Yet More House Finance Hearing Geithner Liveblog, Part Two
First liveblog thread here.
Castle: I want to address what you didn’t address. Collins, stability management council. Unanimous agreement we need to do something.
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Geithner Likes It Naked
Joe Donnelly asked Tim Geithner whether we ought to eliminate naked default swaps, arguing that it’s too hard to distinguish hedges from gambling. Donnelly pointed out that we’re taking money out of truck drivers’ pockets and waitress’ pockets to pay off Wall Street’s gambling debts. Ultimately, though, Geithner said we don’t need to–and that it would be very hard to–do that.
Did Chuck Todd Ask about Sacrifice because He’s Been Asked to Sacrifice?
Turns out that Chuck Todd has probably been asked to hold off on any pay raises he has gotten recently. Maybe that’s why he’s so insistent that Main Street “start” making sacrifices.
Yet More House Finance Hearing Geithner Liveblog
If I understand the rules Barney Frank laid down on Tuesday, the members who waited patiently but never got a chance to ask questions on Tuesday (people like Alan Grayson) get to go first.
You can follow along at CSPAN3 or the committee stream.
Frank: When Geithner and Bernanke here on Tuesday, these members were here when they had to leave:
French Execs Shoot Their Gun; Our AIG Employees Accuse US of Extortion
The words extortion and blackmail are
“Reasonable grounds to conclude”
It took a month longer for BushCo to invoke state secrets in the al-Haramain suit than they did in the ACLU suit. In the interim period, they appear to have redefined the program, so as to admit they didn’t have proof that al-Haramain was “associated with al Qaeda.”
Declining Justice: DOJ Lets Statute Run On Bush Criminality
On March 10, 2009 Emptywheel noted that the five year statute of limitation on the initial criminal wiretapping acts by the Bush/Cheney Administration in the al-Haramain case were expiring. Now the final statute of limitations on the criminal wiretaps of al-Haramain has expired as of 12 pm last night.
Again on the al-Haramain Stuff
The WaPo has a front page article blaring about Obama’s horrible record on state secrets.
I agree with the article that Obama’s record on state secrets has been worse than disappointing. But I’m really tired of reporting that misses key facts about the case. Here’s the theme of the WaPo article.
The first signs [that Obama is “forsaking” campaign rhetoric about openness] have come just weeks into the new administration, in a
Brad Miller Asks More Questions about Goldman Sachs
Brad Miller (D-NC) asks the complement to the question I asked last night: Where’s the guy who doesn’t know shit about Wall Street to assess these bailouts?
Brad Miller asks, doesn’t Edward Liddy’s past board membership on Goldman Sachs create the appearance of conflict of interest–not to mention someone without the sufficient distance to approach this problem fairly?
Geithner doesn’t seem too troubled about any potential conflict of interest.
Brad Sherman Predicts This Will Work Out Badly
Brad Sherman predicts this is not going to work out well for the taxpayer. First, he predicts we’re going to fail to do anything to reel in Wall Street:
What I fear here is that we are doing a kabuki theater in three acts:
The first act, Washington tells the American people, “we understand your anger at Wall Street.”
In the second act, we nitpick to death any proposal that actually adversely affects
