New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman feels the economic crisis has grown to such mammoth proportions during the waning two months of the Bush administration term that Barack Obama's choice for treasurer secretary, Tim Geithner, should start his position now rather than wait until his Jan. 21 start day. "An unprecedented crisis calls for unprecedented measures," Friedman said on "The Brian Lehrer Show" on WNYC radio Monday morning.
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Friedman's suggestion may be warranted, but pulling it off is another story. An action like this has never happened, and the Bush administration has never been agreeable to change -- especially if it would include someone who is connected to the Democratic party. But one sign that it may be a good move is that investors had an early celebration last Friday when the Dow rebounded more than 400 points with a report that Geithner would be appointed treasurer secretary. Meanwhile, the U.S. financial system continues to falter as Citigroup Inc. received a bailout late Sunday and American automakers reportedly are regrouping to create a better plan that would justify a government loan.
Friedman feels Geithner would stabilize stock markets even more as well as give Obama's economic team an early start to tackle a financial problem that seems to keep growing as Bush's lame duck comes closer to an end. Others would argue that Geithner as chairman of the New York Federal Reserve is already receiving some intense briefing and training for his impending job as he reportedly was part of the Citigroup bailout negotiations over the weekend. Do you think Friedman's proposal is viable or just a far-fetched idea that would be too difficult politically to enact? - Gerald Magpily
See WNYC.org
Comments
Geithner should not be appointed. No one who has evaded any debt to the IRS should be appointed to run it. If he can't keep track of his own taxes, or miscalculates his own, it will be an insult to all our intelligence to have this man running the Treasury. I use TurboTax, in running my own business. He had a chance to clean this up, and hire an accountant to help, just like I do if I don't understand something. No excuse for this error, that he obviously knew about.
Surely we cannot let this appointment happen !