Earlier this morning, during Tim Geithner’s appearance on the Hill to discuss the Obama administration’s plan to overhaul financial regulations, Senator Corker referred to Timbo as “Mr. Chairman.” Geithner responded, “I’m not ‘Mr. Chairman.’ Yet.” Because we are prone to giant leaps in logic, making mountains out of molehills, and going to a place in our minds where Bernanke is a thug who will potentially make those who tick him off pay, we suggested that T. Geith was angling for B-nanke’s job, had overstepped his bounds, and ought to watch his back.* Apparently, that wasn’t what Geithner meant. We’ve just received an e-mail from the Treasury, clarifying the Secretary’s line of thinking/sense of humor.
Bess,
To clarify your post regarding the Treasury Secretary’s remark: He was, of course, referring to the Financial Services Oversight Council (he isn’t chair yet because it hasn’t been created yet.)
Thank you for posting a correction,
Meg
Meg Reilly
Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Now you know. Also, I put in a request for an interview with TG, so fingers crossed there.
*Also, it’s a slow news day and we needed a post.
A couple weeks after being laughed at by a room full of students at Peking University for his “Chinese assets are very safe” quip, Timmy did not take the bait this morning when he was asked the one question Barney Frank and Mad Max are dying to answer for him.
When asked if bankers care about anything other than compensation, Mr. Geithner said, “That is a very interesting question. I’m not going to answer that question. I think it is hard to judge motivation on these things.”
Geithner Gives Update on the Financial Rescue [Dealbook]
Apparently our elfin’ Treasury Secretary was not successful in his quest to get someone to buy his Larchmont-area Tudor, even after dropping the asking price from $1.635 million to $1.575 million (he and wife Carole paid $1.602 million for the place in 2004). And now he’s reportedly renting it out, by the hour. No, just we haven’t reached seedy hotel-status just yet (god, that would be great though, wouldn’t it?). T. Geith is, however, pimping it for the price of $7,500/month, which the AP helpfully points out is probably less than the li’l fella’s mortgage payments. For those of you interested in a short-term stay in a piece of history, we suggest familiarizing yourself with the space at this time which, now that it’s being rented, presumably comes with the owner’s nightmare inducing decor.
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Message to diligent administrators concerned with the preservation of taxpayer dollars: Get in the way of the bailout juggernaut and you will make powerful enemies. Consider the plight of FDIC head Sheila Bair:
Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, has argued Bair isn’t a team player and is too focused on protecting her agency rather than the financial system as a whole, according to two congressional officials and a person familiar with his thinking. Bair has battled with Geithner and fellow regulators over aid to Citigroup Inc. and other emergency actions, making her enemies in the Bush administration.
Of course, it’s rather difficult to out Bair and still look like the magnanimous administration you’ve claimed to be (we’re looking at you Obama), particularly when she’s supposed to hold the post until 2011. Our popcorn machine is warmed up.
Geithner May Seek to Push Bair Out After Clashes During Crisis [Bloomberg]
