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Tim Geithner hotly defended his job Thursday in front of angry Republican congressmen who asked him to step down. "What I can't take responsibility is for the legacy of crises you've bequeathed this country," he shot back. It is not easy being the secretary of the Treasury in the midst of so much economic turmoil. But even under current conditions, Tim Geithner’s credit is running exceptionally low. He is already in serious danger of being ranked with the most ineffectual Treasury secretaries in recent history—along with David Kennedy under Nixon, Michael Blumenthal under Carter, Don Regan under Reagan and Paul...

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is taking fire from both sides of the aisle, as liberals and conservatives are now pushing for him to resign. In a tense exchange before the Joint Economic Committee this morning, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) asked Geithner to resign over his handling of the economy, AIG bonuses and stimulus spending. “Conservatives agree that as point person you’ve failed," Brady said. "Liberals are growing in that consensus as well … will you step down from your post?” One of the "liberals" Brady was referring to is Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who said on MSNBC Wednesday there is...

"Too big to fail" meets "Just the right size to steal from the taxpayers." Sounds like a horror movie - and believe me, if you read this piece by Jill Schlessinger at CBS News' Econowatch, you will be sickened by this colossal boondoggle that not only cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars but actually enriched Geithner's Wall Street friends in the process - friends who had just themselves been bailed out by us: OK, so let's get this straight: the financial world is melting down, Uncle Sam had just saved the bankers' butts and now Tim Geithner the President...

Tim Geithner should be given the option to resign immediately, or be fired. He is either incompetent, too conflicted to do his job with the banks properly, or possibly both. Stephen Friedman should be investigated for $5.4 million in profits made through potential insider trading. His breach of fiduciary responsibility as chairman of the NY Fed is shocking...

In the summer of 2008, two months before Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, Richard S. Fuld Jr., the firm's chairman, was continuing his desperate efforts to find a lifeline. They had begun in March, shortly after the demise of Bear Stearns, when Mr. Fuld called the legendary investor Warren E. Buffett seeking a capital infusion, to no avail. Lehman had raised money elsewhere, but that didn't help for long, and its condition again was worsening.Adapted from "Too Big to Fail: How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System — And Themselves." The book, being published Tuesday by...

Ann Coulter opines on Tim Geithner not ruling out new taxes on the middle class on "This Week" this morning.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said in an interview airing Sunday on ABC's "This Week" that it will take hard choices to lower the deficit "very dramatically." He said overhauling the health care system and lowering costs are keys to getting the deficit under control. Geithner was asked in the interview whether he would rule out new taxes. He said the country needs to understand the administration will do "what's necessary."

Tim Geithner: recession will be over within months The American and world economies will be out of recession in a matter of months, Tim Geithner, the US Treasury Secretary, has declared. By Edmund Conway 13 Jul 2009 On a visit to London, Mr Geithner said there is a "very strong chance" of economic growth returning in the coming quarters, although there are still risks facing all major economies. The comments will reinforce hopes that the worst of the global recession is now over. Mr Geithner, who is on a tour of a number of European and Middle Eastern countries, insisted...

CNBC's Rick Santelli says Geithner was lying when he told the Chinese there is no risk of monetizing debt in the United States.

Bloomberg- title and link only. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=aCwz3Hlyo9sg&refer=home

When Timothy Geithner worked at the International Monetary Fund, he managed a feat that probably very few Americans have even contemplated: he got himself reimbursed by his employer for taxes he never paid. You see, foreigners working at the IMF don’t have to pay U.S. income taxes or payroll taxes, and so to create parity between the foreigners and the Americans, the IMF reimburses the Americans for their income taxes and for half of their payroll taxes. But the IMF also doesn’t withhold taxes from its employees’ paychecks or pay the employer half of their payroll taxes. That means American...

The Treasury released its bank "stress test" results late yesterday, and the good news is that the financial system has survived this very public undressing better than most analysts figured three months ago. We'd attribute the results much more to Adam Smith's continuing workout than to this public strip-tease, but we'll take relief wherever we can get it. Stress-testing is what banks and their regulators are supposed to do as a matter of course, albeit more quietly. The current very loud and public effort was advertised to provide an extraordinary measure of transparency at a time when no one trusted...

Yesterday we were startled to learn that Tim Geithner had made People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People list. Not because Tim isn't a fine-looking fellow, but because he pretty much looks like any other guy who's done a lifetime of bureaucratic work. But maybe there's a simple explanation. Geithner's brother David Geithner, is a People executive, having been at Time Warner (TWX) since 1992. This 1992 wedding announcement confirms they have the same father. And they look similar! Now, of course we're not saying David put bro Tim on the list. But might David's underlings have added him, you know,...

There should be no more arrests or convictions for tax fraud, non-payment of taxes or vehicular homicide until Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Senator Ted Kennedy are tried for their "alleged" crimes! Are we a republic or an oligarchy? Why do powerful men and women get off scot-free when lower and middle-class people rot in a jail cell or prison for similar (or lesser) crimes?! "Equal Justice Under The Law" is what's inscribed on the front of the Supreme Court building in Washington! When will that become a reality?! We are either a nation of laws or men, we cannot...

In a bid to quash Wall Street excesses that nearly caused the collapse of the U.S. financial system, the Obama administration will propose tough restrictions on financial firms, hedge funds and derivatives markets. The U.S. Treasury will work with Congress to form a powerful systemic risk regulator with the authority to look deep into financial firms other than banks, such as hedge funds and private equity companies, administration officials said on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will outline the plans in testimony before Congress on Thursday, and the proposals will form the basis for...

I have had a chance to read several pieces analyzing Geithner's plan to deal with the toxic assets. Before I go on, as I have said, there is no magic bullet and so while I will find plenty to criticize, there is likely plenty there for any plan. The plan is an attempt to thread several sharp needles and thus it is loaded with potential dangers.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., left, talks with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, right, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 24,2009, prior to the start of the committee's hearing on AIG. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (R) and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner take their seats to testify in the House Financial Services Committee Hearing on "Oversight of the Federal Government's Intervention at American International Group (AIG)" on Capitol Hill in Washington March 24, 2009.

Certainly one cannot say that Markos Moulitsas, the fellow that invented DailyKos.com, is the sage of the Democratic Party specifically or the left generally, but he does have a certain following as well as a high profile among activists if not Party regulars and political bosses. So when Kos begins Twittering that Sec. of the Treasury Tim Geithner is failing, this is not a good sign for Obama's guy. On Sunday, March 23, Kos wrote a Twitter posting stating "Geithner is starting to look like Obama's Rumsfeld." To employ a saying: I know Donald Rumsfeld, Tim Geithner is no Donald...

Frank Rich says this might be Pres. Obama’s Katrina moment. That would make Tim Geithner PBO’s Mike Brown. Which in turn might make some people’s blood run cold to hear the president say of Geithner, during his 60 Minutes interview broadcast this evening, that: “he is doing a terrific job.” [snip] Whereas in the case of Katrina, Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco bore much of the blame, in this case it is Geithner alone who apparently pushed to make the AIG bonuses, the ones that PBO has called an "outrage," legal. That's what the president calls a "terrific job"? View...

We seem to have the stupidest team of "the best and the brightest" ever assembled in any administration. We have a blatantly illegal breaking of the NAFTA agreement as a sop to the Teamsters Union (Obama has stopped Mexican truckers from transporting goods into America, Mexico reacted by slapping tariffs on a wide-range of American goods); we have buy American provisions in the stimulus bill (violating WTO rules); Obama humiliated Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of England (our closest ally), by a series of actions that were not just rude but displayed a galling level of incompetency. Then there is Timothy...

So now it appears Pres Obama knew all about those AIG bonuses - in time to do something about them....Geithner told Obama before AIG honchos disbursed bonuses to the same folks who bankrupted the company last year. Obama blasted "recklessness and greed," adding "It's about our fundamental values." Took him long enough to catch on. Geithner's Treasury Dept knew of the bonuses last fall. So did the Federal Reserve. Treasury not only never sought to block them - but, in fact, approved them. Obama asked: "How [does AIG] justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?"...

Is President Barack Obama's administration showing hints it is losing confidence in Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner? CNBC's Larry Kudlow said the signs are suggesting as much. The host of "The Kudlow Report" said in an appearance with CNBC On-Air Editor Charlie Gasparino on his March 17 broadcast that a statement put out earlier today by the administration, and placed at the top of the Drudge Report, hinted this was the beginning of the end for Geithner. "You know, statements out of the blue - statements like this are what I call a real bad leading indicator that Geithner's time, days...

NEW YORK – While the nomination of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner generated plenty of heat because of his failure to pay income taxes for five years, almost unnoticed amid the controversy is the fact that he presided over the failure of some of the largest banking institutions in the world – institutions he was charged with overseeing and regulating as head of the New York region of the Federal Reserve Bank. On Nov. 17, 2003, Geithner became the ninth president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank, a position he held until he was nominated by President Obama...

Okay, girls and boys, fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. As regular readers are well aware, Yours Truly is not afraid to don protective clothing and venture forth into the nether regions of TinFoilVille, Obamerica. Today, I ask you to set aside your skepticism, grab your shiny chapeau, and join me on yet another trek into another dimension, across the line to the Dark Side. Nothing more is required of you than to sit right back and hear a tale; just mentally follow me as I wind up the Way Back Machine to a land...

Somewhere Ron Ziegler is laughing . . . Pres. Nixon’s feisty late press secretary would have to tip his hat to Robert Gibbs for the brazen stonewall he put up today to Jake Tapper’s line of questioning on what the Obama administration knew about the AIG bonuses and when they knew it. Tapper’s basic point was this: instead of trying to stop the bonuses now, when the administration is in a relatively weak bargaining position, why didn’t the administration demand that the bonuses be killed as a condition for the granting of the latest billions in bailout money given to...

HORSHAM, England — U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was the new man among a crowd of silver-haired finance ministers from the Group of 20 leading economies — and some of them let him know it. Financial officials and markets around the world are waiting for Geithner to come up with details on U.S. solutions to fix the crisis of confidence in the American banking system that has paralyzed lending and could worsen a downturn that has already swept away company profits and thousands of jobs. They aren't waiting patiently. Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega said there is an "urgency" for...

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner got such a torrent of angry criticism from Republican senators today that by the end of the hearing some Republicans were feeling sorry for him. "Thank you for taking the job," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told him. "I know it's tough."Graham added, "If you're looking for a way to serve the country, join the Marines or go to Treasury. I think they're both very difficult."

On this morning’s Today, Fineman unloaded on Obama. Asked by Matt Lauer whether it was “just reality” that Pres. Obama signed a bill laden with earmarks after campaigning against them, Fineman turned Obama’s catchphrase against him: “Well, he was faced with a situation that he said he couldn’t change. But of course that’s what his campaign is about. The important thing politically in Washington, Matt, is everybody’s trying to take their measure of Barack Obama, all the power players in Washington. And frankly, they think they can roll him, based on the evidence of this thing.” For a president to...

Are today’s politicians and bureaucrats smarter than the ones we had a few years ago? Apparently so, since the new fad in the political set is to claim that we can avoid future financial crises via “smarter” regulation. We saw a perfect example of the phenomenon on Morning Joe today. First in a clip from Tim Geithner, then in live comments by two pundits, all agreed that smarter regulation is our salvation. There are only a few little problems with that theory . . . View video here.

Just in case the SNL skit wasn’t sufficient to send Tim Geithner the message, today’s Early Show has provided another harsh dose of reality for the Secretary of the Treasury. Grading his performance, an economics prof has said that if Geithner were his grad student, he’d tell him to quit and register in pastry chef school . . . Harry Smith had assembled a panel of economic experts to grade the Obama administration on its performance to date on the economy. Of course in these situations, a network can control the outcome through its choice of guests. Interestingly, there were...

WASHINGTON — Rarely have so few people had so little time to prop up so many pillars of the economy as those in the Treasury Department under Timothy F. Geithner. [S]ince Mr. Geithner took over as Treasury secretary, he and a skeleton crew of unofficial senior advisers have been racing to make decisions that will shape the future of the banking, insurance, housing and automobile industries. But even as he maintains a frenetic pace — unveiling plans, testifying before Congress and negotiating new bailouts with the likes of Citigroup, General Motors and the American International Group — there are signs...

WHAT'S REALLY SCARING WALL ST...... fresh threats of higher taxes on the most productive......bank bailout mystery..........contradictory policy measures......vows to unclog the banking system of toxic mortgage debt, along with a mortgage "cram down" that would make that debt more toxic. Candidate Obama won over the street even as he was bashing the financiers who'd plunged the country into crisis b/c of bad bets on risky bonds. Sources say Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan, Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs, John Mack, Morgan Stanley and Dick Fuld, then of Lehman Bros were supporters, as were Larry Fink of money-management powerhouse BlackRock, and senior execs...

Go figure. Our arrogant supreme being of “super intelligence,” otherwise known as the President of the United States, also dabbles in financial advice. As the Dow Jones dropped yet again, particularly when b. Hussein spoke to reporters this afternoon after huddling with British PM Gordon Jowls Brown to plot a global economic resurgence (takeover?) with their naughty little fetish, the AmeriEuro, the Great Hypnotist proclaimed that stocks are becoming a “potentially good deal” for those willing to hitch up their britches (since they’re home, beltless and unemployed, anyway) and think long term. Like he (ahem!) is.

As I began to read Frank Rich this morning, I was getting all revved up to go after him. The NYT columnist: * repeatedly dissed Bobby Jindal; * likened Republicans to slave owners in the Old South; * ridiculed Rick Santelli; * claimed Republicans were committing “suicide.” At the same time, Rich glorifed Barack Obama, hailing his “riveting,” “lucid” address to Congress, and seconding his call for government to “step in boldly.” But then, Rich turned from Obama’s style to his substance, and was surprisingly–harshly–critical. . . .

Barack Obama wants Roland Burris gone. That was the unmistakable implication of White House press secretary Robert Gibbs’ remarks to Matt Lauer on Today this morning. MATT LAUER: The president has talked a lot about transparency in government and transparency with government officials. In your opinion, does Roland Burris meet the threshold for transparency that the president wants to see? ROBERT GIBBS: Well Matt, what I talked about here just last week was, obviously many of the representations that Senator Burris made in order to get into office have now proved to be true [sic]. I think he has to...

So what if Tim Geithner freaked out Wall Street to the tune of a 382-point Dow dive? Wall Street wasn’t really his audience. That, according to Andrea Mitchell, is the Obama administration’s defense of Geithner’s universally-panned performance on Tuesday. Mitchell appeared on Morning Joe today. It was David Gregory’s “who’s-in-charge-here” question and Joe Scarborough’s ripping of Geithner’s claim that he’d only been there two weeks that prompted Mitchell to speak up for the Obama administration. Next time I’m in a jam, I’d hope to have an advocate as passionate as Andrea. Watch 38 second into the video, as Mitchell can...

Pres. Obama might have his ardent admirers, but his Treasury Secretary’s performance before the Senate yesterday has been universally panned. No one, though, is likely to outdo Dylan Ratigan when it comes to giving a scatological thumbs down to Tim Geithner’s tap dance. Ratigan, of CNBC, was a guest on Morning Joe today. Asked by Joe Scarborough to describe yesterday’s performance by Geithner, Dylan twice used the expression seen in the headline. The screencap shows Mika Brzezinski’s mortified reaction to his earthy choice of words. Ratigan can’t be accused of springing an unwelcome surprise on his hosts, since as you’ll...

U.S. stocks fell and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 200 points Tuesday as Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner began unveiling the latest bank-rescue plan. According to early reports, Geithner will commit $1 trillion of Treasury capital to a Federal Reserve lending program and launch a "comprehensive housing program." The DJIA, which was nearly flat on Monday as investors awaited action on both fronts, was last down 208 points, or 2.5%, to 8062. Bank of America Corp. (BAC), one of the institutions expected to be affected by the plan, was the weakest stock, off 9.4%.

President Obama is getting a lot of credit for admitting he “screwed up” the nomination of Tom Daschle to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. Here’s what Obama told CBS News: I made a judgment that he was the best person possible for the job. I was very eager to make sure that we can deliver on a commitment that I have to deliver healthcare for the American people. I think I messed up. I screwed up in not recognizing the perception that even though this is an honest mistake, I believe, on Tom’s part, that, you know, ordinary...

Announcement from CNBC during Mad Money that Geithner now has votes to be confirmed, and more at regular news time.

Next time you’re in a jam, you might want to consider a lawyer other than Chuck Schumer. His 1600 SAT score and Harvard Law degree notwithstanding, the best defense the senior senator from New York could come up with on behalf of Treasury Secretary nominee Tim Geithner was much of a left-handed, damning with faint praise, compliment. It amounted to saying: hey, compared to some of the crooks on Wall Street, Geithner’s not bad! As per Gail Collins’s NYT column this morning: In the Senate, Schumer argues that Geithner’s errors “pale before the myriad mistakes made by the operators of...

Barack Obama’s nomination of Timothy Geithner for Treasury Secretary, and the circumstances surrounding it, have raised many issues and questions — not only about the nominee himself, but also about senators and others reviewing it, the media’s coverage, and ultimately his presumptive boss’s leadership. Here are the top ten disturbing aspects of the Geithner nomination, not in order of importance until number one. 10. His performance in his previous job Geithner became president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2004. The New York Fed’s “about” page says that one of its duties is “to ensure a safe...

When word broke that Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner had failed to pay employment taxes he owed for several years, the reaction in Washington was gentle. Politicians on both sides of the aisle defended Geithner as an excellent choice to head the Treasury in these troubled financial times and predicted that the incident would be little more than a hiccup in his confirmation process. The news media covered the breaking story, but without the hype and round-the-clock stories they've run when nominees hit a snag in the past. Does this mean that Barack Obama's ascendance to the presidency is ushering...

There's an old saying from the bowels of the Beltway bureaucracy: "Screw up, move up." Rewarding failure is an immutable trait of the bipartisan Washington political culture. Just ask Barack Obama's Treasury Secretary nominee Tim Geithner and the Senate Republicans who are blindly standing by him. The Senate Finance Committee revealed this week that Geithner failed to pay some $43,000 in federal self-employment taxes for four separate years -- and only coughed up the remaining $26,000 of that debt when he was named Obama's Treasury Secretary-designate in November. The brilliant and meticulous Geithner didn't catch the lapses. The Internal Revenue...

Network's Andrea Mitchell and Chuck Todd reporting Obama will name his economic team Monday. 1:55pm UPDATE: The New York Times is reporting that Sen. Hillary Clinton has decided to quit her Senate seat and accept the post of Secretary of State, according to two Clinton confidants. Senior advisers to President-elect Barack Obama told the Times this morning that the offer had not been formally accepted and no announcement would be made until after Thanksgiving, but said they were convinced the deal was ready to be sealed. NBC News is reporting that President-elect Barack Obama will roll out his economic team...