Geithner Plan Shows They Have No New Plan

Wait. It’s coming. We’re working on it. It’s coming. 

For weeks we have been hearing about how the ‘plan’ was coming. The economic brilliance of Geithner would shine. The key piece of the equation that we need, one that would get the bank credit/loan traffic flowing again, would be put in place. Much thought. Much planning. Must be a big dang serious piece of work they were working on.

Today, Geithner revealed their (Obama and his) “plan”. And it looks just like Secretary Paulson’s plan. 

I believe this plan was rolled out by Paulson last September. But it was tossed aside. Let’s not even waste time on the details as to why. Unimportant.

Then, Obama is sworn in, and he sell to the public and Congress that the very first, most important thing we have to get done is the stimulus package. So important it is that we must do it in the dead of night, without reading it. Amidst claims that he is just pushing through power grabs and expansion of Government (which of course benefits Democrats), Obama instead claimed that this package was inherently important to our recovery. It simply could not wait.

Then, after $780+ Billion was signed off on, we all sat, and watched. And, watched. And the market tanked. 

Obama and his team then told us that they needed to continue with a solution that would allow credit to flow again, in order to make the economy more fluid. So, what we can conclude here was, the stimulus was not the whole picture, and of course could not get us out of the stagnation we were experiencing in the markets. 

So over a month later, we are given a plan. But this plan is, as stated, virtually the same damn plan offered by Paulson, LAST SEPTEMBER!!!

Oh boy. Do you mean to tell me that, the most/more important part of getting our economy back on its feet was postponed to push through a partisan power grab? Are you telling me that the apparent “key” to success was postponed for over a month in favor of passing stimulus, that would in fact not help the country for months, and in the end, turns out to be nothing more than a rehash of a plan presented LAST SEPTEMBER???

Who in the HELL is running this country? Groucho Marx? With this kind of mental acuity, perhaps Obama could qualify for the special Olympics after all.

What this really illustrates is, the time spent from inauguration until now was spent trying to find a better plan. And they didn’t. So much for Geithner being the key piece required to solve this dilemma. Maybe Barry needs to put Paulson back on. Or at least on speed dial. Give him a ring while Geithner is out for a smoke.

Said Senator Judd Gregg-

“We can’t afford this.The president’s budget spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much. I don’t think I’ve witnessed this level of unease about a budget certainly in the time that I’ve been here. What’s being proposed here is a massive increase in taxes in order to massively increase the size of the government and have virtually no fiscal discipline on the side of borrowing. The effect of it will be that it will pass on to our children a debt ratio which is not sustainable … a public debt of about 80 percent of GDP, which basically is the type of debt ratio you see in banana republics. And it stays at that level for as far as the eye can see, along with deficits that are about 4 percent to 5 percent of GDP. Those aren’t sustainable numbers, so we’ve got to take another look at this, and figure out a way to close down the gap.”

Pulitzer prize winning economist Paul Krugman chimed in as well. I am no fan of Krugman. I feel he is too partisan to be taken seriously on some issues. However, I add what he said here because he is a friend of the left.

Said Krugman: 

“This is more than disappointing. In fact it fills me with a sense of despair.”

 

“If this plan fails – as it almost surely will – it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to persuade Congress to come up with more funds to do what he should have done in the first place.”

Amazing. We waited a month after a stimulus that was not needed was rammed through, to have a more important part of the puzzle to be put into place, and that piece turns out to be a plan that was submitted in theory last September. Where’s the damn cart and horse in this equation?

Barry- Less bowling. Less Leno. Less 60 minutes. More positions filled in Treasury. Legislate in order. Stop bullshitting us.

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