Is Geithner's Game Up?

[katty]

more:
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/136306/is_geithner%27s_game_up_damning_report_calls_bs_on_his_smoke-and-mirrors_bank_rescue_plan/

Six months and $1 trillion later, and Congress still can't figure out what Geithner is up to. It's a wonder the Treasury chief hasn't been fired yet. Tools

On Tuesday, a congressional panel headed by ex-Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren released a report on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's handling of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). Warren was appointed to lead the five-member Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) in November by Senate majority leader Harry Reid. From the opening paragraph on, the Warren report makes clear that Congress is frustrated with Geithner's so-called "Financial Rescue Plan" and doesn't have the foggiest idea of what he is trying to do. Here are the first few lines of "Assessing Treasury's Strategy: Six Months of TARP":

"With this report, the Congressional Oversight Panel examines Treasury’s current strategy and evaluates the progress it has achieved thus far. This report returns the Panel’s inquiry to a central question raised in its first report: What is Treasury’s strategy?"

Six months and $1 trillion later, and Congress still cannot figure out what Geithner is up to. It's a wonder the Treasury Secretary hasn't been fired already.

From the report:

"In addition to drawing on the $700 billion allocated to Treasury under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA), economic stabilization efforts have depended heavily on the use of the Federal Reserve Board’s balance sheet. This approach has permitted Treasury to leverage TARP funds well beyond the funds appropriated by Congress. Thus, while Treasury has spent or committed $590.4 billion of TARP funds, according to Panel estimates, the Federal Reserve Board has expanded its balance sheet by more than $1.5 trillion in loans and purchases of government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) securities. The total value of all direct spending, loans and guarantees provided to date in conjunction with the federal government’s financial stability efforts (including those of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as well as Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board) now exceeds $4 trillion."

So, while Congress approved a mere $700 billion in emergency funding for the TARP, Geithner and Bernanke deftly sidestepped the public opposition to more bailouts and shoveled another $3.3 trillion through the back door via loans and leverage for crappy mortgage paper that will never regain its value. Additionally, the Fed has made a deal with Treasury that when the financial crisis finally subsides, Treasury will assume the Fed's obligations vis a vis the "lending facilities", which means the taxpayer will then be responsible for unknown trillions in withering investments.

[acmavm]

1. This whole bailout was a scam in the first place and we'll never

know how much they stole from us in the second.

But he, at least we paid off the rich man's gambling debts. That's was priority number 1.

[katty]

2. it sure was

[natrat]

3. oh we will know how bush/obama and crew have stolen allright

you will know just how worthless the dollar has become,and just how hard it is to find healthcare and how much it costs in higher taxes etc etc

[soryang]

4. At some point Congress will put a stop to Geithner

Not one more penny for larcenous investment bankers and their pawns.

[elleng]

5. Hope so.

Elizabeth Warren is probably the best thing Harry Reid has ever done.

Ever seen her on Rachel?

[bertman]

6. Yep, the first time I saw her I could tell she was all bidness, no bullshit. Love that woman.

Smart and funny and eloquent.

Why isn't our President listening to her???

[elleng]

7. He may be forced to,

by Congress. I'd like to see our system work thus. I wonder how Reid found her; SOMEONE was/is her mentor/sponsor/whatever, eh?

[bertman]

8. good question. I don't know the answer.

[pauldg0]

11. I agree....

..Do you think this is Obama's way to force Geithner's hand, even though he picked him.

I think Obama knows there are a lot of check-offs, he has after taught Constitutiona Law at Harvard... Here's the check-offs...

. First, Elizabeth Warren.
. Then he still has Congress to approve.
. Then there is public outcry like on blogs, etc.
. Also, Obama knows that Geithner made the mess, and Geithner would know how to fix it!!??

Yesterday I was scanning the web for some objective reasons why Obama may have chosen Geithner. I found that Warren Buffett was going to be one of Obama's first choices. Buffett said that in concept he believed in Geithners plan (and we do not know the whole plan-Obama has been pretty good about putting up smokescreens)and we Americans have to realize that you cannot turn a ship around on a dime.

Now to me that means we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Many people are upset and that is good too that politicians see public outcry, but we should cool it already. I don't think all the info is out yet.

You know it's sort of like when Obama wanted to correct the doctored deficit numbers the Bush administration put out. Wouldn't he want to put good money into our banking instutions first, then get good loans out, then go back and scrap or consolidate the bad banks with the good ones....something like that...I may be a bit naive because I'm not a banker.

In other words keep them temporarily running....i.e. get the boat back to the harbor then we fix it.

[Skittles]

12. because she is not part of the scam

[Vidar]

9. I hope so, but Congress doing something right boggles the imagination.

[MasonJar]

10. Apparently, according to Rachel, Obama explained to all of us today,

including liberal dems. what he and his economic planners are doing. The liberal spot on Rachel was only one sentence so I do not not what the total gist was, but there is no indication that he (Obama) is not doing just what Geithner wants for as long as he (Geithner) wants it. So Obama has heard the complaints and is ignoring them. What Rachel showed was a statement that taking over banks might just cost more in the long run. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!