One guy…
…wasn’t too surprised that Tim Geithner hasn’t been all that impressive.
Read it and weep.
The New Neo
A blog about political change, among other things
…wasn’t too surprised that Tim Geithner hasn’t been all that impressive.
Read it and weep.
An amazing article. How do you ever find these things?
She does a great job at digging up these gems, doesn’t she? This latest link was also seen here:
http://pajamasmedia.com/richardfernandez/
If you’re not already reading Wretchard, you’re missing one of the most intelligent and thoughtful bloggers on the WWW – along with neo, of course.
Neo,
It is truly terrifying. But throughout the piece, I kept wondering, is the writer entirely serious?
The last paragraph puzzles me; perhaps someone can help me with it:
In sum, Tim Geithner is a gigantic fool, the IMF the gun that can’t shoot straight, Alan Greenspan a bungler. The big US banks were run by the greedy and the hopeless, the Australian banks by counterhopping clerks. It’s a world of many villains. And only one hero.
Is he saying the “only one hero” is Keating? Is he thereby being ironical, or sarcastic? Does he not really credit his own account?
Jamie Irons
Jamie: Good point. The tone seems odd to me as well, but since I’m not familiar with Keating or the author (info on Keating here and on author Peter Hartcher here), it’s hard to know whether the author is being sarcastic or is really that big an admirer of Keating.
One thing for sure, on reading the Hatcher profile—he was not a Greenspan fan even as far back as 2004.
Hartcher is being sarcastic in the sense that he is reminding readers that Keating has an extremely Keating-centred view of the world.
Hartcher did some excellent work on the collapse of Japan’s bubble economy and the economic stagnation that followed. Which predisposed him to be critical of Greenspan.
Thanks, Lorenzo. That makes a lot of sense.
Kevin Hassett, writing on Bloomberg.com, speculates (seriously I presume) about what would happen if a “Manchurian Candidate” started a war on business:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_hassett&sid=amhpOT5rlR1Y
In declaring war on business, he might, for example, discourage private capital from entering the financial sector by instructing his Treasury secretary to repeatedly promise a brilliant rescue plan, but never actually have one…
http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/corptaxrates_usstates_vs_oecdcountries–20080813.pdf
U.S. vs. Rest of world in corporate tax rates.
Tiny Timmy Tax Cheat–doesn’t that invite a photoshop? Thomas the Tank Engine–Timmy the Tax Dodger.
I’m with the Wicked Witch of the West–“What a world, what a wordl; all my beautiful wickedness liquidated.”
This is an interesting link-this is what you get from the better blogs,which the MSM can’t bother to report because they are too busy cheerleading for Obama.One silver lining in this situation is that it will speed up the demise of the MSM.
Any one with IMF on his/her resume is not necessarily a wiz-kid, I wonder how Geithner got to be NY Fed President.
As to Keating’s four pillars – and they are managed by counter-hopping clerks – I guess he is the “invisible hand” 🙂
I have so far been very disappointed by Geithner. But then he is the water boy for the “One”.
I’m not in the habit of watching it, but apparently Geithner was on Saturday Night Live recently:
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/the-ticker/2009/03/09/tim-geithner-leads-saturday-night-live.html
Starting with Alan Greenspan, the Fed has attempted to keep the US economy in perpetual summer rather than letting it go through the normal business cycles all economies go through.
It only forestalls the eventual winter. Still the Geithner Gang–including Ben B– appears to be continuing this ridiculous practice. And the pricetag? An eventual winter that could kill us all.
I just saw on this morning’s Foxnews site that last night the congressional Dems had a closed meeting with Geithner. The article said there was no “rancor”, but there was expressed concern that the Dems are starting to feel the heat of an angry electorate concerning out of control spending.
I take this as an encouraging sign. The radical adminstration is motivated by ideology and has pushed its agenda since day one. The time of a free pass for Obama may be ending. I’m just surprised how quickly it seems to be happening.
meanwhile, elswhere in the news that is non news… Russia says it will put weapons in space thanks to the chinese satallite event, then the US event. this new position turning on the point that one of their satellites hit one of our commercial satelites (or visa versa) and they claim it was an attack. [Russia also begins delivery of S-300 Air Defense Missile Systems to Kazakhstan)
mexico is collapsing. mexican military and police have been approaching the border looking for asylum, while mexican middle class has been fleeing to the US to avoid kidnapping. “US Justice Department: Mexican Drug Cartels Have Infiltrated Operatives into as Many as 230 US Cities, Utilizing Houston and Atlanta as Primary Distribution Centers” http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6299436.html
“In case of a provocation on the part of Colombia’s armed forces or infringements on Venezuela’s sovereignty, I will give an order to strike with Su aircraft and tanks. I will not let anyone disrespect Venezuela and its sovereignty,” – Chavez
[equador now maintains 14k troops along the border with columbia]
I see skies of blue….. clouds of white
Bright blessed days….dark sacred nights
And I think to myself …..what a wonderful world.”
Louis Armstrong
Obama makes Oval Office call to reporters
washingtontimes.com/weblogs/joe-curl/2009/Mar/08/obama-makes-oval-office-call-reporters/
President Obama was so concerned that he had appeared to dismiss a question from New York Times reporters about whether he was a socialist that he called the newspaper from the Oval Office to clarify his policies.
“It was hard for me to believe that you were entirely serious about that socialist question,” he told reporters, who had interviewed the president aboard Air Force One on Friday.
Opening the unusual presidential call to reporters by saying that there was “just one thing I was thinking about as I was getting on the copter,” he said it wasn’t he who started the federal government’s intervention into the nation’s financial system.
“I did think it might be useful to point out that it wasn’t under me that we started buying a bunch of shares of banks. It wasn’t on my watch. And it wasn’t on my watch that we passed a massive new entitlement -— the prescription drug plan — without a source of funding. And so I think it’s important just to note when you start hearing folks throw these words around that we’ve actually been operating in a way that has been entirely consistent with free-market principles and that some of the same folks who are throwing the word ‘socialist’ around can’t say the same.”
The New York Times asked, “So whose watch are we talking about here?” but Obama wouldn’t name names.
“Well, I just think it’s clear by the time we got here, there already had been an enormous infusion of taxpayer money into the financial system. And the thing I constantly try to emphasize to people if that coming in, the market was doing fine, nobody would be happier than me to stay out of it. I have more than enough to do without having to worry the financial system. The fact that we’ve had to take these extraordinary measures and intervene is not an indication of my ideological preference, but an indication of the degree to which lax regulation and extravagant risk taking has precipitated a crisis.”
He concluded the brief call by saying, “I think that covers it.”
Veddy Interesting….
but i dont think that covers it…
The phone call came after the president was asked aboard his plane: “Are you a socialist as some people have suggested?”
He was clear in his first answer: “You know, let’s take a look at the budget — the answer would be no.”
“Is there anything wrong with saying, ‘Yes’?” a Times reporter pressed.
“Let’s just take a look at what we’ve done,” Obama said, ticking off efforts his administration has made to stabilize the economy. But he acknowledged that, as he told Joe the Plumber, he plans to try to spread the wealth around.
“If you look on the revenue side what we’re proposing, what we’re looking at is essentially to go back to the tax rates that existed during the 1990s when, as I recall, rich people were doing very well. In fact everybody was doing very well. . . . We said that we’d give a tax cut to 95 percent of working Americans. That’s exactly what we have done.”
A man died and went to heaven. As he stood in front of St. Peter at the Pearly Gates, he saw a huge wall of clocks behind him. He asked, ‘What are all those clocks?’
St. Peter answered, ‘Those are Lie-Clocks. Everyone on Earth has a Lie-Clock. Every time you lie the hands on your clock will move.’ ‘Oh,’ said the man, ‘whose clock is that?’ ‘That’s Mother Teresa’s. The hands have never moved, indicating that she never told a lie.’
‘Incredible,’ said the man. ‘And whose clock is that one?’ St. Peter responded, ‘That’s Abraham Lincoln’s clock. The hands have moved twice, telling us that Abe told only two lies in his entire life’ ‘Where’s Barack Obama’s clock?’ asked the man.’ Obama’s clock is in Jesus’ office. He’s using it as a ceiling fan.
================
It was the first day of a school in USA and a new Indian student named Chandrasekhar Subramanian entered the fourth grade. The teacher said, “Let’s begin by reviewing some American History. Who said ‘Give me Liberty, Or give me Death’?” She saw a sea of blank faces, except for Chandrasekhar, who had his hand up: ‘Patrick Henry, 1775’ he said.
‘Very good! Who said ‘Government of the People, by the People, for the People, shall not perish from the Earth?’ Again, no response except from Chandrasekhar. ‘Abraham Lincoln, 1863’ said Chandrasekhar.
The teacher snapped at the class, ‘Class, you should be ashamed. Chandrasekhar, who is new to our country, knows more about its history than you do.’ She heard a loud whisper: ‘F**k the Indians,’
‘Who said that?’ she demanded. Chandrasekhar put his hand up. ‘General Custer, 1862.’ At that point, a student in the back said, ‘I’m gonna puke.’ The teacher glares around and asks ‘All right! Now, who said that?’ Again, Chandrasekhar says, ‘George Bush to the Japanese Prime Minister, 1991.’
Now furious, another student yells, ‘Oh yeah? Suck this!’ Chandrasekhar jumps out of his chair waving his hand and shouts to the teacher , ‘Bill Clinton, to Monica Lewinsky, 1997!’ Now with almost mob hysteria someone said ‘You little $hit. If you say anything else, I’ll kill you.’ Chandrasekhar frantically yells at the top of his voice, ‘ Michael Jackson to the child witnesses testifying against him – 2004!’
The teacher fainted. And as the class gathered around the teacher on the floor, someone whispered, ‘Oh $hit, we’re screwed!’
And Chandrasekhar said quietly, “I think that was the American people, November 4, 2008.”
Sorry to go wildly OT, but for our special needs liberals who keep bleating about the totally innocent goatherders turned in for a bounty and now cooling their heels in Club Gitmo:
Five Guanté¡namo detainees claim responsibility for September 11 attacks
Artfldgr:
So the American Secretary of state the French Premier and the British Prime Minister are all flying around in a plane. This is a special plane, capable of crossing the Atlantic in a matter of seconds, and other such things as you’ll see.
The pilot is flying around by instruments and the three politicians in the plane make a bet that each can tell his/her own capital when they fly over it.
So after a while, the British Prime Minister puts his hand out the window (I told you it was a special plane!) and says, “Ah, London.”
The pilot confirms this is indeed true and the others ask how he knew. “Easy. I put my hand out the window and I touched the tower of London.”
So they fly around some more and after a while the French Premier puts his hand out the window and says, “Ah, c’est Paris.”
“How did you know?”
“I touched the Eiffel Tower.”
They fly around some more, and Hillary puts her hand out the window. “We’re over DC right now.”
“How did you know? Did you touch one of the monuments?”
“No,” she says, pulling her hand in. “Someone stole my watch and someone else put a luxury tax on my wedding band.”
🙂
P.
Thanks, neo …this was an insightful backgrounder. Too bad the people vetting this idiot didn’t look for dissenting views, eh.
Artfldgr: That’s the best joke I’ve heard in a looooong time!