Start Cutting The Squares For The Office Pool On Geithner Exit?

If there is such a trophy, or award, the headline-of-the-day goes to Will Bunch, over on his Attytood blog;

What's that, Lassie? (Woof, woof!!) Timmy Geithner's in the well?!!

There's a lot of ways to measure a good-to-great president. We tend to focus on both their policies and their skill in communicating with the American people, but another key task is the ability to admit mistakes, especially when it was a doozy. Remember JFK and the Bay of Pigs early in his presidency?

And Timothy Geithner as President Obama's Treasury Secretary is looking like another one of these.

The New York Times has a comparable, but more reserved story today, as well;

Geithner, With Few Aides, Is Scrambling

Rarely have so few people had so little time to prop up so many pillars of the economy as those in the Treasury Department under Timothy F. Geithner.

In the six weeks since Mr. Geithner took over as Treasury secretary, he and a skeleton crew of unofficial senior advisers have been racing to make decisions that will shape the future of the banking, insurance, housing and automobile industries. 

But even as he maintains a frenetic pace — unveiling plans, testifying before Congress and negotiating new bailouts with the likes of Citigroup, General Motors and the American International Group — there are signs that events are getting ahead of him.

And, here's some recent headlines on our new Secretary of the Treasury.

Former Australian Prime Minister Savages Geithner's Performance in the Asian Crisis

Geithner goes for a laundry list, not a dramatic gesture

Geithner Backs The Elites

Lawmakers laughed at Geithner plan

Geithner Bank Bailout Plan: Fiasco

Add to this, one big-byline blogger has directly called for Geithner to go;

Henry Blodget - Time To Fire Tim Geithner

We don't mean to sound impatient, but we've seen enough. The country is in the middle of the worst financial crisis in 75 years, and the second-most-important person in charge clearly isn't the right man for the job.

When both engines on US Air Flight 1549 quit after takeoff, Capt. Sullenberger did not cling stubbornly to his preconceived view of the situation. He did not float endless versions of the same bad plan to air traffic controllers to see what they thought of them. He did not spend months preparing for a moment just like this only to be seized by indecision when it arrived.

Instead, he just took the controls and landed the plane in the Hudson.

[Snip]

We don't mean to sound impatient, but we've seen enough. The country is in the middle of the worst financial crisis in 75 years, and the second-most-important person in charge clearly isn't the right man for the job.

When both engines on US Air Flight 1549 quit after takeoff, Capt. Sullenberger did not cling stubbornly to his preconceived view of the situation. He did not float endless versions of the same bad plan to air traffic controllers to see what they thought of them. He did not spend months preparing for a moment just like this only to be seized by indecision when it arrived.

Instead, he just took the controls and landed the plane in the Hudson.

After detailing Geithner's "Timmy in the Well" exploits, Blodget continues;

With a few years of seasoning in a normal environment, Tim Geithner might turn out to be a fine Treasury Secretary. But this isn't a normal environment, and we don't have a few years.

The engines of the US economy just quit. We're losing altitude rapidly. And the co-pilot flying the plane clearly doesn't know what to do.

So it's time for the captain to take over again, before Geithner takes him and the rest of us down with him.

Megan McArdle comes, somewhat tepidly, to Geithner's defense ("Should Geithner go?"), however, we probably can predict, there will be more-and-more of these type of posts, articles and headlines coming in the days ahead.

Not to mention what the PartyofNoican will throw out there.

But, hey, it's March, and that means "March Madness", the time of year where anything can happen.

Anyone can win, or anyone can lose.

Hang in there Timmy, maybe you do have a buzzer-beater in you.

This Weeks' Poll - Don't Forget To Vote ... Help Obama Spend Some Money!

Just a reminder, for you to take a moment and throw a vote in to help President Obama decide what to do the Stimulus money the GOP Governors are thumbing there noses at ... 

If they don't want it, we have some suggestions of what can be done with it ... 

Go over to the left column and make your selection! 

New Garlic Poll ... If the GOP Governors don't want the Stimulus Money, Obama should ...

These guys certainly would qualify, all by themselves, as a boatload of Ignorant Dolts.

Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, Mississippi's Haley Barbor, South Carolina's Mark Sanford, and some others, have all firmly inserted their heads up their rear ends, and have come out bashing the Stimulus Package, all saying they would reject it, or a certain amount of it.

It's all part of their new/old, Back-To-The-Future, Newt Gingrich-Contract-On-America strategy, that is going to sweep them back into power

See, by saying no, becoming the party of "No", being the obstructionists to the reigniting of our economy, they are placing all their chips on President Obama failing, just so they can hit the campaign trails with a "Naa, Naa, Naa, Naa, Naa ... We told you so!".

Other than it will hurt scores-of-hundreds-of-thousands around the country, in their respective states, I would be inclined to say "Go For It!" ... Keep listening to the Cheeseburger That Sweats (aka Rush Limbaugh; H/T to Barry Crimmins for that), and the new Town Crier, Rick Santelli... Let them lead you to even further irrelevance.

So, we thought, rather than waste energy on them, we'd offer up a few options for President Obama, on what to do with the money they are rejecting.

If the GOP Governors don't want the Stimulus Money, Obama should ...

Give it to his daughters

Buy John McCain a helicopter

Go to Las Vegas and "stimulate" the crap tables

Stash it away in a Slush Fund for 2012

Go over to the leftside column and place your votes!

Bonus Links

Think Progress: Obama Hits GOP Governors Rejecting Stimulus Funds: There’ll Be ‘Ample Time For Campaigns Down The Road’

DemFromCT: Operation Unified Lemming

Chris Cillizza And Perry Bacon Jr.: Well Before the 2012 Season, Obama Kicks the GOP a Political Football

Maybe If They Exorcise The Money, First ....

Or, maybe he can get around it and direct the Stimulus funds to go towards teaching Intelligent Design.

I would hope somebody will walk up to Louisianna Governor Bobby Jindal and start knocking on his head.

Give it a few good raps, like your were knocking on a door, to wake someone up, just to see if Jindal's head gives a hollow, echoing sound.

It's enough that the Republicans, like swollen, proud pigs after a mud bath, are going around boasting to their constituents, the great windfall the Stimulus Package will be delivering to them, all the while, leaving out how they voted against it.

But wait, it gets better.

Jindal has indicated he will give a Palinesque "Thanks, but no thanks" to Stimulus moohla

Jindal Rejects $90 Million In Recovery Funding That Would Have Benefited 25,000 Louisiana Residents

Today, however, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced his intention to oppose changing state law to allow his Lousiana citizens to qualify for the second two unemployment provisions. Jindal said the state would only be accepting money to increase the unemployment insurance payments for those who currently qualify for unemployment insurance. 

In all, Jindal turned away nearly $100 million in federal aid for his state’s unemployed residents. Further, as the National Employment Law Project projected on Febuary 13, EUC extension alone would have benefited 24,981 Louisiana residents. Jindal justified his decision by claiming that expanding unemployment benefits would result in tax increases for businesses. In a press release, the governor’s office explained:

"The Governor said the state will not use a portion of the stimulus package that requires the state to change its law to expand unemployment insurance (UI) coverage to qualify for up to $32.8 million of the federal stimulus funding because it ultimately would result in a tax increase on Louisiana businesses."

That's going to make a great campaign speech for his 2012 ambitions;

I want to do for the country, what I did for my state ... I want to screw over as many of our unemployed citizens as I can ... Just give them a kick in the ass ... I won't lift a finger for a single one of them ..."

Maybe he can get the old gang together, and exorcise the money, you know, take that Satan spirit right out of it, wipe it clean, tell old Lucifer "Thanks, but no thanks" and then for God and Country, slide that Stimulus stash into the state coffers.

I mean, Jesus, if he is going for it in 2012, he, in all likelihood, will be going into battle against Mommy Moose, he's gotta start learning how to suck in as much of that Washington money to his state as she has... She'll clobber him, and laugh at him and,.probably, looking at his turning down the money, start taunting him as "The Governor to Nowhere".

Way to go there, Bobby ...

The RWFS Flying Monkeys and Dittoheads are gonna love ya!


Bonus The Governor To Nowhere Riffs

Nelson: Like A True Conservative

Christopher Beam: Take the Money and Run ... Republican governors don't really want to reject stimulus money—they just want to complain about it

Sam Stein - Nagin On Jindal: Presidential Ambitions Clouding His Stimulus Judgment

Paging Linda Blair ...

Top Ten Cloves: Ways President Obama Can Better Sell His Stimulus Package




"Okay ... All the brainless people who don't want any Stimulus money, raise your hands ..."

IDOTW Update ... New Michelle Bachmann Meltdown!

In case you didn't notice, the Idiots are clamoring - big time - over the Stimulus Package.

Last week, it was IDOTW Brad Blakeman, complaining that Obama wasn't speaking "Presidential", that rather then telling us how fucked we are, he should have sugar-coated it, been more optimistic.

And this week, our seminal Ignorant Dolt of the Week, Michelle Bachmann is at it - again, with yet another, Chernobylesque meltdown;

Michele Bachmann: We're Running Out of Rich People"



Steven D, over on Booman Tribune has more;

Ahhh. I guess she had all her investments with Allen Stanford and/or Bernie Madoff. Still, this was a tough choice to make. However, her only competition was -- herself. Take a sample of some of her other comments:

* ACORN is "under federal indictment for voter fraud," but the stimulus bill nevertheless gives ACORN "$5 billion." [Not true, by the way -- ACORN isn't under any federal indictment and doesn't get a dime under the Stimulus bill.]

[M]any members of Congress have "a real aversion to capitalism." [Because the Communist Party controls Congress, naturally.]

It is continually breathtaking, watching the Republican Party become unhinged.

Bonus Bachmann Batshit Riffs

Avidor - Michele Bachmann: "They've Put Duct Tape Over the Mouths of the Republicans"

Steve Benen: IDIOCY WATCH....

Ken: Confidential to Michele B: Maybe we aren't actually "literally losing our country." Maybe it's just literally falling through the hole in your head?

Top Ten Cloves: Ways President Obama Can Better Sell His Stimulus Package

News Item: Live Blogging the Obama News Conference

10. Get Alex Rodriguez back (??) using steroids to jump start the economy!

9. Have a prime-time Press Conference ... Oh ... Never mind

8. If he can wrestle him away from the Republicans, Billy Mays! ("Look at this Stimulus Package! ...)

7. Auction his Blackberry email address, and you won't need a Stimulus Package

6. Nominate someone new, with a tax problem, to take some of the heat off

5. See if Captain Sullenberger can land a plane in the Potomac, so he can suck up the PR, giving him Key to the City

4. Give everyone a new Kindle to jump start the economy!

3. Bernie Madoff is just hanging around the house, doing nothing ... He should be able to move it

2. He can write up 25 things about it and post it to Facebook

1. In ultimate show of bipartisanship, and win support, offer Rush Limbaugh that he will, for real, nominate him for Nobel Peace Prize

Quote of the Week!

Well, as discussed here the past few days, it's, pretty much, been a Stimuluspalooza out there in the media

In last night's post, we presented on the depths of just how much the Congressional Republicans are moronic losers, incapable of seeing reality, and marching like lemmings to the tune of the Bush Grindhouse (and the drooling communicator, Reagan) economic policies.

We offered an array of commentary out there on the World Wide Web, hammering away ...

But we missed one.

And what a one it was, articulating, almost beyond perfection, the plight that is holding this country hostage.

It comes from John Cole, over on his Balloon Juice.

Speaking about the Stimulus Package, as well as noting how Joe The Plumber is "consulting" the Republicans on Economics (see "moronic losers" above), Cole penned this gem;

I really don’t understand how bipartisanship is ever going to work when one of the parties is insane. Imagine trying to negotiate an agreement on dinner plans with your date, and you suggest Italian and she states her preference would be a meal of tire rims and anthrax. If you can figure out a way to split the difference there and find a meal you will both enjoy, you can probably figure out how bipartisanship is going to work the next few years.

Along with all the openness, and transparency, that Obama is advocating, and setting in motion, he can, perhaps add in something else.

One of those giant, Looney Tunes levers, so when the Republicans keep squawking like parrots on speed, about tax cuts and spending, Obama can pull the lever, the floor opens up, and said Republicans drop into a deep, dark abyss.

Pretty much as deep and dark a place they're trying to drag us all into.


Bonus Links

Think Progress: Supporters Of $1.3 Trillion Bush Tax Cuts In 2001 Now Call $900 Billion Recovery Plan Billion ‘Too Much’

Steve Benen: CRAZY PEOPLE...

Rios Negroes

Still limping (literally, though, in what is hopefully a sign of progress, a lessening of pain).

It seems by the backlash out on the World Wide Web, our "Howdy Doody Time" reference last evening wasn't entirely off the mark, concerning the dead-and-dying Republican Party's attempts to snuff out the Stimulus Package.

Take Jill, over at Brilliant at Breakfast, for instance;

Of course Republicans don't WANT a stimulus plan that works, because they are already looking ahead to the midterns in 2012 and beyond. Country first? This party is all about Party First, Country Last. And if tens of millions have to be plunged into poverty in the next four years so that they can have their restoration of a Bush dynasty to complete the job of drowning government in a bathtub and assuring a plutocracy for generations to come, or their patriarchal theocratic dream nation, led by their favorite dominatrix-in-chief clad in $180,000 of designer clothing paid for by their campaign contributors, well so be it. They already have the media on board; we'll see if Americans are dumb enough to go along with it yet again.

Or, The Heretik;

A few essential truths? Obama is the only bipartisan being in DC. Dems like being in charge. And Republicans who took no notice of the Dems in minority? “Republicans want bipartisanship now only because they are in the minority.“ Republicans now are willing to negotiate, just so long as they get everything they want. If the donkeys don’t give the elephants all they want, then the Democrats are the problem. A good question: “How [is] bipartisanship [] ever going to work when one of the parties is insane“?

The capper came early this morning, from Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman, who minced no sentiment on what was going down;

A not-so-funny thing happened on the way to economic recovery. Over the last two weeks, what should have been a deadly serious debate about how to save an economy in desperate straits turned, instead, into hackneyed political theater, with Republicans spouting all the old clichés about wasteful government spending and the wonders of tax cuts.

[Snip]

So what should Mr. Obama do? Count me among those who think that the president made a big mistake in his initial approach, that his attempts to transcend partisanship ended up empowering politicians who take their marching orders from Rush Limbaugh. What matters now, however, is what he does next.

It’s time for Mr. Obama to go on the offensive. Above all, he must not shy away from pointing out that those who stand in the way of his plan, in the name of a discredited economic philosophy, are putting the nation’s future at risk. The American economy is on the edge of catastrophe, and much of the Republican Party is trying to push it over that edge.

But wait! (Cue the heavenly, string-laden, music here)

A deal has been struck!

Well, sort of ...

And not the kind of deal that is going to have you humming to that heavenly music.

From Greg Sargent;

I’ve just obtained an internal Senate committee memo detailing the latest cuts being eyed by the gang of Senators being led by Dem Ben Nelson and GOPer Susan Collins. Here is what’s being eyed in the bill right now:

*****************************

Total Reductions: $80 billion

Eliminations:

Head Start, Education for the Disadvantaged, School improvement, Child Nutrition, Firefighters, Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard, Prisons, COPS Hiring, Violence Against Women, NASA, NSF, Western Area Power Administration, CDC, Food Stamps

*****************************

Reductions:

Public Transit $3.4 billion, School Construction $60 billion

*****************************

Increases:

Defense operations and procurement, STAG Grants, Brownfields, Additional transportation funding

*****************************

Hmmm ... And how's that flying?

Brad Johnson, in The Wonk Room;

Because of Republican threats to filibuster the bill, votes of senators like them are key to passage. But the Nelson-Collins gang’s proposed cuts disproportionately harm women, children, and their future. The Wonk Room has already detailed their plan to cut support for education and health care. Nelson and Collins also looking to eliminate tens of billions of dollars in programs that would invest in a green economy ,,,

Eli, on Firedoglake, cuts to bone;

These cuts to the stimulus aren't economics, they're conservative politics: "You don't want the government taking your hard-earned money and giving it to Those People, do you? It should be given to the corporations so they can create more jobs!" These wankers would rather let us spiral into another Depression than give kids and poor people even a fraction of the compassion they gave the pirates and clowns who got us into this mess.

Paul the Spud;

Because the last thing people need when they're out of work is education, nutrition for their children, transportation assistance, and fucking food stamps.

Republicans would rather let people starve than give up their tax cuts.

The next time someone complains about the cost of this package, tell them that. Republicans would rather let people starve than give up their tax cuts.

As does Larisa Alexandrovna;

I have said this before and I will say it again. The Wall Street bailout was a corporate coup brought to us by the corporate owned politicians in Congress and their lobbyists. These cuts to "stimulate" the economy are continued to proof of that. Why does Defense need a budget increase after the no-bid contracts of the last 8 years? What the hell does "additional transportation" funding mean if they are reducing funds for public transit? Oh wait, lobbyist are behind this "stimulation" in which the poor are made more poor and the rich more rich. See, public transit - for example - is not something that the gas companies are going to like.

If these people were remotely serious about stimulating the economy, they might start with giving us the banks we purchased, arrested those executives who got bonuses and won't return them (that is called stealing if I recall), but most importantly, confiscating the assets of anyone who was involved in starting the Iraq war and has financially benefited from it (Shooter, you there?). Then sell those assets off and invest the money in the US economy (translated: not Wall Street).

Steve Benen gives us a refresher;

Just to step back for a moment, Obama won an impressive national victory in November, Democrats increased their Senate majority to 58 (59, with Minnesota), and Democrats now enjoy a 77-seat majority in the House. Despite all of this, the strength of the U.S. economy is largely dependent right now on the arbitrary whims of these three center-right Republicans.

And, Tyler Cowen provides a grim reminder;

Yes a slightly cheaper version of the stimulus is about to pass. Here is some detail on the composition of the Senate bill. The final combined bill,as it will come out of conference, might be worse yet.

If my house is ever on fire, I pray that it is a fire truck full of Democrats that shows up.

So, with much more writhing, agonizing drama to play out on this, we turn (again) to Lester Bowie, to provide us a killer tune, with, as I believe you will find, a somewhat pensiveness to it.

Lester Bowie - Rios Negroes

Rios Negroes - Lester Bowie [Artist]


Bonus Links

Think Progress - REPORT: GOP Lawmakers Outnumber Dem Lawmakers By Almost 2 To 1 In Cable News Stimulus Debate Again

dday: An Army Of Krugmans

Steven D: Krugman is Our Cassandra

Attaturk: Calling the intellectually bankrupt, well, bankrupt