Like a lot of people, I'm not sure what the hell has actually happened yet. In fact, I haven't actually woken up yet (a process that begins with my self-therapy/exercises). I highly recommend the diary of catlover72 for an eye-opening, ground-level look at the MA election debacle.
But I do feel ready to comment on an issue I have been talking about here almost since Obama was elected.
Increasingly, people across the nation seem to agree with a position I have held for some time here---Geither must go after the 2010 elections. But is is now clear that we cannot wait that long. Obama must jettison this albatross immediately. The reason is: he must move quickly to really clean up the deep-rooted mess in our banking system to clear the way for a "real" recovery (with jobs) as opposed to the statistical recovery we are experiencing.
Time for Tim to go!
Geithner claiming he was unaware that millions in bonus payments were being made to some of the same AIG execs that presided over investing in risky derivative securities. Sen. Richard Shelby (R., Ala.) complained that Geithner was "out of the loop" on the bonus matter -- a position he should not have found himself in as a high-ranking financial official.
In May 2007, as NY Federal Reserve Bank President he worked to reduce the capital required to run a bank -- helping to set the stage for the credit crisis in the first place.
His first big flap, over the selling-out of taxpayers, came during the disastrous collapse of the Mexican peso in 1994-95, when the US and the International Money Fund provided a controver sial $50 billion bailout for the mess. Geithner at the time was a globe-trotting as sis tant deputy Treasury secre tary: He helped then-boss, Larry Summers, then the No. 2 Treasury official, engineer the US bailout.
Even back then a firestorm of protests arose from critics because the controversial bailout allowed banks and individuals to walk away with profits intact while dumping risks on taxpayers -- a scenario that sounds awfully familiar.