This could be the end of Timothy Geithner's days as the guy who signs you dollar bills. Geithner, now Obama's Secretary of Treasury, was formerly the head of the Federal Reserve in New York. This report is devastating:
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, then led by Timothy Geithner, told American International Group Inc. to withhold details from the public about the bailed-out insurer’s payments to banks during the depths of the financial crisis, e-mails between the company and its regulator show.
AIG said in a draft of a regulatory filing that the insurer paid banks, which included Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Societe Generale SA, 100 cents on the dollar for credit-default swaps they bought from the firm. The New York Fed crossed out the reference, according to the e-mails, and AIG excluded the language when the filing was made public on Dec. 24, 2008. The e-mails were obtained by Representative Darrell Issa, ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
“It appears that the New York Fed deliberately pressured AIG to restrict and delay the disclosure of important information,” said Issa, a California Republican. Taxpayers “deserve full and complete disclosure under our nation’s securities laws, not the withholding of politically inconvenient information.”[Bloomberg.com]
This is just the latest criticism of Geithner's handling of his job at the powerful NY Fed:
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is "ultimately responsible" for regulators failing to rein in massive bonus payments at American International Group because he led the agencies that provided AIG's lifelines, according to a bailout watchdog.Geithner, who was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York before taking over at Treasury in January, has said he did not learn until March about the $1.75 billion in bonuses and other compensation promised to AIG employees. But Geithner's subordinates at the New York Fed learned of the payments in November, according to Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the $700 billion financial bailout. [USA Today 10/14/09]
But it could get worse. There is some speculation that Senator Chris Dodd may become the new Secretary of Treasury.
Speculation has also begun about potential employment for Dodd in the Obama administration.
For instance, several Democratic Senate aides noted that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is an extremely unpopular figure in the Senate. Geithner has also taken the brunt of the criticism for the administration’s handling of the economy and, these sources speculated, if the country’s financial picture does not brighten before Election Day, he could be the first secretary to leave the administration.
Although Dodd would appear to be well-situated to take control of Treasury if the position were to open, it may not be smooth sailing for his nomination.
Dodd’s cozy relations with Countrywide and A.I.G. could subject his nomination to a messy confirmation battle.[Think Progress]
Corruption is rampant in Washington DC these days.
So tell the truth, is this the kind of CHANGE you were HOPING for?
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