Morning Bell: Wall Street Bailouts Forever

Conn Carroll / April 14, 2010

There is no person more central to Washington’s bailouts of Wall Street than Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. As President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, he oversaw the federal bailout of Bear Stearns and under former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, Getihner designed the original bailout plan for the American International Group (AIG). As Treasury Secretary, Geithner has enthusiastically assumed full authority over the $700 billion TARP fund first secured by Paulson under President Bush and he has continued to wield it in the same haphazard manner as his predecessor.

Considering these facts, one might think that the Obama administration would be shy about making the personification of Washington’s Wall Street bailouts the front man for their supposed financial reforms. But no, Secretary Geithner took to the op-ed pages of The Washington Post yesterday to make the case for the President’s version of finance reform. After a brief defense of his TARP management, Secretary Geithner writes: (more…)