Geithner Beholden?
While I understand the praise he has received for his qualifications, the more I hear about Tim Geithner, the more I wonder about the wisdom of this selection. Even leaving aside his failure to master the complexities of a computer based home tax preparation program, this report from Politico looks to raise eyebrows further.
Newly minted Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s finances got a recent boost, thanks to a plump $435,000 severance payment from his old employer – the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
In addition, Geithner last year earned $411,000 as president of the New York Fed and got another $50,000 to $100,000 for unused vacation and comp time, according to a mandatory financial disclosure statement released by the Office of Government Ethics.
To be clear, there’s nothing patently illegal here, nor would it serve as some sort of automatic disqualifier. However, we’re in a season of American discontent with Wall Street, the banking system in general and suspicions over how the federal government is doling out our money. Having Geithner stepping into office with that much Fed cash lining his pockets presents some fairly awful optics at a minimum. President Obama has made some fine choices so far in his early appointments, but it seems to me that we could have done a bit better at Treasury.
3 Responses to “Geithner Beholden?”
And maybe a bit less hypocritical at DoD too……..
President Obama's much trumpeted ethics rules did not last very long from the time he signed them into existence in an Executive Order. Just two days after establishing the rules, which were touted as the most sweeping ethics reforms in history, President Obama waived the rules to allow William Lynn to take a position as Deputy Secretary of Defense. Up until last fall, Lynn was a lobbyist for the defense contractor Raytheon. In his new position in the Pentagon, Lynn will oversee the day-to-day operations of the Defense Department, as well as handle budget and procurement issues.
Off topic: The headline when read aloud looks like one of those long, compound words from the German, like schadenfreude. Geithnerbeholden reminds me of the name of an Ohio town, Gnadenhutten. Monty Python would love it.
I think it also has to do with aristocratic-blindness. To working stiffs, 400K is a big chunk of change. To people like our elected leaders it's what they could blow on a weekend bash with their buddies and not even notice.
The fact that they don't even notice 400K makes the situation all the more angering… That amount of money would pay off all my debts and send my kids to college too. I”m “glad” we paid for him to have it. Hope he notices that he's got it.. : (