The Rise, Fall and Rise of Tim Geithner (WaPo)

[jefferson_dem]

White House Cheat Sheet: The Rise, Fall and Rise of Tim Geithner


Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (right) has re-emerged as a forceful advocate for President Obama's economic policies. AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

As the G-20 global economic summit formally commences today in London, the break out star of the gatherings may not be President Obama but rather his treasury secretary Tim Geithner.

Geithner ran the gauntlet of media outlets over the last 24 hours -- sitting for interviews with the anchors of the CBS, NBC and ABC evening news broadcasts as well as CNN and Bloomberg.

Taken together, Geithner made a solid case for the efficacy and necessity of the president's economic stimulus plan while parrying charges that the countries coming together today -- particularly France and Germany -- disagree on economic policy more than they agree.

"We're just going to see very strong support around that table....very strong support around the world to put in place the kind of reforms around the overall financial system that will deliver a more stable, more sustainable, more balanced growth for world economies," Geither argued in an interview with ABC's Charlie Gibson.

Geithner's emergence as an effective -- and high profile spokesman (he was on NBC's "Meet the Press" last weekend) -- comes just weeks after many observers including some Democrats believed he might need to step aside in the wake of his poor performance in selling the bank bailout bill and his failure to move quickly to stymie the furor over bonuses being given to AIG executives.

Obama never wavered in his commitment to Geithner and the treasury secretary appears to be repaying that faith with his strong performance in the lead up to the G-20 meetings.

<SNIP>

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/cheat-sheet/white-house-cheat-sheet-10.html?wprss=thefix

[lamp_shade]

1. Well how about that.

We saw this coming, didn't we (those of us who placed great faith in our President's judgment).

[jefferson_dem]

3. +1.

:thumbsup:

[Teaser]

4. Obama is Hitler Nunrape McCancer

and never doesanything right.

[polichick]

2. For everybody's sake, I hope this guy turns out to be great in the job.

[MannyGoldstein]

5. How Are His Policies Substantially Different From Paulson's?

Nobody's been able to explain that to me yet.

[Teaser]

6. oh good, the entertainment has arrived.

[lamp_shade]

7. That didn't take long, did it? I thought they were sleeping in this morning.

[MannyGoldstein]

12. Do You Have An Actual Answer?

Or just silly photos?

[stillcool]

13. His 'policies'? Don't you mean..

the President's 'policies'?

[underpants]

8. What "fall"?

all the chatter last week was about how he had dealt with all the criticisms (in the DC circle) at the the hearing last week.

Oh I see they can't take on Obama so they go after Geitner.

[vaberella]

9. But...but...but...Krugman turns blood into wine, Stiglitz cured the bubonic plague. n/t

[Lisalisa]

14. You are talking as if the article criticized Krugman's and Stiglitz' points

Can you please point to the details in this article by Chris Cilliza that according to you prove the opinions expressed by Krugman and Stiglitz wrong?

[Undercurrent]

10. The only fall

was in the minds of those who (openly, or secretly) want Obama to fail.

[GeorgeGist]

11. Considering the source ...

[Lisalisa]

17. The OP called it a "WAPO" article, because it sounds better than "Chris Cilliza, the non-economist

It's an old trick. Find a story written by a talking head with no economic credentials, and say it was written by the newspaper in general.

Example. If Maureen Dowd says something you liked to hear, say it was written by "The New York Times", which has an air of expertise, as if it had been written by the whole editorial board.

[jefferson_dem]

18. Cilliza happens to be a WaPo writer.

That's why I included that in the subject line.

If you actually read the article, you would see this is not an evaluation of the Treasury Secretary's economic recommendations...but about the evolution of the Secretary as a political figure.

By the way, please elaborate on your economic credentials so we know whether or not to listen to your opinions on Geithner and economic policy.

[Lisalisa]

19. in that case, "WAPO collumnist" would have been less misleading

And thanks for observing what others did not: that the article did not refer to Krugman's work. Someone sarcastically implied that the third rate pundit had schooled the top progressive economists.

[Jennicut]

15. You know the press really went after him because his lack of tv skills

as if everyone around Obama is as good as he is on camera! So Tim is a bit soft spoken and shy. More of a nerd then an extrovert. I know there has been a lot of criticism of his policies but what I found most amusing is the MSM attacking the guy for lacking, well...star power on camera.
I really hope for the sake of all of us his plans succeed.
We shall see what happens in the months ahead.

[genna]

16. It might be heretical but I never thought he did that poorly in that first speech

He obviously had two teleprompters and was talking from side to side because of it. It was obvious he was nervous. The substance he gave was not what people wanted to hear but it was where the administration was in planning.


He gave an update and overview. No details because he didn't have any.


Whether he has given more or better substance now is still in the eye of the beholder. I didn't think I'd ever be excited about any of the bailouts or any updates on the financial health of these banks, investment houses, insurance carriers and hedge funds. It doesn't matter who tells me what they are doing with them, I will want to go back to how we got in this mess and why we keep having these 'jobless recoveries' (What kind of misnomer is that?).


I probably will only cheer up when the bluster on Wall Street is tempered by Obama rearranges the deck chairs and reorganizes the oversight regimen by law and by executive fiat. This aggravation is not a Geitner problem. It is an oversight problem.