August 9, 2011

The Not So AAA President

If Obama Actually Cared About Addressing Americas Downgrade, He Could Start By Firing Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner
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OBAMAS SPEECH ON MONDAY SHOWS HE IS IN OVER HIS HEAD AND OUT OF IDEAS WHEN IT COMES TO HANDLING AMERICAS DOWNGRADE
In His First Speech Since The Downgrade, Obama Said Our Debt Was Still Highly Regarded; Despite His Comments, The Main Wall Street Share Index, The Dow Jones, Extended Its Losses, Falling 4%. In his first public reaction to Standard & Poor's downgrading the US, President Obama said markets continued to regard US government debt as being the highest possible grade. Yet despite his comments, the main Wall Street share index, the Dow Jones, extended its losses, falling 4%. Prior to President Obama's speech, the Dow had only been 2.5% lower. (Markets Fall Despite Obama Speech, BBC, 8/8/11) The Dow Plunged Another 100 Points To Hover Around 500 After The President's Speech. President Obama spoke this afternoon, saying the United States knew well before the S&P downgrade that it had a debt problem. The U.S. will always be a triple-A country despite what rating agencies say, he said. He said the good news is the debt is a solvable problem and progress is being made. Investors don't seem to agree. The Dow plunged another 100 points to hover around 500 after the president's speech. (Daivd Kerley,
U.S. Stocks Continue Selloff: Dow Falls More Than 500 Points, ABC News, 8/8/11)

Obama Had All Weekend To Prepare For His Speech And All He Can Do Is Promise To Raise Taxes. Obama had all weekend and the best he could come up with was a reiteration of his plea for a balanced approach to deficit control. Thats right. We have a tumbling stock market, over 9 percent unemployment and a flight to gold (some investment advisers say it will be at $2,500 per ounce by years end). All he can do is promise to raise taxes. (Jennifer Rubin, Obamas Horrifyingly Bad Speech, The Washington Posts Right Turn, 8/8/11) This Illuminated Obamas Predicament Devoid Of Ideas, Bitter About Political Opposition And Completely In Over His Head. (Jennifer Rubin, Obamas Horrifyingly Bad Speech, The Washington Posts Right Turn,
8/8/11)

MSNBCs Chuck Todd: You Get The Sense, WH Knew They Had To Say Something Given The News Of The Weekend But He Didn't Have Much NEW To Say. (Chuck Todds Twitter Feed, 8/8/11) Politicos Ben White: He Had One Good Line In There, AAA Country, And He Buried It Under A Pile Of Tired Old Partisan Garbage. (Ben Whites Twitter Feed, 8/8/11) White: Holy Cow. Really? He's Talking About Tax Hikes Again? (Ben Whites Twitter Feed, 8/8/11)

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GEITHNER HAS BEEN A FAILURE AT TREASURY RATHER THAN BEGGING HIM TO STAY, OBAMA SHOULD TELL HIM TO HIT THE ROAD
President Obama Was Exerting Intense Pressure On Geithner To Remain At The Treasury Department. Seeking to prevent a complete turnover on his economic team, the White House has been exerting intense pressure on Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner to stay even though he has told the president he wants to step down. (Zachary A. Goldfarb, Obamas Senior Ranks Thin On Economists As Recovery Falters, The Washington Post,
8/5/11)

Geithner Said There Was No Risk We Would Lose Our AAA Credit Rating
In April, Treasury Secretary Geithner Insisted That There Was No Risk Of The United States Losing Its AAA Credit Rating. PETER BARNES: Is there is a risk that the United States could lose its AAA credit rating? Yes or no? TIM GEITHNER: No risk of that. BARNES: No risk? GEITHNER: No risk. (Fox Business,
4/19/11)

When Asked Again If The US Would Keep Its AAA Rating Geithner Said Absolutely. BARNES: So Standard & Poor's is wrong, the United States will keep its AAA credit rating? GEITHNER: You know -- absolutely. (Fox Business, 4/19/11) WATCH THE VIDEO

Geithner Has Supervised The Presidents Disastrous Foreclosure Prevention Program

So Far, Only 633,500 Homeowners Have Received Permanent Modifications Through The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). This program and others are part of Treasurys Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, which was announced in early 2009, but has fallen far short of initial expectations. As of May, it has helped about 633,500 U.S. homeowners avoid losing their homes through permanent loan modifications, compared with an initial goal of helping 3 million to 4 million borrowers. (Alan Zibel, Little Help From Government For Underwater Homeowners, The Wall Street Journals Developments, 7/1/11) The Treasury Department Has Only Spent $1.85 Billion Of The $46 Billion It Was Given To Prevent Foreclosures. As part of the bank bailout, the Treasury Department was given $46 billion to spend on keeping homeowners in their houses; to date, the agency has spent about $1.85 billion.
(Andrew Martin, For Jobless, Little U.S. Help On Foreclosure, The New York Times, 6/4/11)

Inspector General Neil Barofsky, Who Oversaw HAMP, Said That The Program Continues To Fall Short Of Any Meaningful Standard Of Success. The program has faced sharp criticism. Neil Barofsky, the departing special inspector general overseeing the program, has faulted the administration for launching it with inadequate analysis and only partially developed guidelines. This led to delays and confusion, and the program continues to fall short of any meaningful standard of success, he said a report released in January. (Alan Zibel and Louise Radnofsky, Only 1 In 4 Got Mortgage Relief, The Wall Street Journal, 2/28/11)

The Congressional Oversight Panel Slammed The Treasury Departments Management Of The Auto Bailouts
Congressional Oversight Panel: Treasurys Differing And Conflicting Goals Call Into Question Whether The Interventions In The Auto Industry Should Be Called Successful. These differing and potentially conflicting goals make it difficult to determine whether the TARPs interventions in the auto industry should be judged to be successful. Instead, the articulation of multiple goals, without specification of their priority, allows Treasury to claim success if the program achieves any one of these goals. (The Final
Report Of The Congressional Oversight Panel, Congressional Oversight Panel, 3/16/11)

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Congressional Oversight Panel: Treasury Has Never Articulated A Clear Set Of Goals For The Auto Bailouts. Treasury, however, has never articulated a clear set of goals for these programs. Instead, it has articulated a number of goals at different times, many of which may ultimately be conflicting. (The Final Report Of
The Congressional Oversight Panel, Congressional Oversight Panel, 3/16/11)

Treasurys Bungling Of The General Motors IPO Essentially Locked In A Loss Of Billions Of Dollars. The report questions Treasury's decision to sell so much of its stake in General Motors (GM) during the automaker's successful initial public offering in November, saying the decision essentially locked in a loss of billions of dollars and thus greatly reduced the likelihood that taxpayers will ever be repaid in full. (Chris
Isidore, Auto Bailout's Estimated Cost To Taxpayers: $19 Billion, CNN Money, 1/13/11)

Geithner Infamously Welcomed The Nation To The Recovery Last August

Geithner Op-Ed In The New York Times: Welcome To The Recovery. (Timothy Geithner, Welcome To The Recovery,
The New York Times, 8/2/10)

Geithner: [A] Review Of Recent Data On The American Economy Shows That We Are On A Path Back To Growth. (Timothy Geithner, Welcome To The Recovery, The New York Times, 8/2/10) Geithner: The White Houses Actions Have Put The Economy On The Road To Recovery. The recession that began in late 2007 was extraordinarily severe, but the actions we took at its height to stimulate the economy helped arrest the freefall, preventing an even deeper collapse and putting the economy on the road to recovery. (Timothy Geithner, Welcome To The Recovery, The New York Times,
8/2/10)

But The Latest Figures Make It Very Clear That There Is No Recovery To Speak Of
GDP Just Missed Expectations At 1.3%. Analysts Were Looking For 1.8%. Even Worse, Perhaps: Q1 GDP Was Revised From 1.9% All The Way Down To 0.4%, Which Is Stunning. (Joe Weisenthal, BAD: GDP Misses
Estimates At 1.3%, Business Insider, 7/29/11)

CNBCs Jim Cramer: Its Very Clear That There Is No Recovery To Speak Of. (CNBCs, Squawk On
The Street, 7/29/11)

MSNBCs Simon Hobbs: These Are Shocking, Shocking Figures; It Means That The Economy Is Nowhere Near Growing Fast Enough To Bring The Unemployment Rate Down. (MSNBCs,
Morning Joe, 7/29/11)

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