Time to get Tim Geithner a Bloomberg terminal. Oh, wait, he already has one
My TIME colleague Massimo Calabresi reports that:
Though Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congressional leaders Tuesday he only learned of the impending $160 million bonus payments to members of AIG's troubled financial products unit March 10, sources tell TIME that the New York Federal Reserve informed Treasury staff that the payments were imminent on February 28. That is 10 days before Treasury staffers say they first learned "full details" of the bonus plan, and three days before the Administration launched a new $30 billion infusion of cash for AIG.
Massimo goes on to say that Treasury staffers seem to have failed to pass the news on to Geithner. But here's what I don't get. Bloomberg's Hugh Son reported way back on January 27 that the bonuses were coming (I learned this yesterday from Michael Scherer). In other words, it was already public knowledge. Geithner apparently missed the news, perhaps understandable given that he'd just been confirmed the day before. But couldn't somebody on Treasury staff or at the White House or on Capitol Hill have brought it to his attention? Rep. Elijah Cummings and Senator Dick Shelby both must have known about the Bloomberg story—they were quoted in it. Couldn't they have started turning on the outrage a little earlier, back before the bonuses were paid?
My own thought: Geithner simply hasn't seen stuff like the AIG bonuses as a priority. He figured his priority was fixing the banking system, and the bonuses were a side issue. This explains why the man would never be able to get elected to office. I don't think it necessarily makes him a bad Treasury secretary. A lot of people in Washington disagree with me on that. But it's not like any of them acted on the information available on the AIG bonuses in a timely fashion either.
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1
Geithner reminds me of Brown - as in "Heck of a job Brownie..."
I loved it when O picked Geithner. But, it's too late for him. He must resign and allow someone to do the job that he is not doing.
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2
Mark,
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Geithner's job is to fix the economy by stabilizing the banking system and keeping world financial armegeddon from being unleashed. Period. It is Obama's job to stay ahead of the politics. On this point, he is generally a play from behind kind of President.
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Justin,
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I agree that this doesn't make him a bad treasury secretary, but he needs to get out of his own way and refocus the conversation on systemic risk. I'm watching the new show Lie To Me, and from what I have learned, it is clear that he and the administration are operating out of fear. Obama needs to act decisively and Geithner needs to step out of the limelight if the answers he has or doesn't have will continue to spook the market. When the plane is going down and the pilot is struggling to gain control, no need to give the crew and passengers a play-by-play....just right the craft and live to die another day. -
3
Geithner is in way over his head. He should bow out as fast as possible and leave the job to a grown up.
I still remember his comment in 2007 here http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2007/06/20/fed-speak-geithner-offers-clues-to-crisis-management/
With him as secretary why don't all Americans go to Vegas.
Bet on color and if you lose, just double up and once you run out of money just call Washington, it's a liquidity issue as eventually you color must come. Tim will send you the money until then.And his idea of getting the bonus money out of AIGs operational returns is just a joke, it's the taxpayers money anyway, as they own the company. Who is he trying to fool?
Get Larry Summers or O'Neill back in the seat. Summers cant be happy in his adviser role anyway. Get him a real job.
And maybe Tim can start as an intern on a trading desk at GS or so. He sure has lots to learn.
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