Friday, October 30, 2009

Timothy Geithner: The Goldman Sachs fink in the White House


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If there's one guy in the Obama administration that I really can't stomach, it has to be Timothy Geithner. What qualifies him to be Secretary of Treasury anyway? Is it because he has spent his life coddling up to the most powerful men on Wall Street?

Today he showed his true stripes again. In what was apparently a private meeting with the Chicago Tribune's editorial board he let his guard down.
Geithner says bailout money well spent by Gail MarksJarvis

As U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner looks back at the efforts made by government to treat the financial crisis, he says "the money spent was very limited."

The comment might seem startling given his emphasis repeatedly on the need to pull back the nation's deficit once the economy is less "fragile" than it now is.  But as Geithner spoke with the Chicago Tribune's editorial board today, he said "I am deeply at peace with the necessity of what has been done" -- including the government's intervention in GM, investment banks, AIG and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  He emphasized that the money is getting repaid.
[...]
Still, Geithner notes that while there are "encouraging" signs in recent economic statistics, "unemployment probably will rise further." Although some analysts worry that the nation could be going through a "jobless recovery," Geithner says the recovery so far seems to be following a typical path.
SAY WHAT???

Did he really say "unemployment probably will rise further" and then go on to nonchalantly add that the recovery was "following a typical path"? I wish I had a videotape of that to see his tone and demeanor when he said that. And to capture his exact words.

That's quite a bit different from what he told Congress in recent hearings.
“Unemployment remains unacceptably high,” said secretary to the Treasury Tim Geithner. “For every person out of work, for every family facing foreclosure, for every small business facing a credit crunch, the recession remains alive and acute.”
So when Geithner addresses Congress he strikes a populist tone and says "unemployment remains unacceptably high" and goes on to lament the plight of the working family. But when speaking in private he strikes a more elitist tone and says that "unemployment probably will rise further" and that the recovery is "following a typical path."

Marie Antoinette couldn't have said it better.

I'll bet Geithner never thought that Gail MarksJarvis was going to quote him directly in her column in the Chicago Tribune. I'm also betting he asked the members of the Chicago Tribune's editorial board to turn off all recording devices before he began talking. Now we just have Gail's notes to go by, and I'm sure that Geithner would claim that he was misquoted if confronted with his statements.

And I'm also sure that this is nothing compared to the kind of things he says when he is speaking privately with his friends back on Wall Street. Do I even need to remind you of his incessant phone chats with his Wall Street pals?
Mr. Geithner, Wall Street Is On Line 1 (again)

Even during his most frenzied days, when Congress is demanding answers or the president himself is calling, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner makes time to talk to a select group of powerful Wall Street bankers.

They are a small cadre of businessmen who have known and worked with Geithner for years, whose multibillion-dollar companies all survived the economic crisis with help from U.S. taxpayers.

When they call, Geithner answers. He has spoken with them immediately after hanging up with President Barack Obama and before heading up to Capitol Hill, between phone calls with senators and after talking with the Federal Reserve chairman, according to a review by The Associated Press of seven months of his appointment calendars.
Someone should make a FOI request for Geithner's Facebook records. I can just guess who appears on his "friends list".

C'mon Obama! Dump this guy! If you don't he is going to drag you down with him. It's your choice. You're the President. You can't blame Geithner for your own economic policy.

Like Marcy Kaptur said on a recent interview on Bill Moyers Journal...
MARCY KAPTUR: When Lincoln ran into trouble, during the Civil War, he got new generals. He brought in Grant. I hope that President Obama will bring in some new generals on the financial front.
Marcy knows what she's talking about. Her constituents are on the front lines of the war back home in her district in Ohio.

We need a General Grant at the head of Treasury - not a Benedict Arnold! You can't expect to win a war if your generals are fighting for the other side.

Geithner is Goldman Sach's inside man

Geithner is a plant in the Obama administration from Goldman Sachs. He was a protégé of ex-Goldman CEO Robert Rubin, who gave Geithner a job in the Clinton Treasury Department. You can see here in this picture a young Timothy Geithner humbling himself before his Goldman master.



As New York Fed President, Geithner worked closely with ex-Goldman CEO "Hank" Paulson and Fed Chief Bernanke on the bailout of AIG which benefitted mostly Goldman. Currently, Geithner's Chief of Staff at Treasury is Mark Patterson - a former lobbyist for Goldman Sachs.



It's very simple Mr. President. In order to save your own neck, you must FIRE GEITHNER!



And then appoint someone like Elizabeth Warren or Sheila Bair in his place. Someone who is on the side of the American People, not on the side of Wall Street.

Mr. President, you promised us "change we can believe in" and "hope". The American People had high expectations when we elected you to be the leader of this great country. Please don't let us down. There is enough cynicism in this world already. Turning our "hope" into "despair" only heightens that.

And if you cannot come to grips with the situation and replace your "generals", then let me warn you right now. The American People are a fair and patient people. But when our patience runs out, there will be a political price to pay. And our patience is running very thin.

Related posts
Some more recommended reading

I would also like to highly recommend the following article, which does one of the best jobs I've seen of detailing Geithner's connections to the various men and women of power who run the Obama White House. The writer even found a connection between Timothy Geithner's father and Barack Obama's mother which I was completely unaware of. I don't want to spoil the surprise, so you'll have to read the article to find out.
How Geithner Became Secretary of the Treasury

I believe that Tim Geithner was placed into the treasury position because he is the only person directly associated with everyone listed in the points above. He is very clearly connected to the Clinton's, Two former Treasury Secretary's, Barack Obama, The Ford Foundation, and through his policy choices, he currently controls the fate of our banking system.

After doing my research I am of the opinion that Geithner is in his office as I write this not because of his qualifications but rather as a result of tremendous lobbying power. He is there, because forces greater than him are influencing and calling the shots for Barack Obama; at least in the treasury area perhaps not broadly. This information has ultimately reminded me that our political system is just as incestuous as it's ever been. All in all if my thoughts are true, there is no doubt in my mind that our financial system as it exists today will not be fixed, our banks will not be nationalized, and it will take a revolution to occur for real change to happen within our banks.
P.S.

I just re-watched this video of Maxine Waters grilling a hapless Timothy Geithner. Take a look.



Now I know why Maxine Waters is being targeted in an ethics probe and her name was leaked to the press. It's payback time! You just can't talk to Goldman Sach's man in the White House that way without being singled out for retribution.

You would think that the ethics committee would go after the big fish in Congress that take lobbying money and effectively sell their votes to the corporations that fund their campaigns. But no-o-o-o. Or you'd think that they would go after people like Timothy Geithner or "Hank" Paulson that sold out the American People to Wall Street to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. But no-o-o-o.

Instead they go after little Maxine Waters. Maybe she did put her hand in the cookie jar. But who in Congress hasn't? She just stepped on the wrong toes. And now she is being hung out to dry. Not unlike what happened to Cynthia McKinney. She's being made an example of. If you want to keep your job in Congress, you'd better keep your mouth shut.

And guess who else is on that leaked list of House members under investigation. Marcy Kaptur. See what I mean about keeping your mouth shut? And no matter what anyone says, they cannot convince me that this leak was an accident.

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