Dems Support Geithner — for Now
EmailABC News’ Rick Klein and David Wright report: With anger erupting on Capitol Hill over bonuses to AIG executives, frustration is clearly growing over Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s leadership — from Democrats as well as Republicans.
On ABC News NOW’s "Politics Live" today, two Democratic members of the House Financial Services Committee said they continue to support Geithner but made it clear that there were limits to their patience.
Asked whether he supports Geithner’s staying in place, Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., said:
"At the moment, yeah. I mean, I have questions like anybody else, but let’s be serious. He’s still new on the job. He hasn’t been able to get anybody else appointed or actually confirmed by the Senate. So, I think it’s a little too early to pass that judgment. I actually think it would become a distraction to worry about that right now. The guy is well-qualified. Let’s give him a chance to work or not work out.”
Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H., offered similarly lukewarm support for the secretary.
"President Obama has expressed his faith in Secretary Geithner,” Hodes said. “I think Secretary Geithner is doing generally a good job, and I’m hoping that he’s learning quickly how difficult the job he faces is."
Hodes made clear that most of his frustration is with AIG’s chief executive Edward Liddy.
"It really shows arrogance, incompetence and greed on the part of AIG," he said. "Mr. Liddy is really being seen as someone from the Bernie Madoff school of management. It is unconscionable and unacceptable that while the taxpayers have invested $180 billion in AIG, they should at this time pay executives, including many who have left the company, millions and millions of dollars in bonuses."
Capuano acknowledged that the manner in which a provision that would have stopped such bonuses was blocked doesn’t look good.
“Welcome to the legislative process,” he said. “Sometimes these things are almost impossible to unwind, but it’s a fair question, and I think these questions will continue.”
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Geithner is going nowhere.
Posted by: Krista | March 18, 2009, 4:06 pm 4:06 pm
1 2 3 4 see I can count to 4
Posted by: TURBOTAX TIMMY | March 18, 2009, 4:08 pm 4:08 pm
my boss is going to be on Jay leno tonight
I hope he doesn’t say anything about me,
he doesn’t have his teleprompter
Posted by: TURBOTAX TIMMY | March 18, 2009, 4:09 pm 4:09 pm
Barney Frank: We want AIG to name names.
======
Barack 0bama, Chris Dodd, and Barney Frank.
Posted by: kat | March 18, 2009, 4:13 pm 4:13 pm
I am a really big supporter of President Obama, but I sure hope this Geithner guy gets his act together really quick before any further damage is done to our economy.
Posted by: geecee | March 18, 2009, 4:13 pm 4:13 pm
kat – And while AIG is naming names, they need to add John McCain, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani!!!
Posted by: geecee | March 18, 2009, 4:14 pm 4:14 pm
If Geithner resigns who will the republican recommend to be appointed? This is getting funny.
Republicans should stop whining. This economy will bounce back and republican obstructionist will be put to shame.
Posted by: Krista | March 18, 2009, 4:21 pm 4:21 pm
I’m tirwed of this story already. Where was the 24/7 news when it was noticed we had “misplaced” 13 billion in Iraq?
Posted by: Amy in Maine | March 18, 2009, 4:26 pm 4:26 pm
obama hired a tax cheat…now it turns out he may not have cheated , he was just too damn stupid to understand that when he read and signed a statement saying “I owe taxes, here’s a check”
that he actaully was suppose to pay the taxes with that check.
Posted by: realityville | March 18, 2009, 4:26 pm 4:26 pm
LMAO obama is the laughing stock of the USSA(united socialist states of America)
LMAO ABC was dumb enough to ask what would make you protest.. lmao 5000 people in Cincy Oh..2000 in st louis, 1500 in meza az were protesting Obamas policies and ABC would not cover it lol don’t ask a stupid question like that again
Posted by: o-DUMB-ah and his cabinet of clowns | March 18, 2009, 4:43 pm 4:43 pm
geecee:” I sure hope this Geithner guy gets his act together really quick before any further damage is done to our economy. ”
What damages do you think Geithner has done to the economy? Actually, what damages do you see done to the economy by AIG spending 0.09% of their bailout money on fulfilling employment contracts?
I’m not thrilled about the bonuses at all and will be there with my pitchfork at the next unruly mob charging Wallstreet, but this is just a typical scandal. Hyped by the media for headlines with infuriating implications, but it really has no impact on the economy (unless everyone boycotts AIG – which is essentially owned by the government…).
Posted by: jhw539 | March 18, 2009, 4:52 pm 4:52 pm
“2000 in st louis, 1500 in meza az were protesting Obamas policies and ABC would not cover it”
Seriously? Those are big protests? I had more people than that in my high school and ABC never covered a single one of our pep rallies. Media censorship!!111!!!!1
Posted by: jhw539 | March 18, 2009, 4:53 pm 4:53 pm
It was the GOP that insisted that there be no resitrictions on excecutive compensation last Sept.
Geithner is just the fall goy, he only has to worry about BOA, Citi, AIG 15,000 banks, while everyone else plays the blame game. Why do you think that all these companies have a different CEO? Because it only takes one? et real folks
Jee what happened to the restriction on bonus on the last Tarp? It got lost?
Posted by: Thinking | March 18, 2009, 5:23 pm 5:23 pm
Typical Republican obstructionist politics. Geithner’s been on the job for three months and they’re already calling for him to resign. These same Republicans resisted calls for Donald Rumsfield to resign for six years. The mottos of today’s Republican party should be “Don’t offer any ideas of your own, just oppose all Democratic ideas.”
The poor guy’s barely got his feet wet trying to clean up the mess left by 6 years of George Bush and a Republican Congress that did what he wanted. Give him a break.
Posted by: Paulie Vegas | March 18, 2009, 5:29 pm 5:29 pm
jhw- ha ha ha…perfect. sooo true.
Posted by: got to love it | March 18, 2009, 5:29 pm 5:29 pm
I did not know Geithner ran the NY fed bank since 2003.
I did not know Geithner wrote Tarp I with Paulson at Bush’s request.
I did not know in 2001 Geithner was a director at the International Monetary fund that oversees global banking.
We had to pass Tarp I,
We had to put Geithner in.
We had to pass the Stimulus.
candidate and now President Oblahma said this over the last 9 months, didn’t he??
OFISN
Oblahma fatigue is setting in
can’t wait till 1-20-2013
Posted by: MarVistaCalif | March 18, 2009, 5:39 pm 5:39 pm
Oblahma fatigue is setting in
can’t wait till 1-20-2013
****************************************
I am resting i am still tired from our term with the GOP!
Posted by: Thinking | March 18, 2009, 6:29 pm 6:29 pm
On the record the support him. Off the record there is a growing chatter of him being the fall guy for AIG Gate:
http://www.butasforme.com/2009/03/17/obamas-stimulus-bill-explicitly-grants-aig-the-legal-right-to-hand-out-bonuses/
Posted by: Tony | March 18, 2009, 9:23 pm 9:23 pm
America should know that the contry is in mess
Replubican should forget the old things and move on to twenty first century.
The word is moving on ,Americal should not be the last
look at so many country today every body respect America. But now you can not say you are American in the western word
we should stop bitting are self ,if we. dont act now, the problem will multiple
America we should think how we can take America to the glory we are b4
Obama is trying to bring America on track and we should help him to do that
if you look at America when bill was on you will like to be American. but now you can not
please, we should stop that critis
let the poeple do the job let the buget pass on
if you Replublican did not co-oppirate with the gonverment, you will see what America will be more crime on the street and many things will go wrong This people will have no option to go on crime
American we should stand up for the right of are children children for better life
The gonverment is open to every body we shoul give the chance.
NOW YOU CAN KNOW WHAT THEY DO WITH ARE MONEY
DO YOU KNOW THE MONEY ARE GONVERMENT SEND ON IRAC AND OTHER THINGS WE DONT KNOW
NOW LET SPEND IT IN AMERICA FOR US TO LIVE GOOD LIVE, SOME POEPLE SAID NO
The money we dont want to spend now ,we will spend it dorble and by that it will be too late
live the people to do the job American .VOTE FOR
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