March 11, 2009--Harvey, This Kool-Aid's For Me
Harvey is a friend I look forward to seeing mornings when we can sit side by side over coffee at the counter in the Green Owl. He’s a lifelong Republican and about as smart about things as anyone I know. And I don’t mean just about things Republican.
The other day he said he had been reading my stuff and thinks I’ve been imbibing the Obama Kool-Aid. It’s not just that he disagrees with most of what Obama is about, and what I’ve been writing—he respects all that as I do what he has to say—but rather that I’ve lost my critical capacities when it comes to things Obama.
So this one’s for you, Harvey—
If I could advise Obama about what to do to help turn the economy around and begin to solve the underlying structural problems, I’d tell him it’s time for his Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, to say he needs to leave office so he can spend more time with his family.
Geithner is undoubtedly an incandescently smart and hardworking fellow, but in the parlance of the day, he may not have the chops to get the job done. Much of which involves building confidence among investors, consumers, and even bankers.
Beyond his smartness, the case for Tim Geithner, in spite of his personal tax problems, was that as head of the New York Fed, and earlier while working for Larry Summers during the Clinton administration, in spite of the fact that in both of those roles he contributed to the problems we now face, the case for him includes that since he knew how we got into this mess, since he wants to redeem himself (ditto Summers from his time at Harvard), he will be able to devise a roadmap to take us back to a better macroeconomic place.
But to cite Paul Krugman from his recent column in the New York Times, rather than taking the bold and necessary steps to get us out of our national and global quagmire, Geithner has decided to “muddle though.” All the while, Obama’s political is likely to be spent down on other controversial but important issues—stem cells research and healthcare and education reform, among others.
In our current circumstances, the most important cabinet position is Treasure Secretary; but from the ideas about what to do about the credit crisis as well as from his public performance—performance as well as policies are needed to restore confidence—Geithner is not getting it done. In fact, he may be contributing to the problem.
Further worsening the situation, there is so much on Geithner’s plate—he is also heading up the panel of advisors who have to figure out what to do about the auto industry—that he needs to be able to assemble a team of Deputy, Under-, and Assistant-Secretaries of the Treasury. Thus far, according to the article linked below from the Times, it appears that none are in place. A few have been nominated but no one has been confirmed by the Senate, in part because some have had ethical problems of their own; and that, after Geithner’s own lapses, makes their confirmations complicated. He is thus trying to function pretty much on his own with an assortment of official and unofficial advisors.
This is not a good thing. And it’s time for an early-course correction.
“So, Harvey, please pass the half-and-half for my coffee. No more Kool-Aid for me this morning.”
The other day he said he had been reading my stuff and thinks I’ve been imbibing the Obama Kool-Aid. It’s not just that he disagrees with most of what Obama is about, and what I’ve been writing—he respects all that as I do what he has to say—but rather that I’ve lost my critical capacities when it comes to things Obama.
So this one’s for you, Harvey—
If I could advise Obama about what to do to help turn the economy around and begin to solve the underlying structural problems, I’d tell him it’s time for his Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, to say he needs to leave office so he can spend more time with his family.
Geithner is undoubtedly an incandescently smart and hardworking fellow, but in the parlance of the day, he may not have the chops to get the job done. Much of which involves building confidence among investors, consumers, and even bankers.
Beyond his smartness, the case for Tim Geithner, in spite of his personal tax problems, was that as head of the New York Fed, and earlier while working for Larry Summers during the Clinton administration, in spite of the fact that in both of those roles he contributed to the problems we now face, the case for him includes that since he knew how we got into this mess, since he wants to redeem himself (ditto Summers from his time at Harvard), he will be able to devise a roadmap to take us back to a better macroeconomic place.
But to cite Paul Krugman from his recent column in the New York Times, rather than taking the bold and necessary steps to get us out of our national and global quagmire, Geithner has decided to “muddle though.” All the while, Obama’s political is likely to be spent down on other controversial but important issues—stem cells research and healthcare and education reform, among others.
In our current circumstances, the most important cabinet position is Treasure Secretary; but from the ideas about what to do about the credit crisis as well as from his public performance—performance as well as policies are needed to restore confidence—Geithner is not getting it done. In fact, he may be contributing to the problem.
Further worsening the situation, there is so much on Geithner’s plate—he is also heading up the panel of advisors who have to figure out what to do about the auto industry—that he needs to be able to assemble a team of Deputy, Under-, and Assistant-Secretaries of the Treasury. Thus far, according to the article linked below from the Times, it appears that none are in place. A few have been nominated but no one has been confirmed by the Senate, in part because some have had ethical problems of their own; and that, after Geithner’s own lapses, makes their confirmations complicated. He is thus trying to function pretty much on his own with an assortment of official and unofficial advisors.
This is not a good thing. And it’s time for an early-course correction.
“So, Harvey, please pass the half-and-half for my coffee. No more Kool-Aid for me this morning.”
posted by Steven Zwerling at
7:20 AM
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