Free Republic

These three Dem clowns are tag-teaming each other now live. They are promising that unless Obama gets his new taxes by 2 August, the country will be destroyed: no Boy Scouts, no IRS, no FBI, no Border Patrol, no school lunches for schools (indeed, all schools may be forced to close), no Social Security checks, no military retiree checks, etc. I am not making this up. In between these screeds, AARP is running terror ads telling seniors they will all die in the street without Social Security. I have never seen such a display of mendacity and outright fraud by...

Don’t you just love how calm and cheerful he is, as he hammers away at the truth? Even Stephen Goss, the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration, couldn’t help but smile as Huelskamp asked for his help getting to the bottom of why Social Security checks might not go out Aug. 3, when the nation clearly has enough money — even under a debt limit budget — to cover the interest on its debt, Social Security and more (Huelskamp even had the chart to prove it!). Goss confirmed the decision to send out Social Security checks (or not) would,...

All Free Republic threads - 4/2009 - Canada Blasts Geithner, Blames US For Slow Recovery 6/2009 - Geithner says recovery still in early stages 7/2009 - Geithner To Focus On Investment, Economic Recovery [Middle East Trip] 7/2009 - Geithner: US to address deficits after recovery 8/2009 - Geithner: Lower deficit key to sustaining recovery 10/2009 - Geithner: Recovery could be 'a little choppy' 4/2010 - Geithner: Disparity in recovery 'deeply unfair'(Pimps and drug dealers demand a raise) 7/2010 - Geithner hails 'very encouraging' recovery, stresses private growth (barf) 8/2010 - Welcome to the Recovery (Tim Geithner writes an op-ed in...

Some refreshing words from the Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner this morning on Meet the Press. He had this to say: (15:20 into this clip) Note: An 8 second clip of Tim's words: Link We don’t have the ability (because of the overhang in housing and the problems in the financial sector) to engineer artificially a stronger recovery. Imagine that! Geithner acknowledges what I (and many others) have felt all along. The structural issues in the economy trump the government’s ability to engineer a recovery. The Fed has taken extraordinary measures on the monetary front. Since 2009 we have had $1.2...

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (GYT'-nur) says many Americans will face hard times for a long time to come. He says President Barack Obama rescued the United States from a second Great Depression and will keep working to strengthen the economy. But Geithner says will be some time before many people feel like the country is recovering. Geithner tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that it's a very tough economy. He says that for a lot of people "it's going to feel very hard, harder than anything they've experienced in their lifetime now, for a long time to come."

A small team of Treasury officials is discussing options to stave off default if Congress fails to raise the country's borrowing limit by an August 2 deadline, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Senior officials, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, have repeatedly said there are no contingency plans if lawmakers do not give the U.S. government the authority to borrow more money. But behind the scenes, top Treasury officials have been exploring ways to prevent a financial meltdown that would be triggered if the government were unable to pay its bills on time, sources told Reuters. Treasury has...

As Treasury Secretary Geithner prepares to leave office, he has the notorious distinction of being the worst Treasury Secretary in the history of the United States, at least in terms as presiding over the outrageous growth of Federal debt. Of course, John Snow (3 1/4 years) was no slouch, nor was Hank Paulson (2 1/2 years). But no one ran up the debt like Tim Geithner. To be fair, Geithner is only Treasury Secretary. Both President Bush and President Obama combined with Congress went on a spending spree unlike the world has ever seen. Paul Krugman has espoused “But all...

This morning we speculated that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was seriously considering just ignoring the statutory debt limit by claiming it was superseded by section Four of the 14th amendment. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., confirmed that that course of action has been considered by the White House. Talking Points Memo‘s Brian Beutler reports on a conference call with Schumer today: I asked Schumer, a lawyer, whether, in his view, the administration had the power to continue issuing new debt even if Congress fails to raise the debt limit. He acknowledged that the question’s been discussed, but said the White House...

CHICAGO (AP) — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday he'll stay in his job for the "foreseeable future," addressing speculation he might leave the Obama administration following the current round of budget negotiations. "I live for this work. It's the only thing I've ever done. I believe in it," Geithner said when questioned about his plans by former President Bill Clinton onstage at a meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative. "We have a lot of challenges in the country and I'm going to be doing it for the foreseeable future," he said. Geithner, 49, acknowledged the interest in his plans,...

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has signaled to White House officials that he’s considering leaving the administration after President Barack Obama reaches an agreement with Congress to raise the national debt limit, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner oversaw the largest increase in the national debt of any Treasury secretary in American history, presiding over a $3.7 trillion increase in the debt. According to data from the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Public Debt, the national debt has increased $3,723,575,990,130.10 from Jan. 26, 2009 until June 30, 2011, Geithner’s entire tenure to date as Treasury secretary. When Geithner took office the total national debt stood at $10.6 trillion. As of June 30, 2011, it had risen to $14.3 trillion.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's latest attempt to convince some Republicans that boosting the debt limit is necessary does not seem to be gaining traction. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) maintained Wednesday that the government has "numerous tools" available to avoid a default, and that one would only occur if Geithner was unwilling to use them. "Secretary Geithner's approach to dealing with the looming debt crisis is to take his hands off the wheel and let the car careen over the cliff," he said. DeMint's statement comes in response to a letter Geithner sent to him and fellow GOP lawmakers, urging them...

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is strongly criticizing a Republican proposal that would prioritize interest payments on the nation's debt and cut spending rather than raise the borrowing limit. Geithner says in a letter addressed to Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican, that the idea is "a radical and deeply irresponsible departure" from previous practices by presidents of both parties. The letter was copied to 16 other Senate Republicans, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The No. 2 Republican in the Senate said Tuesday that he has heard the Treasury Department may be announcing soon that it can extend the Aug. 2 deadline to increase the nation's ability to borrow money to give bipartisan negotiators more time to cut a deal on the debt. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., didn't say where he heard the plan, but if true the decision would give critical breathing space for lawmakers and the White House who have not been able to overcome a budget impasse. "We know for sure they are going to update the deadline (Friday)," a House...

Sometimes you see a headline so silly you have to wonder if it is really accurate. Please consider this headline of an exchange between first-term Rep. Renee Ellmers (R.-N.C.) and the Secretary of the Treasury: "Geithner: Taxes on Small Business Must Rise So Government Doesn’t Shrink" Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the House Small Business Committee on Wednesday that the Obama administration believes taxes on small business must increase so the administration does not have to “shrink the overall size of government programs.” The administration’s plan to raise the tax rate on small businesses is part of its plan to...

An old joke says the IRS will tax even your patience.  Don’t say it out loud in Washington this summer. It might give new ideas to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. He told the House Small Business Committee this week that the Obama administration believes taxes on small business must increase so the administration does not have to “shrink the overall size of government programs.” As part of the administration’s plan to raise taxes on all Americans who make more than $250,000 per year, taxes will rise even more on small businesses, which file taxes the same way individuals and families...

Geithner’s explanation of the administration's small-business tax plan came in an exchange with first-term Rep. Renee Ellmers (R.-N.C.). Ellmers, a nurse, decided to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 after she became active in the grass-roots opposition to President Barack Obama’s proposed health-care reform plan in 2009. “Overwhelmingly, the businesses back home and across the country continue to tell us that regulation, lack of access to capital, taxation, fear of taxation, and just the overwhelming uncertainties that our businesses face is keeping them from hiring,” Ellmers told Geithner. “They just simply cannot.” She then challenged Geithner on...

Dear Mr. Geithner: A year ago, you announced that America was in "Recovery Summer". Unfortunately, the American public, indeed most of the world, must have a very different definition than the administration of what constitutes "recovery". More than two years ago, one of President Obama's first acts was an attempt to "stimulate" the economy. Dubbed the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act", America took a huge, expensive risk, borrowing and spending another $1.1 trillion we didn't have to begin with; yet recovery is nowhere to be found. For 28 straight months, unemployment has exceeded 8%, the ceiling the Obama Administration promised...

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the House Small Business Committee on Wednesday that the Obama administration believes taxes on small business must increase so the administration does not have to “shrink the overall size of government programs.” The administration’s plan to raise the tax rate on small businesses is part of its plan to raise taxes on all Americans who make more than $250,000 per year—including businesses that file taxes the same way individuals and families do. Geithner’s explanation of the administration's small-business tax plan came in an exchange with first-term Rep. Renee Ellmers (R.-N.C.). Ellmers, a nurse, decided to...

(CNSNews.com) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the House Small Business Committee on Wednesday that the Obama administration believes taxes on small business must increase so the administration does not have to “shrink the overall size of government programs.” The administration’s plan to raise the tax rate on small businesses is part of its plan to raise taxes on all Americans who make more than $250,000 per year—including businesses that file taxes the same way individuals and families do. (VIDEO AT LINK)