Posted by Todd Zywicki:
Is Geithner Even Worse Than Paulson?
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_03_08-2009_03_14.shtml#1236953110
It would be hard to imagine finding a Treasury Secretary worse than
Hank Paulson. But there is a [1]growing consensus in Washington that
as bad as Paulson was, Timothy Geithner may be even more incompetent:
When they start making jokes about you, it's hard to recover. And
that's what is happening now to Treasury Secretary Timothy
Geithner.
It's not just "Saturday Night Live" poking fun at him -- you saw
the skit depicting a Geithner so clueless that he offered a huge
reward to anyone who called his hotline, 1-800-IDEAS, with a plan
to get us out of the financial crisis. Beyond the TV shows,
Geithner, who was confirmed despite having to pay $48,000 in back
taxes and interest, is also the target of suppressed snickers on
Capitol Hill whenever the subject turns to the IRS. And now, he is
widely thought to be not up to the job.
The fundamental problem, of course, is that Geithner hasn't come up
with a financial rescue plan. There is nearly unanimous agreement
among economists and policymakers that the single most important
thing the Secretary of the Treasury should do now is develop a plan
to deal with the "toxic assets" that threaten the survival of
financial institutions. But Geithner, who has been acutely aware of
this problem for months, doesn't have such a plan. If he had, the
comedians wouldn't be talking about 1-800-IDEAS.
The situation has gotten so bad that Geithner is the subject of
private buyer's remorse from some of the very politicians who
supported him. A number of senators voted to confirm Geithner, even
with tax problems they deemed disqualifying, because they believed
the financial crisis required immediate action. Now, with little
happening, their feeling is: We put aside some very troubling
concerns for this?
In Geithner's defense, at least some of his problems stem from
problems at the top in terms of the failure of the President to make
nominations and develop a coherent and workable approach to many of
these financial markets problems.
References
1.
http://www.dcexaminer.com/politics/Geithner-Obama-Economics-A-Joke-Thats-Not-Funny-41197667.html
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