Judd Gregg goes Judge Dredd on Geithner

[ReardenSteel]

"Prepare to be judged!" 


Gregg: Budget Forecast a Lie
From NBC’s Ken Strickland
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/03/12/1833945.aspx

It was obvious to most Capitol Hill insiders why President Obama wanted Republican Judd Gregg as a member of his cabinet: He's one of the sharpest money-minds in Congress.

But instead of getting Gregg's counsel within the administration, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner found himself today of the receiving end of Gregg's fiscal conservative wrath.

snip

When Gregg withdrew his nomination, he said he and the administration were "functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy." 

Gregg's opening monologue today would indicate that was a gross understatement.

"The argument that this budget doesn't have tax increases [on everyone] is, I think, an 'Alice in Wonderland' view of the budget," he said.
 
He challenged the budget's math on cutting the debt: "When you take the deficit and quadruple it and then you cut it and half, that's like taking four steps back and two steps forward. That's not making any progress; you're still going backwards."

Gregg questioned why any foreign country would continue to buy up U.S. debt: "Because if I'm in the international marketplace, and I'm looking at this budget, I'm saying to myself, ‘Where's the discipline? Where's the containment?' There isn't any."
 
In his withdrawal statement last month, Gregg said, "I expect there will be many issues and initiatives where I can and will work to assure the success of the president's proposals."

 

No wonder Obama wanted Gregg on his team. He needed some fiscal credibility for cover and to defang the Republicans at the same time. I'm glad Gregg pulled back but more curious than ever why he agreed to the job in the first place. In any case, anyone wanna take bets on Geithner's future at his new job?

[Chris_]

In any case, anyone wanna take bets on Geithner's future at his new job?

It's gotta be getting pretty crowded under Da Messiah's bus by now...

[ReardenSteel]

It's gotta be getting pretty crowded under Da Messiah's bus by now...

heh!

I'll think he will get the ax but it can't be too soon. As I understand it, if Geithner left now, we would not have a single person in the Treasury Department at all! LOL On second thought, that may be a good thing.

[bijou]

Apparently the rumour is that he could be on his way out.

When they start making jokes about you, it's hard to recover.  And that's what is happening now to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
It's not just "Saturday Night Live" poking fun at him -- you saw the skit depicting a Geithner so clueless that he offered a huge reward to anyone who called his hotline, 1-800-IDEAS, with a plan to get us out of the financial crisis.  Beyond the TV shows, Geithner, who was confirmed despite having to pay $48,000 in back taxes and interest, is also the target of suppressed snickers on Capitol Hill whenever the subject turns to the IRS.  And now, he is widely thought to be not up to the job.

The fundamental problem, of course, is that Geithner hasn't come up with a financial rescue plan.  There is nearly unanimous agreement among economists and policymakers that the single most important thing the Secretary of the Treasury should do now is develop a plan to deal with the "toxic assets" that threaten the survival of financial institutions.  But Geithner, who has been acutely aware of this problem for months, doesn't have such a plan.  If he had, the comedians wouldn't be talking about 1-800-IDEAS.

The situation has gotten so bad that Geithner is the subject of private buyer's remorse from some of the very politicians who supported him.  A number of senators voted to confirm Geithner, even with tax problems they deemed disqualifying, because they believed the financial crisis required immediate action.  Now, with little happening, their feeling is: We put aside some very troubling concerns for this?

"I'm fairly confident that if the vote on the nomination were held today, he would not be confirmed," a top Senate aide told me recently.  "The thing that saved him -- even though people with lesser problems were not saved -- was that he was the only one who could do the job, and he was seen as the wunderkind who would come in and save the day."

...

http://www.dcexaminer.com/politics/Geithner-Obama-Economics-A-Joke-Thats-Not-Funny-41197667.html

[DumbAss Tanker]

heh!

I'll think he will get the ax but it can't be too soon. As I understand it, if Geithner left now, we would not have a single person in the Treasury Department at all! LOL On second thought, that may be a good thing.

Well, really, there are tons of people at Treasury including all the career senior civil service people who would have to keep the nutty political appointees between the rails, the only real handicap is Geithner and Obama letting them have the authority to fill in as acting branch heads, which as control freaks I'm sure they are loath to do.  A lot of the logjam at Treasury is self-inflicted.

[Duke Nukum]

Apparently the rumour is that he could be on his way out.
http://www.dcexaminer.com/politics/Geithner-Obama-Economics-A-Joke-Thats-Not-Funny-41197667.html

I never understood why there was so much faith in the tax cheat to begin with.  I don't recall any reason being given for the optimism that Geithner could fix the crisis just we had to over look his criminal status because he was the only one who could fix the economy.

[NHSparky]

While I find it laughable to use the words Gregg and conservative in the same sentence, he was right to turn down the job.  He saw the writing on the wall that simply isn't being discussed on the DC cocktail circuit--that this administration is setting new records for ineptness and corruption in the shortest period of time.  We're less than eight weeks in, kids.  Imagine what it's going to be like in a couple of years.

[Duke Nukum]

While I find it laughable to use the words Gregg and conservative in the same sentence, he was right to turn down the job.  He saw the writing on the wall that simply isn't being discussed on the DC cocktail circuit--that this administration is setting new records for ineptness and corruption in the shortest period of time.  We're less than eight weeks in, kids.  Imagine what it's going to be like in a couple of years.

His admin is in such disarray one would think he had some huge distraction like Florida 2000 to contend with in the transition period.

I wish that Yale Law Review editor had spoken up before the election, not that it would have made much difference but it would be the clear life long pattern to hold up.

I saw 5 seconds of FNC this morning with the official Fox News Obama apologist, that humorless blond chick who never smiles, going on and on about what the Big L'oeuf inherited how it has only been 7 weeks and blah blah blah.  She's still kind of cute but if she persists in her humorless liberalism she'll be a hag within the next 18 months.

One cannot be both a modern day liberal and happy.

But I digress, if the start of the Bush admin had been in such disarray even after Florida 2000 and getting no help from the Clinton admin he would have never made it six months. 

[Baruch Menachem]

Why was he seen as so competent back in December/January?  Where did that reputation come from?  (I know nothing of the guy, so I am looking for what others knew about that I didn't)

Actually, I think the fact that there is no one at the treasury but Geitner is why the Dow seems to be recovering lately.  There is no one there to do any more damage.

And this is march, folks.  The US is kind of weird in that we have 10 weeks to put together the top posts in a government.  The rest of the world has to do do it in hours.  This is March 15, he has had since November 4.  This is beyond ridiculous.