Geithner's role erodes confidence

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is the major source of loss of confidence in the Obama administration's ability to fix the economy. Mr. Geithner's failure to pay income taxes, his membership in the Wall Street culture that is responsible for the severity of this global economic meltdown and his continued vigorous opposition to a tougher stance on Wall Street are the major issues.

The window of opportunity to reverse this extremely bad choice for secretary of the treasury is quickly disappearing. However, in terms of damage control, the president will have far less damage if he replaces Mr. Geithner now, than if the president delays or avoids replacing him.

It is also far more important to replace Mr. Geithner quickly for the good of the U.S. citizenry than to avoid or delay replacing Mr. Geithner in order to save face for the president.

Time is of the essence: Mr. Geithner's ingrained deference to Wall Street appears to be spreading rapidly throughout the Obama administration, at least by softening the president's critical tough stance as well as through converts.

While Mr. Geithner may be a terrible choice for secretary of the treasury, he seems to excel at persuading others to support his stance.

 

ALLEN McCREADY
Bethel Park