Drumbeat to Boot Geithner Gets Louder, on Eve of Hearings on Disastrous Economic Crash

Editor's Note: Published below Danny Schecter's article is Dylan Ratigan's 5-point takedown of Geithner and why it's time for him to go.

When a pitcher gets tired, starts throwing walks or being hit, most attentive managers take him out of the game. When policies break down, as in the case of the security system that failed to spot the alleged Christmas bomber, the president starts talking tough about the buck stopping here and orders to straighten out a failed system. 

But when tens of thousands of workers, once again, lose their jobs, the people responsible get winked at, not wanked. The president is contrite, his rhetoric subdued, even as the recovery he keeps talking about goes south.  

Yes, there needs to be a cabinet shake-up. It’s time to yank Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner from the game, along with economic adviser Larry Summers. Their pro-bank, pro-Wall Street policies are failing. Isn’t it obvious? According to an AP investigation, their road construction projects have had no impact on the jobs crisis. 

The establishment will lean toward a Republican to replace him like FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair, who has proven to be far more competent and outspoken than her counterparts.  

Geithner acts like a stalking horse for the people responsible for the meltdown. It’s time to say sayonara, and appoint someone who has the people's interests at heart. There is no shortage of capable and committed Democratic economists who can replace him. How about Elizabeth Warren or Joe Stiglitz or Brooksley Born or Simon Johnson or even, for op-ed’s sake, Paul Krugman? 

Even Wall Streeters know Geithner is a dead man walking. Bruce Krasting, a foreign exchange and derivatives veteran writes on Naked Capitalism.com:

Tim Geithner has outlived his usefulness. He is too connected to the bailouts of '08. Bear, Lehman, AIG, TARP and even QE are all part of his legacy. That makes Tim a lightening rod. Too many Americans hate that part of our history.

I don’t think the current flap relating to the deliberate "non-disclosure" of information relating to AIG is that big a deal. When the full history of this period is finally told (it will take a while yet) this particular transgression of Mr. Geithner will look small by comparison. The things that we do not yet know about that we "agreed to" during the "crisis period" are going to cause us to roll our eyes and bow our heads when all is said and done.

Now, there will be hearings to see what Tim knew and when he forgot he knew it. Market Watch says he is "ankle deep in the AIG quicksand." A deceptive defense is being crafted, as Bloomberg reports:

Timothy Geithner, the former Federal Reserve Bank of New York president, wasn’t aware of efforts to limit American International Group Inc.'s  bailout disclosures because the regulator's top lawyer didn’t think the issue merited his attention, according to a letter sent to lawmakers. “Matters relating to AIG securities law disclosures were not brought to the attention of Mr. Geithner," Thomas Baxter, general counsel of the New York Fed, said today in a letter to Representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican. “In my judgment as the New York Fed’s chief legal officer, disclosure matters of this nature did not warrant the attention of the president."

Why is the media so quiet on the Geithner front? Cenk Uygur wrote about how right-wing channels are giving him a pass:

If it was anyone else that had screwed up one tenth of what Geithner has, it would be running on a 24/7 loop on Fox News. Geithner gave away over $62 billion to the top banks in the country in secret, tried to cover it up and at the very least overpaid these banks by $13 billion. And that’s just the latest in a series of scandals, with all the same theme—Geithner gives away taxpayer money to the richest (and most culpable) guys in the country. Ah, there it is.

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