The Hill reports:
President Obama says he would like to establish a “secretary of Business” if he wins a second term.
In an interview with MSNBC, the president said he wants to consolidate a number of business and trade-related agencies, creating a “one-stop shop” for oversight.
“I’ve said that I want to consolidate a whole bunch of government agencies. We should have one secretary of Business, instead of nine different departments that are dealing with things like giving loans to SBA [the Small Business Administration] or helping companies with exports,”
UPDATE: Veroniqu de Rugy comments.
UPDATE: From the WSJ:
the government already has an agency with a “focus on expanding the American economy and job creation” and that “invests in America’s long-term growth and competitiveness”
It’s called the Department of Commerce, with its very own Secretary, and the quotes in the preceding paragraph are how the White House describes its mission in its 2013 budget. Mr. Obama wants to expand Commerce spending by 5% to some $8 billion annually.
The WSJ editorial does make an error, however, as President Obama had floated this idea at the beginning of the year.