Are you cutting slack?
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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If Tim Geithner really is SecTreas?
Hell no I’m not. As I’ve said, you might as well leave Paulson in charge.
Markets up six percent in the last hour on the news. Looks like the fix is in.
Do you have a specific criticism?
Who did you want?
I was ready to accept Larry Summers as the best of a bad lot, after all who really WANTS to be SecTreas right now, anyhow? Volker’s too old, and anybody smart enough to see the derivative freight train barreling down upon us is smart enough to not want to job.
But as it is, the guy who was responsible for most of the behind the scenes legwork for the Uberbailout is not the guy I want to see running Obama’s economic policy.
From Bear Stearns on down, Geithner’s done the yeoman’s work on getting the bailout done and in particular giving his Wall Street buddies the best possible terms on it. He’s practically NY’s third Senator as far as Wall Street’s concerned.
He’s smart and competent, but if Obama’s going with him it means he still thinks the problem is an issue of Paulson’s bailout not being big enough or something rather than dealing directly with the cause of the problems.
The upshot is we’ll see more and more bailouts ahead, and they’ll continue to fail.
Hey, at least the bankers didn’t fly in in SEPARATE private jets, like the automobile honchos did to DC for their hearings, much to Congress’s shock and awe….
Sheila Bair, head of the FDIC may have been a better choice if you’re looking for someone with specific financial services chops. Brooksley Born, former head of CFTC who took on Summers, Rubin and Greenspan over deregulation is another.
Bill Bradley if you’re looking for broad national financial policy and economic restructuring.
And that’s for starters. Since Rubin, Treasury has been run as an appendage of Wall Street and that approach is both bankrupting the country and driving us straight into a depression.
I would like some official news. The leaking and speculation has me frazzled.
there’s none left to cut…he got all the slack he’s going to get from me during the campaign and election because the stakes were so damned high…guess that makes me a “non-serious person” according to barney franks…meh
deja vu
l’ve been very disappointed in most of the cabinet picks to date…hrh as sos seals the deal.
setting aside Clinton and Emanuel, do you have a problem with Richardson at Commerce, Daschle at Health, or Holder at Justice? I don’t.
the only problem l have with richardson at commerce, is that l think he’d have been far better at state or energy.
daschle at hhs l think is the best of the bunch.
as for holder…let’s just say l’m very skeptical. primarily because of his connections to bill’s travails, as well as his connections with, and defense of, some very unsavory corporate characters in their dealings with latin america…see chiquita…that, to me, is a problem.
arguments that the “good lawyers represent bad clients” doesn’t quite wash with our history and potential future difficulties that we can expect to encounter, with those who we share the hemisphere and with whom we tend to disagree…generally at the point of a gun.
we shall see soon enough with him, especially regarding the legal issues surrounding doj,the gWot, and all that entails
how do you set aside the Clintons? It’s the top slot.
they over-weight all others.
When is the Clinton reunion party? Does that replace the Inaugural Gala normally scheduled for January 20.
I have a problem with Holder over the Rich pardon. That guy should have gone to jail, from what I’ve read.
I’m with dada on Richardson. He’s wasted at Commerce. I think he has the makings of a great SoS.
And this doesn’t make me feel very good about Holder.
New AG Choice Advocated To Stifle Speech On Web | NewsBusters.org
i’ve been cranky all week. it’ll pass, but i literally get a pain in my gut when i think about the next two years in my state with the GOP in charge of all three branches.
rumor has it that Grijalva is in consideration for Interior.
Sorry Man ee:( We wound up nearly as bad with Mitch Daniels returning for a second engagement as guv. We gained a couple of house seats, tho. At least they can keep them in check (if they only will).
I’m giving the benefit of the doubt, for now.
I figure until Jan 20th, I need to relax and not get worked up over things I have no control over. My points are these:
I am just watching at this time. I am not ready to hit the panic button yet.
I meant:
“2. Obama was able to win and if he does not bring in individuals who understand the Washington scene and they end up creating “civil war” in the nation’s capital, the whole nation will suffer as a result.”
Looks to me Obama is a great admirer of President Lincoln. So far he’s following “Team of Rivals” he wants to duplicate.
Now all he needs is a civil war. And he’s likely to get it. He has hired on all Clintons and their entourage.
It’s coming.
And you know what followed that, and the other administration who also hired a team of rivals, with near disastrous results… more later.
Not very promising.
Can you imagine all those young Obama supporters who signed on with enthusiasm for change! Fool me once.
What we get is Bill Clinton’s Third term. already coined in the MSM…BloombergTV
Guess Obama wants a one term. and be shadowed by the Clintons. He’ll oon regret.
Here’s the coming civil war because with anything near Clinton, what you get is high drama all the time.
Yglesias observes Wither the Subcabinet?
Obama don’t give a shit. That’s the real fraud.
Now I’m just cautious.
I was never optimistic, especially when it comes to foreign policy. It was entirely clear which way he would go on that. But the alternative was too horrible to contemplate, especially after Sarah Palin became part of it. Therefore, while I did not support Obama, I wished very hard that the alternative would not come to pass.