Tim Geithner
To many of us following the continuing Wall Street scandal, it was appalling to learn that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, in his previous job as head of the NY Fed, brokered a deal in which the Wall Street investment banks received full value for the bad bets they placed and insured with AIG.
They didn’t do their due diligence, AIG failed and they should have been forced to take the same haircut they would have had to have taken if AIG unwound in a bankruptcy court. Instead, they got paid at par; they took no loss.
I asked the Secretary why he didn’t force the haircut. Of course, we don’t have a government accountable to the people, so he just ignored me. And continued to ignore me when I pointed out that he is a puppet of Wall Street – that he pays more attention to the fraudsters and banksters than he does to the people charged with passing laws to ensure that similar circumstances do not arise again.
Where are the Congressional hearings? or Fraud Prosecutions by the FBI? McClatchy http://mcclatchydc.com news with their recent multi-part story has shown that the bailed out investment banks not only bought and sold, but also created the junk mortgage based securities they traded. Geithner is incompetant, and was probably complicit in this crime as well – but the Congress needs to establish for historical purposes where the blame lies for the economic collapse. I heard a story on NPR over the weekend blaming the economic collapse on Americans’ not saving enough. (“Americans’ Savings Offer Little Shelter For Rainy Day”,MARILYN GEEWAX, Weekend Edition Sunday 15 November 2009) The NPR reporter did so to bolster the argument that Americans’ should save more. But they are also spreading the meme that the criminal bankers would like spread; that the American public caused this collapse – so the bailout of their institutions with public funds is justified. After the great depression the congress investigated the collapse of the markets and established many of the reasons for why it happened. Even so, conservatives still argue to this day that Keynesian government policies did not cause an end to the great depression. With the conservative media machine already rewriting the history of the great recession (just as it is hopefully bottoming) what excesses will they justify to the public once the conservatives gain power again?
I just cam across your website today – I’m very impressed with what I’ve seen – I very much enjoy the questions you are asking. I will be subscribing to help you with the work.
Doug Mitchell
Des Plaines, IL
Douglas Mitchell
18 Nov 09 at 10:54 am
You deserve great credit for being fair and balanced in your reporting. Well done.
JBFC
20 Nov 09 at 1:16 pm
Please continue the good work and don’t ever let up on the worst bunch of politicriminals yet in our government. We need to weed them out. I cannot remember when I have heard so many lies and such deceit. I think it would be near to impossible to find one patriot in Wishy-Washingtown DC.
Jim Musser
25 Nov 09 at 2:47 pm