Thoughts on Obama’s Comparison of Tim Geithner to Alexander Hamilton

Since making that comparison several days ago, I’ve heard several news commentators hail Barack Obama as a scholarly historian. Duhhh!!!!

Other than exhibiting what should be a high school senior’s knowledge of American History, I don’t see any indication that Barack Obama’s knowledge of American History has any depth.

Sure, Geithner and Hamilton are/were the Secretary of the Treasury … Hamilton being the first and Geithner … hopefully not being the last.

And, yes, they both appear to have a propensity to piss people off. I don’t know of any single detractor of Tim Geithner that stands out among the growing crowd, so I suspect that his “Aaron Burr” is more a reflection in the mirror than any one individual. Right … I think Geitner’s own worst enemy is himself.

Beyond that, there is really no comparison in spite of Barack Obama’s claims.

Timothy Geithner has literally bounced from one government job to another receiving accolades for, at best, dubious performance.

Alexander Hamilton was, on the other hand, a person with considerable experience in the private sector, had considerable military experience, and actually performed services to the country that increased it’s financial stability.

That appears to be in marked contrast to Tim Geitner’s bunglings from failure to pay taxes to failure to perform due diligence regarding AIG and other financial institutions and actually recommending the wording of the Dodd Amendment to the recent stimulus bill.

So, why are there 17 high level vacancies at the Treasury Department? It’s not due to a Congress that’s willing to approve any pet Orangutan that Barack Obama might nominate. I’ve heard it suggested that it might be because of the propensity for many of Obama’s “tax evading” nominees receiving too much scrutiny. To the contrary, that seems to be more of a prerequisite and badge of honor rather than a hindrance. So, I don’t buy that argument.

I think it has to do with Tim Geithner. I don’t think anyone wants to work for him. Chew on that thought for a while.

So, is Barack Obama sticking by this bonehead because he’s such a great financial expert?

Or is it due to some plain ole’ cronyism. You know. Geithner’s father provided Obama’s mother with a job, so Obama is providing his son, Tim, with a job.

Let’s look at Geithner’s record.

As governor of the New York Federal Reserve, he oversaw the collapse of several major banks based in New York, Bank of America and Citibank. He even encouraged or strongarmed BOA into buying Merrill Lynch … the last straw that has practically broken BOA’s back.

He’s been an ardent supporter of  “Mark-to-market” accounting, a stand that I believe will eventually prove to be the single most important cause of the collapse of the banking industry.

He was the single most important person in orchestrating the initial $700 billion plus stimulus package. Time and numerous Monday morning quarterbacks will eventually discern the wisdom of that move. My personal opinion is that if “mark to market” had been suspended or amendeda year ago, the initial $700 billion wouldn’t have been necessary for any reason.

Then we find he doesn’t think, because of his exhalted position, that he has to pay income taxes. And when he finally does pay them, the IRS gives him preferential treatment by not applying penalties like they would to 300 million other people. Hell, they’ve tried to hit me with penalties for taxes that I paid on time. I suppose you and I are supposed to make up the deficits in collections caused by people like Mr. Geithner and former senator Tom Daschle who think they’re too important to bother with paying taxes.

Then he adds wording to the recent stimulus bill to exempt the bonuses paid to the financial division of AIG, and hides in the closet about the issue until Senator Chris Dodd, tired of taking all the heat for his (the Dodd) amendment, finally rats Geithner out.

So, we now find Barack Obama adroitly blowing smoke up our derrieres by comparing Geithner to Alexander Hamilton. And we find numerous news commentators hailing Obama as an adroit historian while they, too, have a proctoscope rather than a megaphone firmly pressed to their lips.

Break out the jar of Vaseline, we’re going to get at least 3 plus more years of this treatment so we may as well try to ease some of the pain of being repeatedly buggered.

Linda Ketner, Liberal Democrat, on the Economy and Deregulation: Part II

One of Linda Ketner’s recent ads during the campaign is to rail against the Republicans for deregulation. In her ad she states that eight years ago the Republicans passed into law legislation that overturned laws from the 1930’s which were designed to protect Americans from Wall Street … or something pretty close to that.

I don’t know what she’s referring to that was passed eight years ago … but in 1999 President Clinton signed into law the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act which overturned the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933.

According to an article on MoneyNews.com, MoneyNews – Clinton: Deregulation Not to Blame for Crisis, the Glass-Steagall Act, among other things, separated commercial and investment banking.  Former President Bill Clinton stated in an interview with Business Week that the legislation he signed didn’t completely deregulate the banking industry. In fact he said in answer to a question about this,

“No, because it wasn’t a complete deregulation at all. We still have
heavy regulations and insurance on bank deposits, requirements on banks
for capital and for disclosure.”

Former President Clinton went on to add,

“I thought at the time that it might lead to more stable investments
and a reduced pressure on Wall Street to produce quarterly profits that
were always bigger than the previous quarter,”

and,

“I have really thought about this a lot. I don’t see that signing that
bill had anything to do with the current crisis. Indeed, one of the
things that has helped stabilize the current situation as much as it
has is the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, which was much
smoother than it would have been if I hadn’t signed that bill.”

Maybe Ms. Ketner needs to check her dates … or she was talking about something else, but … this sounds suspiciously like what she was referring to. She was talking about deregulation and the current financial crisis, wasn’t she? Well, so was former President Clinton on Oct. 1, 2008.

I suppose Ms. Ketner is more of an expert on the economy than President Clinton. After all, she has been advocating low interest loans in South Carolina since 1991 of the type that got Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into trouble in the first place.

I also thought it was noteworthy that such great Democratic minds as Senators Chuck Schumer, Chris Dodd,  Dick Durbin, Tom Daschle, John Edwards, John Kerry and Joe Biden all also voted for this bill. That quite a list of current Democratic economic and financial experts as well as presidential and vice-presidential hopefuls. And don’t forget about former Democratic President Bill Clinton.

But then, Ms. Ketner knows more about the economy than any of them. After all, she grew up in a town of 500, taught high school and college, runs a business and is a member of a struggling middle class family …right? I wonder if she taught History … or Economics … a lot of dates to remember, facts to get straight ( or make politically correct ) and theory to understand.

Linda Ketner is the Democratic candidate for the South Carolina First Congressional District.

Ms. Ketner, you need to take this issue up with Bill Clinton, because he says what you’re saying “just ain’t so”.

Ms. Ketner needs to come up for air and check her facts.