Orszag emerges as key negotiator

Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget, emerged as a central figure and key negotiator in the Obama's economic policy team has come as a bit of a surprise to watchers of the administration. Orszag, at 40 the youngest member of the Obama cabinet, left a profound mark on the stimulus, which focused heavily on healthcare technology, a major focus of his research. He and his deputy, Rob Nabors, brokered a key, late deal on spending on school construction. And the bill spends more than $1 billion on Orszag's pet cause, research on the effectiveness of medical practices, which he sees as an opening to reforming American health care through sheer analytical will. Now Orszag is preparing for the biggest week of his career, with a "fiscal responsibility" summit Monday and the release of Obama's first budget Thursday. He's signaling that the moves in the stimulus package are just a hint of what to come in a budget that will begin in earnest the arduous process of health care reform. Though the budget's details have been closely held, Orszag revealed, in broad terms, two: A continued focus on healthcare policy; and a plan "to restore the nation to a sustainable fiscal trajectory over the five-to-ten year window."