Lawmakers call on Geithner to testify about concerns over AIG bailout

[seafan]

Source: The Hill

Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Friday called on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to testify about whether government officials improperly pressured American International Group during the bailout.
Geithner has come under renewed criticism this week following concerns that the Federal Reserve instructed AIG not to disclose how billions of taxpayer dollars would be used during the bailout.

Geithner was head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York at the time, but Meg Reilly, Treasury spokeswoman, said he had recused himself during those negotiations. The AIG bailout remains one of the most controversial aspects of the government's many efforts to support the financial industry and it continues to dog Geithner in particular.

.....

In draft regulatory filings obtained by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Fed officials late in 2008 crossed out information that would have disclosed AIG's counterparties were being paid in full with taxpayer money.

The regulatory filings in early and late December indicate the amount of money being paid to counterparties in general. But the filings did not say explicitly that the money represents 100 percent of the derivatives commitments, nor do they list the specific counterparties that received money.

Those specific firms were made public only in March 2009 under congressional pressure.

.....

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/74957-lawmakers-call-on-geithner-to-testify-about-aig-bailout-concerns

---

This disgrace of a Treasury Secretary must be removed NOW.


How much more evidence of failure will this administration tolerate?

[joeybee12]

1. The beginning of the end...

...which is a good thing, the end of Timmy, that is.

[emilyg]

2. One can hope.

[mbperrin]

4. Yes, here's hoping!

nt

[lark]

18. You, my friend, are quite optimistic

I am probably a little older and more jaded and think the rich ruling class will just make this go away as they have all the other scandals.

[progressoid]

32. Ya, I don't see it happening either.

[Ticonderoga]

21. I'm not sure

about that, these guy's seem to always end up with a promotion or some sorta "medal of freedom" for their crimes.

[bfarq]

26. 1000 more where he came from

Going after the man just plays into their hands because these organized mobsters are always willing to sacrifice one of their own.

And while everybody has their attention fixed on Timmy's woes, the real mobsters are free to carry on their crime spree.

What should be happening is to give Timmy immunity and force him to really spill the truth about how the Mafia known as The Fed really operates. Going after Timmy is to let the real criminals get away with murder.

[bfarq]

28. 1000 more where he came from

It is a huge mistake to personalize this. The crime syndicate that operates under the menacing name The Fed is always willing to off one of their own if it saves the Family.

Focusing on the man instead of the crime syndicate lets them continue their crime spree completely uninhibited.

[fascisthunter]

3. The Fact He Hasn't Been asked to Step Down by this Admin

is troubling to say the least.

[Left Coast2020]

5. Its that failure thing the last administration embraced.....

......so frequently. Yeah. Good point in last sentence. I forgot about that "failure" thing which seemed to be a requirement for bush crime family.

[liberation]

12. Funny how a liberal opens his mouth to say the truth, and he is removed ipso facto

a conservative in this admin can fuck up at the highest levels, and he has to be removed using severe pressure.

If this doesn't start to give a hint to people that Obama is nowhere near being a progressive, I don't know what will....

[fascisthunter]

14. another great point!

[lark]

20. I'd say the failure to ask him to step down

is telling - it shows where the true loyalty lies and guess what - it's not to us, not to Main St. Obama seems to me to be part of the problem, not part of the solution, when it comes to financial matters among others.

[gweema]

22. What's the difference between

what Geithner and the banks have done, and what Madoff did?

[fascisthunter]

27. great question

[fascisthunter]

29. great question

[Jim Sagle]

33. Madoff was a private-sector swindler who stole a lot less money,

Geithner and the banks used the brute force of government to rob us right out in the open.

[debbierlus]

6. Why hasn't Obama removed him already?

[closeupready]

7. So he goes, and then Jamie Dimon takes his place?

I mean, I can't stand Geithner, but I have no confidence at all that his replacement will be any improvement.

[inna]

8. Neither do I.

I think it's a 50-50 chance right now that Geithner will be let go, though.

So curious what goes on in Obama's head right now!

[closeupready]

9. He can't be liking it under any circumstances. Obama is a politically astute guy;

he knows that any kind of skullduggery like this from someone he appointed to administer an official function besmirches him, too.

[Vermontgrown]

10. That's

how our government highest officials feel about we the people, "fuck them" is how those rich pricks think. They don't care as long as they can make money and screw things up. The only thing that's gonna change their minds is for the American people to force those asswipes to listen or get out.

[seafan]

11. Elizabeth Warren as Secretary of Treasury is the way out of this morass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akVL7QY0S8A

[90-percent]

13. Elizabeth Warren as Secretary of Treasury is the way out of this morass.

I second that.

-90% Jimmy

[pjt7]

15. If Obama appointed Warren as Sec.

I'd do a 180 on the guy & start supporting him...again.

[jgraz]

31. Yep, so would I. And he'd need it.

Cuz the weight of the entire financial industrial complex would come down on his head.

[Catshrink]

17. I can't remember whether she was on KO or Rachel's program last night

but she was very impressive. An "EPA for consumers" is a damn fine idea and I wonder why we haven't had one until now. Oh, right. W.

[ozymandius]

25. Yes! Elizabeth Warren is an excellent choice.

First on my list. That Geithner and Larry Summers have occupied prime positions on influence is a great injustice.

[Catshrink]

16. Time for Timmy to spend more time with his family.

[Dr.Phool]

19. Get him under oath. His former boss, Bernanke too.

[mdmc]

23. This disgrace of a Treasury Secretary must be removed NOW.

[ozymandius]

24. Two recommendations!

One that makes mine #34 on this thread. A second recommendation that Geithner be investigated for securities fraud.

[struggle4progress]

30. Geithner is asked to testify to Congress about AIG's payouts (McClatchy via Miami Herald)

By Greg Gordon
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — A House of Representatives committee chairman has invited Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to testify why, immediately after he was nominated, federal regulators decided not to reveal the generous terms of $62 billion in taxpayer-financed payouts to major banks.

The White House, responding to the release of internal e-mails drawing Geithner into yet another controversy over the government's handling of the nation's financial crisis, reiterated President Barack Obama's support for his treasury secretary. Asked whether Geithner still has Obama's full confidence, presidential Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said, "Of course."

The e-mails show that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which Geithner headed from 2003 to 2008, directed the giant insurer American International Group for months to keep secret the terms of the payments to Goldman Sachs and other U.S. and European banks.

McClatchy reported Thursday that lawyers for the New York Fed began to press AIG attorneys to maintain secrecy about the payouts on Nov. 24, 2008, hours after Geithner was nominated for his Cabinet post. AIG lawyers voiced their disagreement on several occasions over the ensuing months until the details of the payouts were made public last March ...

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1416417.html

[cory777]

34. Geithner called to explain AIG bailout secrecy

Source: Yahoo

WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will face a congressional grilling later this month about the suppression of details on deals that funneled billions to big investment banks while he was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Lawmakers reacted angrily Friday to revelations in e-mails sent in late 2008 and early 2009 between lawyers for the New York Fed and American International Group Inc. The exchanges show the New York Fed wanted AIG to withhold information about deals that sent billions from the taxpayer bailout of AIG to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Societe Generale and other major banks.

"The lack of transparency and accountability is disturbing enough, but the outstanding question is why the (New York Fed) didn't fight for a better deal for the American taxpayer," said Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, who first obtained the e-mails.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100109/ap_on_bi_ge/us_geithner_aig_hot_seat

[Skink]

35. Obama get's credit for this. Bush never would have investigated.

[truedelphi]

36. If I remember correctly Mr Bush lost the WH for the Republican who

Campaigned for his position.

Nine Eleven, Katrina, and then the economic collapse and his friggin' Bailout had made many people mad enough to vote against Bush's follower McCain. Like others on DU have related, there are many Republicans who tell us that they voted for Barack, hoping against hope that maybe his "business will not be done on the usual insider basis" was a pledge that he would keep for us voters.

And we weren't told till far too late that Mr Obama had gone and gotten a whole slew of Senators to vote for the Bush Bailouts. But that would have been whole different kettle of worms if we had been told that.

The other thing is, in Late Oct 2008, BArack Obama stumped in Wisconsin, pledging that should the Big BAilouts not offer any relief to the middle incomed in this nation, who were responsible for the hefty debt incurred when the BailOut went through, that he, Barack, would institute REGULATIONS that would see to it that the economy was put right.

He even used the word "REGULATIONS."

Now we see that all that has come to mean is that Barack goes and talks to the Big Bankers. And boy, that leaves them so very very scared that some of them did not even show up for the meeting!

<sarcasm intended!>

[Celebration]

38. Unfortunately

Bush and team screwed up the economy so badly we had to have most of the bailouts.

What we did NOT have to have is paying the AIG counterparties one hundred cents on the dollar.

If you have to have a bailout to stay afloat, okay, but this was not at all necessary.

Geithner has been asked about this in the past, and testified that he did not have the authority to pay less than 100%. That came later with the GM bailout.

That's BS. He got everything he asked for, and he never asked Congress, or told them about it. He is full of it.

[truedelphi]

43. Here's the thing - the economic collapse meant there had to be a remedy

But the remedy chosen was inane, illogical and destined to further collapse Main Street while further imploding Wall Street.

Here's from my journal--

Sorry for the length but economic matters do require some background -


As Congressmen Issa and Kucinich have both pointed out, when it became clear that these rat bastards didn't know an economy from a hole in the ground (though the rat bastards were capable of running our economy into a hole in the ground) then the government had an obligation to We the People to take over the banks.

Then the government Should Have Taken the amount of money needed for a Bailout and put it into regional, state-chartered banks. With regs in place that the monies HAD to be used to loan out money to consumers.

BTW - Geithner was lying through his teeth to Congress whenever he has said that what happened last fall HAD TO HAPPEN THE WAY it did, due to there not being laws on the books to structure the Bailout arrangements.

In saying that, Mr Geithner deliberately FORGOT about the laws that Issa and Kucinich's suggestions entail - laws enacted ALREADY during the Savings and Loans Restructurings during the 1980's. And Laws that were proven to work. But did he forget - or was it just better fo r his career and maybe whatever secret "Thank You's" he may get for helping the banking industry help themselves to unlimited capital from Main Street?... The perhaps as much as nine trillion bucks that serve as Guarantees to Wall Street, and are under Bernanke The Magician's mystical purview, mean that not only are We the Taxpayers screwed, but so are our kids and their kids.

The reason that it was very wrong to keep the Big Boy Banksters operating is because as long as their operations continued, -- AND THIS IS KEY -- then the hideous Trillions owed on the Credit Default Swaps were contractually owed. So the money that was used as "Bailout" went to pay the banksters for their losses vis a vis the CDS stuff. And according to contractual law, it had to!

And these amounts, if Brooksley Born is to believed, can be an amount over 600 trillion dollars (At that point there is not even enough money in the world to pay that off - there are literally not enough plant material to make paper to create up the payoff for those those amounts.) As far as I am concerned -- The Obama Adminsitration had a duty to correct the wicked maneuvers that took place last fall. And to close down the "Too Big To Fail" crowd, and put the regional banks in place.

So that no matter how much money in Bailouts are offered to the banks, they have the Contractual Obligation in place that allows them to keep it all. (Until we are at the end of the 600 trillion bucks -- which is never.) This is why the economy is so suck-y, with the only pockets of relief on a grand scale being within Wall Street. This is why businesses are going under while they simply cannot find their next payroll loan. Consumers, even those with clean credit, are denied the new fridge or new car etc.

With each credit denial, another manufacturer suffers. And then the workforce is cut back.

So now in my county alone, unemployment stands at 17 percent.

[No Elephants]

46. Obama gets "credit" for appointing Geithner. Congress gets credit for the investigation.

[UpInArms]

37. now, just who will write that sternly worded letter?

hmmm....

:dilemma:

[Rage for Order]

39. Don't be ridiculous

The fallout from this will probably lead to a full-fledged censuring of Geithner's actions!

:eyes:

[UpInArms]

41. a "censuring"?

or maybe a reprimand!

[Rage for Order]

47. Oooh, yeah...they might reprimand Timmy...

That would REALLY show him! Jesus, I wish Obama would strip this bum of his position already.

[unkachuck]

40. government....

....of the corporation, by the corporation, for the corporation....

....don't you find it strange that 'transparency and accountability' has to occur with your unemployment check but not with billions going to corporations and the rich? Had enough?

[pinniped]

42. These congrassional grillings are fucking stupid and a waste of time.

..

[midnight]

44. Good. And then peel some of our tax dollars from their product line and

put it towards bailing out underwater mortgages...

[No Elephants]

45. Check out Bill Moyers Journal this weekend --here are some links

"DAVID CORN: <snip> "You know, who are some of the top people at Treasury now? A lot of them came from Goldman Sachs.

BILL MOYERS: You have a great chart in your story in "Mother Jones" on that." http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/01082010/transcript3.html

(See Mother Jones article: The Bankers on Obama's Team http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/01/henhouse-meet-fox-wall-street-washington-obama)



"Thanks to taxpayers like you who generously bailed banking from the financial shipwreck it created for itself and for us, by the end of 2009 the industry's compensation pool reached nearly $200 billion. And despite windfall profits, the banks will claim almost $80 billion in tax deductions. And nearly $20 billion of those deductions will go to just three institutions — Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs.

Ah, yes — Goldman Sachs, that paragon of profit and probity — which bet big on the housing bubble and when it popped — presto! — converted itself from an investment firm into a bank so it could get your bailout money. Now consider this: in 2008, Goldman Sachs paid an effective tax rate of just one percent. I'm not making that up — one percent! — while their CEO Lloyd Blankfein pulled down over $40 million. That's God's work, if you can get it. And, believe me, Wall Street bankers know how to get it. "

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/01082010/transcript3.html


Mother Jones did a series of articles on why no one has been accountable:
http://motherjones.com/special-reports/2010/01/accountability-deficit


So, when are we going to rise up?