As the stock market plunges, as unemployment soars, and as banks fail, who has President Obama selected to revive the economy? Henry M. Paulson's mini-me, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. It's becomingly increasingly obvious that Geithner is the single, worst choice President Obama has made to join his cabinet. Before he can do any further damage, Obama should consider appointing a Treasury Secretary who can hold a press conference without his voice cracking like a teenager just entering puberty.
Geithner didn't offer a plan yesterday so much as a new faith-based initiative that is more notable for what it doesn't do than what it does. It doesn't impose pay limits on bankers and it doesn't provide any means to assure that they start lending in exchange for billions in handouts. What Geithner's plan, such as it is, would help accomplish is to create a new class of welfare kings, living high on the federal dole even as they tout the virtues of the free-market economy.
Obama set the stage for Geithner by making a big deal at his press conference Monday about not wanting to release any details about the bailout so as to avoid bigfooting Geithner. But what on earth was Obama talking about? Now we know that there weren't any details for Geithner to spill in the first place, which is giving everyone else the willies. Maybe it's no wonder Geithner was suffering from stage fright.
Today Wall Street executives will be grilled in congressional hearings, but it won't amount to much more than theater. The moment, though, for theatrics has ended. It's time for the administration to start acting decisively to revive a prostrate economy or watch its fearful audience start to rush toward the exits.
The minute he admitted he didn't pay his taxes and Obama refused to say, "Take a hike!", I realized a lot of people wasted their votes. It's sad and it's politics.
Why are the principals, the big leaders of Obama's economic team all the folks who helped the financial sector work the system, bilk the public, steal our savings, and destroy our financial infrastructure?
Yes, Obama had better change these folks out.
We have Geithner in chage of economic policy
Change I DON'T believe in
tm
Wait and see...
Many think that Geithner has the skills so perhaps he should be given a bit more time; I don't believe that Obama will keep ineffective people in his administration...he gets how serious the economic crisis is.
That's illegal folks. Has a tendency to help along no-bid contracts and such. Nobody said a word, did they?
Obama nominated Geithner, defended him, pushed him.
If you don't like the policy, blame it on Obama.
If you didn't like the previous administration's policy, you blamed it on Bush. Turnabout is fair play.
No way did Geithner do this on his own.
I think the approach is totally wrong.
I think it is pure theft to take our tax dollars and invest in particular companies to support their shareholders.
I think these bankers have proven that they cannot be trusted to behave responsibly. They are detestable.
And, I think it pretty cowardly for Obama to leave it to Geithner to deliver the message that more than a TRILLION dollars will be given to the contemptible, deceitful bankers.
All that being said. This is all Obama's doing. Not Geithner's.
Welcome back to co-equal government, America!
They are clustering about their cause now, a rag-tag army huddled about their media campfires. Everything Obama does right is an affront to Bush -- to them. Everything he does wrong is ammunition. Immersed in a reality of their own making, urging each other on, theyr'e doing everything possible to make their reality ours. They are Al-Qaida in America.
Don't trivialize the hatred. Understand it for what it is and challenge it.
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Geithner DID IT RIGHT !!!!!!!!!
He did not pick winners or losers !
He left the ball in the banker court to fix the damage that credit swaps and predatory lending caused !!
Geithner made the U.S. Treasury the lender of last resort !!!!
Banks are not going to be hiring but banks must work thru all the bank loans they have !
Geithner handeled things correctly. Setting up a firewall but not being the dunce to take all that bad paper.
Banks need to call the FBI often and have the Collusion and Fraud investigated !!
Then Banks need to hold tight to some ETHICS !!!!
Really? He gives one speech and you decide he's all wrong. Are you an economist? Do you have the answer? I think the man is really putting in a lot of work on this. He knows what terrible shape we are in and I do not think he is taking it lightly. I would not want to have the job he is facing, but, for goodness sake let's give him the opportunity to do it.
So he isn't as articulate or charismatic as Obama. Who is? He was nearly unanimously approved by both Republicans and Democrats and there is a consensus that he's one of the few people that truly understand this mess. 99.9% of people criticizing his plans or him, don't have a real idea of what is actually wrong. They've heard sound bites or 2 page articles summarizing what others THINK is happening. Those that do understand whats going on quickly realize that they don't know as much as they thought. The reason that wall street has gotten away with so much is because most Americans don't understand what they actually do.
Geithner is one person that, I believe, does understand this. He's not perfect and would not be my first choice but I do believe he has a better grasp on this entire situation that anyone else. He's not Paulson. He , at the very least, deserves a chance to put his programs in place.
Nate silver has a good posting about this:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/02/give-geithner-break.html