Put In A New Pitcher: Time To Fire Tiny Tim Geithner
As Unemployment Festers, A New Economic Strategy Team Is Needed
By Danny Schechter
Author, The Crime Of Our Time
When a pitcher gets tired, starts throwing walks or being hit, most attentive managers take him out of the game. When policies fail, as in the case of the security system that didn't work to spot the alleged Christmas bomber, the President starts acting tough with bluster about the buck stopping here and orders to straighten out a failed system.
But when tens of thousands of workers, once again, lose their jobs, the people responsible get winked at, not yanked. The President is contrite, his rhetoric subdued, even as the recovery he keeps talking about goes south.
Yes, there needs to be a cabinet shake-up. It's time to yank Tim Geithner from the game along with advisor Larry Summers. Their pro-bank, pro-Wall Street policies are failing. Isn't it obvious? According to an AP investigation, their road construction projects have had no impact on the job crisis.
The Establishment will lean towards a Republican to replace him, like FDIC Chairman Sheila Baer who has proven to be far more competent and outspoken than her counterparts.
Geithner acts like a stalking horse for the people responsible for the meltdown. It's time to say "sayonara," and appoint someone with the people's interest at heart. There is no shortage of capable and committed Democratic economists that can replace him. How about Elizabeth Warren or Joe Stiglitz or Brooksley Born or Simon Johnson or even, for op-ed's sake, Paul Krugman?
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