Thank goodness Treasury Secretary Timothy Giethner released his plan for dealing with bad bank assets. It was beginning to look like nobody was home at the Department of Treasury. Whether it will work or not is anybody’s guess, but today the market was happy to know at least there’s a plan in place.
It’s sort of ironic that Geithner’s plan involves private sector investors and hedge funds. Hasn’t his boss demonized the private sector up until just a few days ago? I wonder how these rich people are going to feel about helping with the bailout? Will they merrily invest billions, or trillions to purchase toxic assets? Again, it’s anybody’s guess.
President Obama campaigned on a pledge of bringing transparency to Washington. We were led to believe the sun would shine on the White House and all it’s dealings. So it’s odd that the administration’s economic team has failed to have any meetings which are open to the public. Are they doing anything? Are they doing many things, but under the cloak of darkness? What are they doing? Who helped Tim Geithner craft his plan?
About his plan, Mr. Geithner wrote: “We cannot solve this problem without making it possible for investors to take risks.” But his boss is talking about limiting compensation of all executives, not just those who received bailout funds. If the government dictates how much an executive can earn, aren’t they limiting the reward for taking risk? If the reward for taking risk is limited, why would anyone take a risk?
The Congress wants to pass legislation with the sole intention of punishing private citizens retroactively. The president has indicated he isn’t in favor of ex-post facto legislation, but would he veto such legislation if it makes it to his desk? He said he was against earmarks, and then he privately signed a spending bill loaded with earmarks.
Is anyone else confused, or is it just me?
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