But ironically, what seems to be the administration's core proposal, ratcheting up the burden on "rich" taxpayers earning over $250,000, could have unintended consequences.
That in turn would reduce the pressure on Washington to rush ahead with development of a missile defense system, one of the Bush administration's core defense goals.
Mr. Geithner, in a brief interview on Wednesday, said he was confident that Congress in the end would adopt legislation embracing the administration's core principles.
Just as in the Bloomberg administration, the core of Mr. de Blasio's plan lies in rental subsidies, which provide a permanent place for people to live.
The administration's core argument, including and especially after The New York Times broke the story of the warrantless program in 2005, is that it is vital to prevent another 9/11.
Although divided in its rationale, the court was decisive in rejecting the administration's core legal argument that the executive branch has the last word in imposing open-ended detention on citizens and noncitizens alike.
In his speech, Mr. Kelly took a swipe at one of the Giuliani administration's core success stories, asserting that the decline in crime was influenced as much by social trends, like the downturn in crack use, as by heralded innovations in police tactics.
For his part, Mr. de Blasio — who is now routinely questioned about homelessness at news conferences — says homeless numbers "have not appreciably increased". And he frequently invokes his administration's core theme, arguing that the problem is less about enforcement troubles than the rise of inequality in New York.
President Clinton established the National Economic Council in the early 1990s and elevated its first director, Robert Rubin — also a former Goldman banker — into an influential adviser responsible for overseeing the creation of policies to address the administration's core economic pledges of job growth and deficit reduction.
