U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, right, looks at an armored driver enclosure for the U.S. Army’s Stryker vehicle yesterday in Washington, Pa. (AP Photo/Post-Gazette, Bob Donaldson)
Associated Press | Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday it’s “deeply unfair”
that some financial institutions that got taxpayer-paid bailouts are
emerging in better shape from the recession than millions of ordinary
Americans.
He acknowledged public outrage over that and said people watched with
disdain as Washington protected high-risk banks and investment houses,
even as the national unemployment rate was soaring to double-digit
levels for the first time in a generation.
But in a nationally broadcast interview, Geithner also argued that President Barack Obama had no choice when confronted with a financial crisis.
“As the president has said, we had to do some very unpopular things,” Geithner said. “People looked at what had happened.”
“It’s not fair. It’s deeply unfair,” he said. “He (Obama) had to decide whether he was going to act to fix it or stand back — and that would have been calamitous for the American economy.”
The government eventually embarked on a program of assisting the threatened financial institutions, and the sweeping, multibillion-dollar Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) created as a bailout engine.
Geithner also said that administration officials are “very worried” about recovering the more than 8 million jobs lost in the recession. But he noted that business growth has been improving and expects the economy “is going to start creating jobs again.”
The secretary agreed that the national jobless rate — now at 9.7 percent –; is “still terribly high and is going to stay unacceptably high for a very long time” because of the damage caused by the recession.
“Just because this was the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,” Geithner said, “a huge amount of damage was done to businesses and families across the country — and it’s going to take us a long time to heal that damage. “
More than 11 million people now are drawing unemployment insurance benefits, and the overall jobless rate of 9.7 percent understates the true level of economic misery because many people who give up looking for work are no longer in the official count of the unemployed. The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday will release a report on conditions in the labor markets in March.
Geithner said he hopes skeptical voters will note legislation moving through Congress to bring reforms to the financial system.
“What happened in our country should never happen again,” he said. “People were paid for taking enormous risks. It was a crazy way to run a financial system.” Geithner said, “It’s the government’s job — to do a better job of restraining that kind of risk-taking.”
Geithner is a real genius. How long has it taken Obama and Co. to figure this out?
George W Bush messed up the economy so badly that it will take Geithner and Obama years to clean it up. Just be patient people, hope is coming.
Obama and company talk but do nothing about it, they could really care less
Re-Instate the Glass steagall act if he “cares’ so much!
Each President inherits the success or failures of the previous administration.
Clinton was extremely fortunate to have inherited a country in relatively good condition economically and no major wars.
Obama inherited an economy in ruins due to financial mismanagement by major banks and investment firms, not to mention two wars in the Middle East.
Some of the country’s largest companies are doing just fine… See this. Their hoarding their cash reserves in anticipation of another dip in the economy. They could start hiring immediately if they wanted to and the snowball effect would be more people working, more people with disposable cash and more people spending money which has a cyclical effect on the entire economy. All we need is for a couple of these major companies to start hiring again and the rest will follow suit.
http://www.impactlab.com/2010/03/24/big-companies-amassing-record-cash-reserves-as-the-economy-picks-up/
Isn’t Geithner the guy who oversaw the New York Fed? He must be so smart as to not have foreseen the financial collapse.
I agree with John C. above…
RE-INSTATE THE GLASS STEAGALL ACT!!!!!!!!!!!
While the partisans point fingers at the other team, Corporate America continues to escape blame as the real reason there are fewer jobs and opportunities in this country. Bought and paid for politicians in Washington passed job destroying bills such as NAFTA and continue to do the corporation’s bidding. This coupled with an insatiable sense of greed and a total disregard of the economic and personal suffering that their lust for excessive profits has caused does not bode well for the average American worker.
I think corporate America has taken advantage of this recession to deliberately cut jobs and make their current workforce work harder, longer hours for less pay (while the top executive management gets huge bonuses for the effort). This mentality is not going to change anytime soon and it will only get worse. The funny thing is, if these companies would focus just a little bit less on profit margins, it would take a huge bite out of unemployment.
Nothing, and I mean nothing, is worse for a democratic society than to have people out of work….people who WANT to work…not the 3%-5% of people who won’t (any society has that).
This is more media fodder to set all the sheeple up for a future where – gee things did get better when in the Spring of 2010 ‘unemployment will remain unacceptably high for a while’ -
Geithner give me a break – the more debt you and your commrade in arms BO pile up the less ‘cash’ there is for other uses. There needs to be a balanced budget ammendment inroduced and passed NOW!!!! Stop the spin!!!
I just wish Geithner would share some of his successful tax cheating techniques with us.
Obama should have given US the money (taxpayers) so we could pay off bills, stay in our homes, and stimulate the economy with purchase, deciding with businesses stayed in business and failed with the consumer power of our dollars.
Our country will be bankrupt from paying out all these unemployment benefits; and when federal extentions run out; where there be soup kitchens in the streets to feed the masses of starving people?
Where were the bailouts for all the other industries? Why the bailouts for the industries that supported Obama; and everyone else was screwed over? Im a laid off from a defense contractor because Obama slashed the budgets severely and put more people out of work. Where was the bailout money for my industry? None! Because that industry didnt support him politically. Obama is punishing all those industies and states that did not support him; and he wants to burn them down to nothing.
Yes; I agree; the bailout money should have been given out to people to keep from losing their homes; it would have been money better spent. The banks were bailed out with taxpayer dollars; and good luck trying to get your mortgage adjusted or refinanced if youre underwater and/or out of work. The taxpayers bailed out the banks; and the banks screwed the taxpayers.
$5000 grand is all I need. This will get me over a the hump.
This current administration seems to find this unemployment level acceptable since they are doing nothing about it. Their agenda right now is to take control of the auto industry, banking, the insurance industry, all helthcare…… They sure don’t seem to care about jobs going to india, china, or mexico. RECESSION is when your neighbor loses his job. DEPRESSION is when you lose your job. RECOVERY is when this whole administration is thrown out on the street. And the sheeple will keep voting these bums in.
Goose | April 1, 2010 9:31 AM | Reply
Goose,
Im very sorry about your unfortunate circumstances however the defense industry has been one of the biggest welfare recipients in this country’s history. The USA spends more $ on defense the all other countries in the world combined. The welfare trough certainly hasnt neglected the military industrial complex. Im sorry you lost you job but citizens need to realize that a bankrupt sugar daddy (fed gov’t) can not provide for you. Businesses need to get back to focusing on what the consumer wants rather then lobbying the feds for sustenance.
I’ve read your posting before. ResumeSolutionsPro.com experience writing resumes is minimal at best. Don’t use this service.
China up 8 to 10%.. NAFTA – free pass for those who have it all and not want to give it up. USA the lady liberty carry’s now a foreclosure sign and the welcome sign an Ellis Island know reads COME ON IN… FIRE SALE you can find it on E-AY!
One possible positive… local, county, and fed government, you can not milk blood from a turnip. Time to cut back on your corruption and payback schemes and remove the slackers from your payroll. Do you really need 4 guys looking down a hole to determine it IS wholly and hole?
High unemployment is the usual result of Democrat Party policies. Illinois, one of the worst states for employers, always is a leader in unemployment. When those strategies are put in place to affect the entire country, the entire US suffers. When you create big government, you are moving to a position where more people are employed by government than by private industry. Guess what? That means no exports! That means high taxes to pay for government! That means employers must move manufacturing out of the country. That means more unemployment! Why are people so dumb to not realize that with every government program established, they become a $1000/yr poorer? The current administration has spent zero effort addressing unemployment. In fact, most of the policies will cause employers to incur more costs, reducing cash, requiring more layoffs! How can people be so stupid as to think that the country can survive without employers?
More political spin. It really is BS. “Don’t be mad at the administration for the healthcare plan which will cripple this nation. Be mad at the banks.” The same banks who paid back TARP – WITH INTEREST PEOPLE!!!
The reason the banks can’t lend and hire is because they have to prepare for the unfair “bank tax” which is Obama’s misguided attempt to recoup the part of TARP which is a GIFT to labor unions in the from of propping up the auto industry. Money which will NEVER be recouped from Chrysler and GM!
See Obama for the socialist he is. Sadly I was on the hopium in Nov 2008. It’s time to sweep out the Dems and get in fiscally responsible representation to reverse and clean up this mess!
I continue to see headlines “unemployment increases less than expected”. The latest report was an increase in unemployment claims of only just over 400,000! This was “less than expected”. My conclusion: the people who worry about the economy know that Obama and his Congress will continue policies that increase unemployment. Their estimates about how bad each month might be are often a little off (about 1% for March!). Why do we have a state run news media? Why wasn’t the headline: “Obama and Congress continue to raise unemployment by 100s of thousands per month”? Or simply: “Administration lets unemployment increase massively again”? Or: Democrats continue to run jobs out of the country? ….
While Obama and Democrats have obsessed for the past year about their government takeover of healthcare, unemployment increased in 27 U.S. states in February and dropped in only seven.
After the Scott Brown upset, Obama again promised a pivot to jobs. But, of course, he never delivered.
Instead, he has championed a stimulus plan that didn’t save or create millions of jobs and a healthcare plan that is already sucking billions of dollars out of employers’ coffers.
Will employers — with healthcare costs now to swell up and tax hikes due in 2011 — really be expanding payrolls? Of course not.
Why have Obama and the Democratic Congress been busy placing new mandates, taxes, and fines on business over the past year while the job picture is still bleak?
It will be hard for incumbents to convince voters who have yet to see any benefit from Obama’s big-government liberal agenda and a good deal of pain (e.g., seniors facing Medicare cuts, small businesses looking at tax bites, unemployed workers) that what we need is more of the same from socialist Democrats.
Vote in November, folks. Vote. Them. Out.
Republicans showed disregard for average Americans for years, at least now it’s crystal clear that Democrats are no different. Then again, average Americans are too dumb to see what happened years ago, look where the stuff you buy is made – that’s where the jobs are.
There are plenty of jobs overseas with US Companies – jobs that could be used stateside. We should boycott those companies. Though the US Goverment is creating shovel -ready jobs, most Americans can’t do that type of work. Why does Hilton, Avis, Delta, US AIr and countless others, have their callcenters overseas?!!! Those are jobs many Americans are qualified to do.
Yes, Tim, it is extremely unfair that all your friends in the banking and financial industries came out in great shape since the Federal government gave them taxpayer money to be used at their discretion.
The money was supposed to be put back into the economy through loans, but the banks just kept it to prop themselves up through no-risk investments.
Nice job, Tim. Glad you’re looking out for the middle and lower classes.
NOTE: This guy, along with Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke, were completely blind to what the financial industry was doing until it was too late. They were all in positions to address the problem much sooner, but it was more important they protect their friends at Goldman Sachs and other “select” financial firms. These guys sold America for a few shekels and walked away scot free.
Is there really a difference between Dem and Rep? IMHO it is all just one huge political game.
It’s like playing the game Risk but with real characters.
I certainly get tired of voters blaming Bush for the state of unemployment. It’s about time voters wake up and realize where to point the finger for the problem of unemployment. It’s them when they voted Democrats in office in November, 2006 as a result of their protest of the Iraq War. At that time, unemployment was at 4.3%. As recently as May, 2007 it still stood at 4.3%. Where is it now? Democratic policies are anti-American business, but where do you think the jobs come from?
They should have figured it out when they discovered he was a tax cheat….but that didn’t stop him!
OR they are amasssing cash for the onslaught of healthcare costs ($1 billion for AT&T alone) and higher taxes this administration is imposing as well as the continued downturn this economy will suffer as the debt just keeps rising……
Unemployment doesn’t seem very high if you’re a politically connected road contractor these days.
As someone who is conservative and likes smaller government, the greed factor has now rendered lawless capitalism and tax cuts for the rich moot. These folks in finance took great, GREAT risks, gambled hard, and got propped back up when things soured. They made bookoo dollars on the way up AND on the way down. Now it’s time that they paid 91% income tax on their earnings for the pleasure of keeping their jobs. I’m still for letting companies fail and for less taxation, but in this case–and with a broad, sweeping populace so much in ruin–I’m all for taxing these risk-takers for their unbridled greed.
Turbo Tim…. who couldn’t do his own taxes….. finally gets it? I don’t think so. He’s still a clueless bureaucrat who is more of the problem, certainly not part of the solution. He fiddled while Rome burned and now is the apologist for Obama? Not buying it.
Undo the too many mergers that occurred. Whenever companies merge, they slash jobs big time. Undo mergers and create better service and jobs!
there’s no jobs — hopeless. I have to move to Asia teaching English – kind of funny, isn’t it? That now us Americans have to leave home for jobs, survival — become immigrants.