Timothy Geithner Calls Mitt Romney Claims 'Misleading,' 'Ridiculous'

WASHINGTON -- Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner threw water on one of GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's claims about the economy and women, saying Sunday that it is "ridiculous" to imply the president is to blame for high unemployment among women.

"It's misleading and ridiculous. It's just a political moment," Geithner told CBS's Bob Scheiffer on "Face the Nation," adding that the quality of debate over economic policy is "really terrible."

Geithner was referring to a statistic cited by Romney this week on women who lost jobs during President Barack Obama's time in office. Romney said that 92.3 percent of the jobs lost during that period were held by women, which he said was "the real war on women."

The statement was promptly debunked by experts who pointed out that more men have lost jobs since the beginning of the recession, and that statistics can be easy to manipulate.

Geithner said that many men lost jobs early in the recession, when construction and manufacturing were hit hard. When schools began to lay off teachers later, many women lost their jobs. He acknowledged that more of the jobs lost recently have belonged to women, but said it didn't mean Romney's overall premise was correct.

"But it's a meaningless way to look at the basic contours of the economy in that period of time, again because it starts artificially at a time when the president came into office and the crisis was still building momentum," he said.

The Romney campaign showed no sign of backing off of the statement, though, when adviser Ed Gillespie appeared on "Fox News Sunday." Host Chris Wallace said the figure was "a little bit of an accounting trick" and pointed out that several reputable news organizations had debunked it.

Gillespie brushed the criticism off, saying many of those fact-checks had a liberal bent.

"More men than women lost jobs before President Obama took office, more women lost jobs since Obama took office," he said. "That's a bad thing and we need to reverse that."

Comments

[bluedog24]

11:26 AM on 06/07/2012

What comment of Willard's is believable? Only one - if you're rich, I'll cut your taxes more.

[HST]

11:43 AM on 04/29/2012

"Gillespie brushed the criticism off, saying many of those fact-checks had a liberal bent."

Gillespie had no rebuttle to the facts so he attacks the messenger.

If conservatives had their way, everything that is true in this world would depend on who's saying it. If I like you you, what you say is true and if I don't everything you say is false.

[Michael Steaphens]

03:59 AM on 04/18/2012

Geithner needs to settle his outstanding taxes before saying anything.In other words...he needs to "pay his fair share".

[NL207]

11:08 PM on 04/17/2012

Timothy Geithner : tax cheat. This man should be jailed for tax fraud. That we have a mendacious little criminal for a Treasury Secretary is an outrage. Who cares what he thinks about Romney?

[Star2000dancer]

10:32 PM on 04/17/2012

I'd like to get a dozen or so friends, buy a big boat, and just travel around the world together. If we find a safe happy place, we stay until we want to leave.

As long as it's good for all, we stay. If things are about to get bad, just change your whole location. I don't want a house, car or property. A scooter, a bike, a nice dinghy, and 2 jet skis. Many water filters and at least 2 years of good dehydrated foods in case of emergency.

Anybody else?

[Star2000dancer]

10:15 PM on 04/17/2012

Statistics can be easily manipulated says it all for me. I'm finding out that I even have to question what I see with my own eyes.

[Begeezus]

10:06 PM on 04/17/2012

Timothy Geithner defending Barack Obama. Remind me is that a good thing?

[Star2000dancer]

10:16 PM on 04/17/2012

Good Question. I'm not fond of Tim either.

[grantma1]

10:00 PM on 04/17/2012

HEY DID YOU EVER PAY YOUR TAXES, OR ARE YOU STILL BLAMING BUSH FOR EVERYTHING AND YOUR LACK OF ANYTHING WHERE THEIR WERE NOT LIES.

[Michael Steaphens]

03:59 AM on 04/18/2012

Guess he wants others to pay thier fair share but him....

[Just-the-facts]

09:56 PM on 04/17/2012

To reverse the women's job losses, in Texas we must vote out Perry and the Republican legislators. Does this mean Rmoney is opposed to the Texas Republican party? That would be a good thing so it must be Rmoney double talk.

[CleanUp]

09:54 PM on 04/17/2012

I thought Romney and Geithner are one and the same since they are both cheerleaders for crooked Wall Street and the crooked banking industry.

[grantma1]

10:05 PM on 04/17/2012

DONT' FORGET BARRY THE INDONESIAN, HE GAVE MORE THEN ENOUGH PEOPLE IN BANKS MONEY AND THEY ALL SEEM TO BE CONTRIBUTORS TO HIS CAMPAIN.

[HST]

11:54 AM on 04/29/2012

Wall Street's Huge Bet on Romney
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/03/wall-streets-huge-bet-on-romney.html

[ThermoChemist]

09:36 PM on 04/17/2012

"More men than women lost jobs before President Obama took office, more women lost jobs since Obama took office," he said. "That's a bad thing and we need to reverse that."
=====

Huh?

They're going to "reverse that"?

Meaning they're going to ensure that MORE men, than women, now lose their jobs?

[grantma1]

10:07 PM on 04/17/2012

SOUNDS LIKE THEY ARE SAYING LET EVERYONE APPLY ON AN EQUAL BASE'S, BUT THAT ISN'T WHAT THE LIBERALS WANT, THEY HAVE ENOUGH UNION NUTS TO ENSURE THAT MORE WOMEN, MAYBE UNQUALIFIED GET JOBS OVER MEN AND I MEAN MORE WHITE MEN.

[Tracy Shaffer]

12:27 PM on 07/09/2012

You have no idea what "Liberals" want. If someone who is sufficiently qualified, educated, and prepared for a job gets hired over a white man, (whether that white man can even use the English language correctly) that's wrong?

[JohnnyWalkerBlueLabel]

09:36 PM on 04/17/2012

Romney is correct, per this article. More men lost jobs at the beginning, under Bush 43, and later when state governments came to their senses (All except my state of Illinois, that it), teachers started getting laid off. What's incorrect about this?

[project cooper]

09:00 PM on 04/17/2012

Geithner calling someone else out on "Ridiculous Claims", is like having him as your Tax Consultant.

[nfischet]

09:22 PM on 04/17/2012

turbo timmy???look at his ridiculous claims of his tax evasion.......................and we should trust his judgement because of why????

[TCovertOps]

08:58 PM on 04/17/2012

"Gillespie brushed the criticism off, saying...

"'More men than women lost jobs before President Obama took office, more women lost jobs since Obama took office,' he said. 'That's a bad thing and we need to reverse that.'"

Well, let's see here...The essence of Romney's (and Gillespie's) specious argument depends on a preponderance of public sector jobs among those lost after Obama took office, many of them in education.

So Romney and the GOP will dive right in to "reverse that" by doing what, exactly?

Oh...right. By slashing even more public sector jobs...including by (apparently) radically downsizing the Department of Education.

"Disingenuous" doesn't come close to describing this B.S. I weep for the staggering, willful, ignorance of people who swallow this nonsense.

[hrpmap]

09:17 PM on 04/17/2012

"The essence of Romney's (and Gillespie's) specious argument depends on a preponderance of public sector jobs among those lost after Obama took office, many of them in education". And the reason? Is it the economy? Is the economy still tanking? Are the jobs you mention dependant on taxes? Do people who are out of work pay taxes to support these jobs even though they have no income? The bottom line is it's the economy, and the present admin is refusing to take any responsibility. It's Obama's economy now that is costing these jobs, no jobs so no tax money to pay for them. And as for the claim that anyone else is to blame, it has now been over three years now Obama owens it.

[HST]

11:58 AM on 04/29/2012

How dare Obama not clean up Bush's 8 year mess in 3 years!

[Syllogizer]

02:10 PM on 04/18/2012

The scary part is that those willfully ignorant are determined to make the rest of us swallow the same poison, too.

[remarks208]

04:56 PM on 04/18/2012

Since I was unable to reply to your latest misinterpretation of what Keynsian theory:

WWII and the lend lease program along with reduced government borrowing in 1939 and 1940 is the reason the FDR depression ended.... that and taking 5 million citizens out of the economy to prosecute the war with Japan and the Nazis. But you keep on holding onto your rationalization and skewing of facts to justify thinking Keynsian theory is viable... based on your week attempt to sell the concept, I am making a guess you received your economics information from a career academian who also told you Galbraith was wrong along with every other economist that has posed a theory that is counter to massive debt and run away expansion of government intrusion into the private sector. Perhaps you are one of the career academians who spews the blather to unsuspecting students.... tsk tsk tsk.

And you still have not provided one single instance where Keynsian theory when implemented did anything except expand the time period before recovery. Even later in his life Keynse questioned whether his theory could actually work. But you won't find a single Keysnsian who will admit it.

[carolgregor]

08:58 PM on 04/17/2012

The only thing more outrageous than Romney is Geitner. Both should just go away.