Tim Geithner's Bad Week

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Speaking as someone who had high hopes that have been absolutely dashed Geithner has failed the Administration and is it's number one problem right now. Obama needs to fire him.
The tax and nanny problems broke the trust with the Congress. Even Democrats have to gulp when defending him.
His disastrous (in) stability speech broke trust with Wall Street. It is impossible to function effectively as Treas Secretary and have a zero trust level with Wall Street (except maybe Bob Rubin but even he isn't so ready to defend Geithner now.)
Saying that stocks don't matter when 50% of Americans own them and half to retire on them is nutty.
A way has to be found to get rid of him. Obama could reshuffle and put Summers at Treas--which the Senate would jump at after the Geitnher disaster--and move Geithener somewhere harmless like overseas. Or Obama could bring in an older Wall Street person not associated with the mess.
Perhaps the number one problem of Geithner is he's wedded to the disastrous policies of the last year with Bernanke so he can't offer a fresh vision. And he lacks any credibility for the job.
If Obama doesn't dump him soon, we are all going to suffer.

David Goldstreet of NY 2:13AM March 09, 2009

I lost confidence in Geithner's testimony before the Senate when he said twice that Obama was concerned about China manipulating its currency. First, they were questioning Geithner, not Obama, and he should have provided his own opinion. Second, there is nothing at all in Obama's background that would indicate he knows a thing about China currency, and putting this statement out in the public (Obama never denied it) shows a reckless and stupid modis operandi.
This is an administration in turmoil of their own making that is daily losing their foundation-- Bush did it!

Don of OH 8:03AM March 07, 2009

That is what I am. I believed that Obama's opinion of Tim is clouded for a number of reasons, one being the long ago relationship that Obama's mother had with Tim's dad at the Ford Foundation. Obama also believed that Geithner was the ONLY one that could solve this crisis. Now we know what most of us knew a long time ago, that Geithner doesn't know it all and should have excused himself when his tax corruption was discovered. He has tainted the entire Treasury Dept.
However what I am most angry about is that Obama talks about re-making Washington into an honest environment, but choosing Tim sent a horrible message that there are exceptions when it comes to corruption. Now Obama is making that same distinction when he is refusing to veto that pork filled budget put together by the democrats in 2008 by distancing himself because it wasn't initiated during his time. Obama's hypocrisy is making me sick to my stomach.
What is really angering me is Obama's comment that the stock market really doesn't matter and that policy should not be concerned about the ups and downs. Really??????? Has it occurred to this president that most baby boomers are not NOT going to have enough money to retire on? Clearly this president like all the rest have absolutely no understanding of the real world.

Susan of WI 2:11PM March 06, 2009

Though I can only speculate but it appears that Mr. Geithner is not the central problem here. It seems to me, a small business owner with a few hundred employees, that there is a huge problem with leadership. No one seems to be able to make "effective" decisions.
In my opinion, if the ship is sinking, who cares what value it has at the moment? Its sure not going to be worth anything at the bottom of the ocean!
If you have bureaucrats trying to make decisions you will fail. Its time to find a decision maker with some profound leadership experience. Maybe the guy at Ford Motor Company. He apparently is doing pretty good without help!
They will be able to fix the entire economy once it is completely destroyed. Either that or starve, pick one?

Tom in San Diego of CA 12:42PM March 06, 2009