Timothy Geithner - Treasury Secretary

[kpete]

Source: MSNBC

BREAKING
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

[BootinUp]

1. Will have to familiarize myself (edited)

with his record, hope he is up to the job.

on edit
Ok, He's certainly qualified. Was he in favor of letting Lehman Bros. fail? That may have been a big mistake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_F._Geithner

[Hannah Bell]

62. The wiki says he's the son of Mr. & Mrs. Peter Geithner, like they were the Petries.

Here's Peter: China & India hand:

*advisor to the Asia Center at Harvard University

*consultant to the Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium, Rockefeller Foundation, Sasakawa Peace Foundation, etc.

*boards of the National Committee on United States-China Relations, the China Center for Economic Research (Peking University), the Center for the Advanced Study of India (University of Pennsylvania), lemente (Holdings) Asia, Inc., and the Institute of Current World Affairs.

*with The Ford Foundation for 28 years, where he held program management positions mainly concerned with Asia. Director of Asia Programs from 1990 to 1996. Two and a half years as the Foundation’s first representative in Beijing, China. His earlier assignments with the Foundation included Program Officer in Charge, Developing Country Programs (New York), Representative for Southeast Asia (Bangkok), Deputy Head, Asia Pacific (New York), and Deputy Representative for India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka (New Delhi).

*U.S. Agency for International Development in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Washington, D.C.
*Assistant to the President of a private international company,
*Naval Aviator
*Dartmouth College (BA) and the
*Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (MA).
*Phi Beta Kappa
*State Department Distinguished Service Award
*Royal Thai Government Order of the White Elephant

[DemReadingDU]

2. talking about it on CNBC now

John Harwood says Geithner has been in thick with Paulson.

Uh oh.

[bdamomma]

6. thick with Paulson?

oh boy.

[aquart]

9. Yeah, that doesn't relieve any of my stress.

I still haven't heard why Obama and his people think this is a good idea.

[DemReadingDU]

14. here's a link

11/21/08
Barring last minute changes, the nominee for Treasury Secretary will be NY Fed President Tim Geithner -- a career Treasury official under both Bob Rubin and Larry Summers -- who actually had worked at the Treasury in three administrations under five Secretaries -- going back to 1988.

Geithner has been a key player in the current economic crisis -- helping Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and his team manage the wall street bailout.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/11/21/1685124.aspx

[gcomeau]

3. Good grief...

...it's already up on his wiki page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_F._Geithner

On 21 November 2008, CNBC reported that Geithner would be nominated for the position of Treasury Secretary for the Obama administration.

[Hannah Bell]

61. i've noticed that. they're johnny on the spot with all that kind of stuff.

i think it's not just hobbyists writing their pages - if it ever was.

[question everything]

4. And the market is reacting positively, jumped 150 points since (nt)

[aquart]

5. Why?

[question everything]

7. The certainty of knowing who will steady this ship

The market does not like uncertainty. So regardless of who the choice is, it prefers the certainty.

Plus, he has been working with Paulson on some of the recent bail out and bankruptcy so he is a known commodity, yet still young that can fit into the "change."

[jobycom]

13. Certainty, plus he's not a political payback pick.

The fact that Obama picked an experienced professional rather than a politician makes Obama's choice look more serious, no matter what the pick's views are. Plus, any pick is going to make some group go "Wow! Now that's what I'm talking about!" and start buying stocks. As long as they don't carry a heavy negative, the market will go up.

[defendandprotect]

47. Good for Wall St sand other sundry crooks ...!!

[Idealism]

8. GEITHNER LIKELY TO BE TREASURY SECRETARY - MSNBC

From Chuck Todd and Andrea Mitchell
NBC News has learned that the president-elect is preparing to roll out his economic team on Monday -- and will personally announce the team and answer questions -- part of an effort to reassure markets.

Barring last minute changes, the nominee for Treasury Secretary will be NY Fed President Tim Geithner -- a career Treasury official under both Bob Rubin and Larry Summers -- who actually had worked at the Treasury in three administrations under five Secretaries -- going back to 1988.

Geithner has been a key player in the current economic crisis -- helping Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and his team manage the wall street bailout.

Former Treasury Secretary Summers -- also considered for the post -- might still play a major future role in the Obama administration, according to sources. Summers came under fire from women's groups because of controversial comments he made about gender issues while President of Harvard, but sources say the decision to choose Geithner had more to do with Obama's interest in "change" and getting someone new on the team.

Also expected Monday -- an announcement that former U.N. Ambassador and Energy Secretary in the Clinton administration, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, will be Commerce Secretary.

Paul Volcker is expected to play a continuing advisory role -- not clear if he would have an appointed position.

Other economic appointments for the White house staff will likely include Dan Tarullo, a top Obama advisor, possibly as head of the National Economic Council.

Other economic posts -- perhaps at the Council of Economic advisors in the White House -- could be filled by Obama economic advisors Austin Goolsbee and Jason Furman.

[sabra]

10. NBC News: Obama to announce economic team Monday in effort to calm markets

Source: MSNBC

BREAKING NEWS: NBC News: Obama to announce economic team Monday in effort to calm markets


Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

---

more:

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/11/21/1685124.aspx

NBC News has learned that the president-elect is preparing to roll out his economic team on Monday -- and will personally announce the team and answer questions -- part of an effort to reassure markets.

Barring last minute changes, the nominee for Treasury Secretary will be NY Fed President Tim Geithner -- a career Treasury official under both Bob Rubin and Larry Summers -- who actually had worked at the Treasury in three administrations under five Secretaries -- going back to 1988.

Geithner has been a key player in the current economic crisis -- helping Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and his team manage the wall street bailout.

...

Also expected Monday -- an announcement that former U.N. Ambassador and Energy Secretary in the Clinton administration, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, will be Commerce Secretary.

Paul Volcker is expected to play a continuing advisory role -- not clear if he would have an appointed position.

Other economic appointments for the White house staff will likely include Dan Tarullo, a top Obama advisor, possibly as head of the National Economic Council.

Other economic posts -- perhaps at the Council of Economic advisors in the White House -- could be filled by Obama economic advisors Austin Goolsbee and Jason Furman.

[sabra]

11. New York Fed President Tim Geithner Expected to Be Named Treasury Secretary

Source: CNBC

New York Fed President Tim Geithner Expected to Be Named Treasury Secretary: NBC News (story developing)

Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/

[aquart]

12. Why?

[DemReadingDU]

16. Well, the market likes Geithner

Dow is up 200

:eyes:

[SlowDownFast]

18. Fuck the market. The market is a crack whore.

An alcoholic who throws tantrums if his wife doesn't buy him one more pint.

Unfortunately, another pint will just make him feel better for a few hours, till he starts getting DT's again.

The market needs to crash. The more manipulation, the more pain and the longer this is going to get drawn out.

[SlowDownFast]

17. To complete the coup d'etat.

Welcome to The New World Order. Your new master is the Federal Reserve Bank (a private entity at that). Monster power consolidation.

For those unfamiliar, do a little googling on Geithner.

"Meet the New Boss, same as the Old Boss".

I'm very disappointed in Obama, to say the least.

His pick for Treasury Secretary is (was) perhaps the single most important position on his entire team, considering the current crisis.

Epic fail.

Time to go buy another gun and some more seeds.

[Odin2005]

21. Take off that tin foil hat.

The conspiracy theory BS used against the Fed is the creation of the minds of Libertarian "Austrian School" nut-jobs.

[SlowDownFast]

42. "Take off that tin foil hat"

That's what many other DU'rs were saying to me a year or so ago when I started posting threads about the subprime crisis and financial institutions going bust and imminent major market crashes and crushed 401K's.

Search my post history, specifically in the Economy Forum.

Then download and watch Zeitgeist and Zeitgeist Addendum.

Or just continue to keep your head buried in the sand, I don't care.

[defendandprotect]

48. You are, of course, absolutely correct ---

And hard to know if posters like that are simply uninformed believers or

if something else is going on with them --

Keep up the excellent work --

[SlowDownFast]

53. Thanks.

Hey, I voted for Barack just like everyone else here, but I haven't got so euphoric over his win that I won't be critical about the choices he's making, especially when it comes the economy.

It broke my heart when he supported The Wall Street Bailout, but I'd hoped it was just temporary political move or something. I'm getting increasingly nervous now that he's getting a Treasury Sec from Wall Street's Good 'Ol Boy Club.

As I've stated elsewhere tonight on DU, Geithner IS to blame (or at least shares it heavily) for making this crisis worse than it has to be.

I expect to be called a Freeper anytime now from some DU'r with some of the responses I'm getting tonight.

[defendandprotect]

55. Lots of things are piling up now --

Looking like a Republican-DLC asmonistration --

What was that that Nader told us a few years back ...???

[maddezmom]

15. Clinton, Geithner, Richardson picked for Obama cabinet

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Clinton-Geithner-Richardson-picked-Obama/story.aspx?guid=%7B2F6E36CF-C681-4AA4-A999-3361A2D32564%7D

[MonteLukast]

19. Damn... I wanted Sheila Bair.

Think he could swing her as Undersecretary?

[Roland99]

23. Me, too. Wall St was happy. DJIA +500

[HCE SuiGeneris]

20. Much more preferable than Summers, IMO.

[BREMPRO]

31. agreed, better choice than Summers,

Summers was thick with the ideology that led us here. I don't know much about Geitner but heard from NPR that he is very smart, more diplomatic and a team player.

[DEEPWATERS]

22. This isn't the change I was looking for

Timothy Geithner is CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New
York, which is the most powerful private financial institution
in America. He was also a former Clinton administration
Treasury official. He has worked for Kissinger Associates and
has also held a senior position at the IMF. The FRBNY plays a
behind the scenes role in shaping financial policy. Geithner
acts on behalf of powerful financiers, who are behind the
FRBNY. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
                      Hiring Rahm Emanuel wasnt a good
either.Emanuel is a pro war,former chair of freddie mac. It
seems all the bad people from the clinton group are getting
called back.

[alcibiades_mystery]

26. Luckily, it's not all about you

You can vote for the other guy next time though. Good luck with that.

[slackmaster]

27. I think we should all be digging to find out his position on important issues like abortion

:eyes:

[defendandprotect]

49. I think you're right ..."compromise" became the by-word there a while back ....

with HRC leading the way --

If it's going to be sold out, it will be Dems who do it--!!

Back to the middle ages --!!!

[Hannah Bell]

63. Gee, Kissinger & the IMF. So much like abortion.

[Name removed]

51. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Mark D.]

24. It's Not Tinfoil Hat

I constantly have problems with the far right John Birch folks who demonise progressives. I constantly do battle against their radical anti-choice views and favoring the privatization of everything and trust in a totally unregulated market. They are compounds-full-of-ammo living, self-centered nuts, most often. But I have to say I agree with their views of the fallacy of this debt-based monetary system.

At its core is the Federal Reserve, IMF and other usury based tools to gain control of resources and control populations with endless debt and for-profit wars. They are on point with reservations over the head of a private banking cabal that controls the currency of a nation (that could/should issue its own money, without the debt, as Andrew Jackson did, almost being taken out by the European bankers for doing it, as Lincoln and Garfield - opponents of the Fed idea, were, and critic of the Fed, set on closing it down, JFK was also).

This is not tinfoil hat. I constantly am embarrassed by everything from stories of 'reptilians' to distrust of govt. for anything but defense and infrastructure. Go to Google Videos (it won't break it up the way You Tube does) and look up the 47 minute 'Money As Debt'. Then see the 3 1/2 hour 'The Money Changers' video. They are full of historical data, and economic reality. There is no 'conspiracy theory' crap in them.

Warburg, financier along with Rothschild, of both sides of WW1, and Schiff, financier of the overthrow of the Russian Czar, helped craft the Federal Reserve after the most destructive banker in US history (and the most powerful) JP Morgan set the ground work for it with the scare of 1907 he helped create, to 'protect us from another such downfall in the market' that actually empowered them to allow the Great Depression to happen, consolidating thousands of banks into the hands of a few, and looting billions of dollars from the bottom 90% to the top 1%, especially the top .001% those elite are in.

Morgan is the largest energy speculator, thus largely responsible for the huge uptick in gas prices we are only now recovering from. Morgan's Hedge Funds are the largest catalyst in the sub-prime debacle that cooperative GOP ilk like Gramm and McCain helped make possible in deregulation. This is all actual history. Don't shrug it off.

The last president ever to pay off the entire national debt was Andrew Jackson, and only because he got rid of a private bank issuing our capital. The idea of an executive there running the treasury is no better than Paulson, the former executive of what? A private bank, running things. Only the Fed is bigger and done lots more damage to the United States than Goldman Sachs.

[defendandprotect]

50. Agree -- so...either Obama is too dumb to know this history ...??? ....

or he likes it---???


PS..I do take exception to your anti-ET comments ...however --

and think you should spend some time catching up with that subject --

[SlowDownFast]

58. ^^^Another one that gets it. ^^^n/t

[balantz]

25. woo hoo

I can hardly stand any more of that progressive change.

[MessiahRp]

28. I'm with you there

DLC/Corporate Democrats/Republicans are running up the score on Liberals/Progressives. It's a fucking shut out. When are we going to get even ONE person to represent US in this Administration?

Rp

[pjt7]

29. This guy needs to be thoroughly checked out

& cleared to play

[balantz]

30. At this rate we won't get anyone to be an effective voice for the people.

People are expecting Obama to be the progressive amidst a sea of right-wingers. I'm not so sure it is going to turn out that way. I would expect a truly progressive POTUS to really change the guard and the direction of Washington.

[girl gone mad]

35. I'll give them a chance, but..

if things don't actually change they are going to face an uphill battle in 2012. A Bloomberg could easily take them on in the face of an ongoing economic disaster.

[SlowDownFast]

43. Meet the new boss, etc........n/t

[nyy1998]

32. i love this move

giethner is probably as smart as treasury secretary as we're going to get, and he doesn't come with any of the political baggage like sumners does

[Patiod]

33. Something about Summers creeps me out

He just seems reptilian

[Thickasabrick]

34. But...he studied in China and Thailand - what about the terrorist, muslim

connection?:sarcasm:

[amandabeech]

36. Geithner was heavily involved in the failed TARP. Aren't there any critics of TARP out there?

TARP was supposed to fix this mess.

Now $350,000,000,000 out in no-strings deals with banks, former investment houses and AIG?

Bernanke can't get anything going?

The credit markets are still pretty much frozen and the DOW is 8,000?

We get a guy who was heavily involved in coming up with this laughable "solution" as the CHANGE guy?

I would REALLY like to know what this guy has in mind NOW to fix the economy.

What we have now IS NOT WORKING!

[SlowDownFast]

37. Exactly. Wish I could recommend this post. n/t

[amandabeech]

39. Thank you so much!

Sometimes I feel like the lone voice here questioning whether the Obama economic team really represents change.

You really made my day!

[SlowDownFast]

41. IMO, Treasury Sec is THE most important pick

of Obama's team under the current economic environment.

What people here should be lamenting is that Geithner is the most powerful Federal Bank chairman. This is actually worse than the CEO of Goldman-Sachs being in this position, since you now have TWO Fed guys running the show. Do you suppose this banker of all bankers will be advising Obama to cut spending or increase borrowing?

Geithner was closely involved in the design and execution of the Bush administration's $700bn banking bailout, which has proven less than popular with Congress and could become an issue during his confirmation hearing.

The possible pitfalls of his ties to star-crossed financial titans can be summed up by the headline on a recent Portfolio magazine profile of Geithner: The Man Who Saved (or Got Suckered By) Wall Street.

Geithner shares responsibility for the current crisis we are in. Big time.

The Wall Street Mafia has it's Yes Man in Geithner.

[CHIMO]

38. Can Grassroots Movement that Propelled Obama to Victory Chart a Better Economy?

ROBERT KUTTNER: Well, he—I mean, I’m speaking candidly here. He would be my last choice. He is a protege of Bob Rubin. When he was at Treasury, he was part of the group that promoted greater deregulation, the same deregulation that brought this collapse. He’s not famous for being a respectful listener. He had a disastrous experience as president of Harvard. And in the conversations within the Obama camp and between the Obama camp and the Democratic leadership, Summers has been a force for the idea of not spending too much money on a stimulus, not spending too much money on a permanent recovery program, fiscal caution, not putting too much pressure on the banks to resume lending. It would be both the wrong signal and the wrong policy.

The other name you hear, Tim Geithner, who’s the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, he would be somewhat better. In the negotiations about rescues for Wall Street banks, he has been a somewhat more forceful advocate of stronger regulation.

The best one—I hope she’s still under consideration—would be Sheila Bair, head of the FDIC. She’s been the toughest regulator of the batch. She happens to be, nominally at least, a Republican, as well as a woman. That would be a very classy appointment, but I fear it may not happen.


http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/7/can_grassroots_movement_that_propelled_obama

[amandabeech]

40. Geithner negotiated the JPMorgan takeover of Bear Stearn, in which the Federal Reserve

may have been hoodwinked by JPMorgan.

From the article:

. . .if you look at the deal he initially did with Bear Stearns and JPMorgan, there are a lot of critics of that who say he was had. He was negotiating with Jamie Dimon, who sits on the board of the New York Federal Reserve Bank along with Geithner. . . . Geithner is considered to have been hoodwinked in that deal, because the New York Federal Reserve ended up mainly getting worthless subprime mortgage securities in return as collateral for the nearly $30 billion it put up. It’s already recorded a paper loss of $2.7 billion.

And he outsourced the management of the collateral to BlackRock. Now, it’s probably just a coincidence that also as part of the—one of Geithner’s main advisers is John Thain, who was CEO of Merrill Lynch before it was swallowed up by Bank of America, and it’s probably just a coincidence that Merrill Lynch owns a 49 percent stake in BlackRock.

And what this really represents is, you know, the old boy network. The Federal Reserve Banks are in many ways just Wall Street clubs.

Gupta, the author of the pieces writes, "I think Geithner himself would not be that good of an appointment, you know."


Doesn't sound too good to me, either.

I'm not as smart as Obama, but I wouldn't pick this guy over some of the writers who were saying in 2003 that derivatives were a problem that could blow up in our faces.

[SlowDownFast]

44. ^^^Someone who gets it. ^^^n/t

[amandabeech]

45. I've been a "concern troll" about Obama's economic team right from the start.

It is one reason why I supported John Edwards in the primary.

I even voted for him after he withdrew as a protest vote.

No one on the original team got it about JOBS and real people. They were all about Wall Street and an economic program that isn't working.

Now he let Reich and a few others in, but they're not getting the top spots.

I am hoping that Obama does not go into the history books as Hoover Redux.

This is not business-as-usual, and business-as-usual solutions aren't going to get us out of this.

It's nice to hear from a kindred soul.:hi:

[Name removed]

54. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[amandabeech]

59. Maybe! We'll see, unfortunately. n/t

[defendandprotect]

46. Nightmare continues on ...!!!

[KakistocracyHater]

52. change to a system usually comes from outside

I see Obama appointing "insiders", this is same-old/shame-sold. Like the sports stadium swindle that's multi-nat'l, they are sticking to their schedule & representative Democratic nation/states are in serious trouble.

[Name removed]

56. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SlowDownFast]

57. Re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

While our Treasury continues to get looted (read: debt enslavement for generations to come) by CEO's and their financial institutions.

[autorank]

60. National Review Online & the New York Times on the Appointee

New York Times, Feb. 9, 2007 "the anti-Elliot (Spitzer)"

(Prescient)

Credit derivatives are intended to reduce risk by spreading it out to as many parties as possible. That is generally considered desirable. Yet the size of the market, the lack of a history with such investments during financial stress and the worry that the clearing mechanism — the plumbing of the system — will function when the markets hit the skids are red flags for people in the business who know how quickly the spigot can turn off.

"The fact that the banks are stronger and risk is spread more broadly should make the system more stable," Mr. Geithner said. "We can’t know that with certainty though. We’ll have a test of that when things next threaten to fall apart." (Well, we've had "a test of that," haven't we?)

"As a financial regulator, his style is more like a cerebral Dr. Phil than an Eliot Spitzer, the former attorney general and now governor of New York, who reveled in showdowns with Wall Street.

Mr. Geithner is the anti-Eliot.

-------------------------

Larry Kudlow, of National Review Online (he's a new face)

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NzhjZjBiOGZjODIwZGFkN2YxZTI3YjJlZWU2MTA3ZjE=

"Presumably, as a former deputy to Rubin and Summers, Geithner shares their policy views on free-trade and a strong dollar. While it is too soon to know how trade and the dollar will play out in the Obama administration, it is likely that Geithner would represent a free-trade and strong-currency position.

Snip

'As for the TARP bailout story, it is generally believed that Geithner is a strong interventionist. And so we can expect him to move toward raising the second $350 billion tranche of the originally authorized $700 billion package by Congress.

"Certainly, Geithner’s announcement today shows some movement by team Obama to fill the economic power vacuum that has taken over Washington during the transition. Stock market traders are cheering this movement. Nobody knows what Geithner might say about the GM/Detroit/carmakers bailout story. But Congress may actually take action on that in a couple of weeks — even before Obama is inaugurated."

"It is interesting that Obama chose Geithner over Larry Summers and other names like Paul Volcker. Geithner is a young guy at 47 years old. And to the country at large and most of the Washington political establishment, he’s a new face.

'Yes indeed, change is coming."