It's four and counting at Timothy Geithner's Treasury department. The Washington Post reports today that H. Rodgin Cohen, chairman of the New York law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, has bailed out on becoming deputy Treasury Secretary. Three others have removed themselves as well, including Annette Nazareth, Lee Sachs, and Caroline Atkinson. According to a British official, the Treasury department resembles an abandoned building -- "There is nobody there."
There are several possibilities here. Could it be that the Treasury department doesn't really need all those top officials? Is it time to start purging federal agencies, just as businesses are shedding their employees?
Or are murky vetting issues the real problem? The rot in America's financial and legal system may be so deep that it's become almost impossible to find candidates suitable for government service. New York Times columnist Tom Friedman is fretting that the ethics rules are too tight, that it's like insisting that a heart surgeon to prove he hasn't eaten a chocolate bar in the past year before he's allowed to operate on a dying patient.
The bottom line may be this: if Geithner can't even hire staff for his own department, how on earth is he going to lower America's unemployment rate?
Strange article.
Just look at the clause in TARP that allowed LLC's and the Printing of an INFINITE amount of Dollars while charging Taxpayers Interest on ALL THIS PRINTED MONEY!
The Elite and the Elite Banksters own the FED and the FED controls Geithner and the Treasury.
America continues to be a Victim of the Elite.
NOT "1" Executive has been Fired, Investigated, or Prosecuted!
That tells you who is in CONTROL!
"Prices of the underlying securities5 suddenly plummeted after the initial Fed/Treasury deal, as market spreads shot up, so something more had to be done.
With the revised Fed/Treasury deal came a plan to terminate the “super senior” CDS contracts after all, and purchase the underlying CDOs.
Of the $52.5 billion in off-balance sheet financing referenced above, $30 billion is a loan to Maiden Lane III LLC (ML III), an entity formed by the NY Fed and AIG to purchase (at market value) $64.7 billion face value of the “super senior” CDO tranches on which AIG had written CDS agreements (AIG invested $5 billion in ML III).
In connection with the purchase of the CDOs, the related CDS agreements are being terminated.6
http://johnappel.com/2008/12/12/aig%E2%80%99s-bailout-needs-a-bailout-a-150-billion-problem/
Just look at the clause in TARP that allowed LLC's and the Printing of an INFINITE amount of Dollars while charging Taxpayers Interest on ALL THIS PRINTED MONEY!
The Elite and the Elite Banksters own the FED and the FED controls Geithner and the Treasury.
America continues to be a Victim of the Elite.
NOT "1" Executive has been Fired, Investigated, or Prosecuted!
That tells you who is in CONTROL!
These are the same complaints against "Mark-to-Market!" They want to simply relax the rules and go back to "How We Want to Value Assets", even if it is a "FAKE!"
There is plenty of brilliant talent at Universities across America that have creative yet Honest Ideas that do not worship the Elite and Corrupt FED concept and can add Value to the recovery from this POTFUL of Thieves on Wall Street!
The rules won’t apply to the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility out of “desire to encourage market participants to stimulate credit formation and utilize the facility,” the New York Fed said in a document on its Web site today. The government separately said it will expand the TALF to support vehicle-fleet leases and loans for business, construction and farm equipment.
The Treasury and Fed also today reiterated that they will seek legislation to give the Fed “additional tools” to manage its balance sheet. The effort stems from concern that taking on longer-term assets will make it more difficult for the central bank to raise interest rates once the economy recovers.
Possible legislation may allow the Fed to issue its own debt or let the Treasury issue bills for Fed use that are exempt from the federal debt ceiling, JPMorgan Chase & Co. economist Michael Feroli said.
http://www.economicpopulist.org/?q=content/fed-seeks-additional-tools
You really are clueless, Mr. Heilbrunn. The Treasury Secretary is in no way responsible for fixing the unemployment rate.
That would be the Secretaries of Commerce and Labor in conjunction with the President and Congress.
I distinctly remember the SEC chairman turning down money Congress offered him for more oversight personnel. I distinctly remember McCain saying that the SEC chairman should be fired and wondering why the SEC chair. Now we know. But that tells me that McCain knew exactly where the problems were, and he also kept his mouth shut.
Anytime a banking law expert had a question, Rodg Cohen was the go to guy.
I don't know anything about his politics, but it's a shame that such an accomplished guy isn't in the running.
If there was ever a time when we need a true outsider, beholden to no one, to come in and take on the Herculean task of cleaning out the Augean Stables that is our financial markets, it is today. You won't find that kind of person on Wall Street.
I think a lot of people are freaked out that our aces aren't in Washington cleaning up the mess.