an issue, then tie it to events on the Hill and major announcements.

Josh will be a policy-oriented chief of staff. I think that will be reflected in his hiring decisions.

I think the White House is very frustrated. There's been good data on gross domestic product, employment and business spending, and even oil prices are receding. But it's not reflected in the polling data on Americans' views.

I think he will bring a lot of experience with the markets. At the White House that was sort of his key responsibility -- to monitor, analyze and interpret market trends for the president.

They have been in recent weeks delegating lots of responsibility to other members of the senior staff. They've been preparing for it. There are lots of talented people there.

That's really baffling in light of the economy's growth.

In person, he holds his cards very close, even with his closest advisers. He doesn't speak up at meetings, doesn't let his views be known to other people, because he views his job as providing advice to one person, the president.

But I think the president is going to come out with some very ingenious policy initiatives, particularly in consumer-driven health care and energy independence.