STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 19 July 2012

[DemReadingDU]

54. Timothy Geithner Peppered TARP Inspector General Barofsky With F-Bombs: Book

7/19/12 Timothy Geithner Peppered TARP Inspector General Barofsky With F-Bombs: Book

"I never would have imagined that one day one of the most powerful government officials in the world would be dropping f-bombs on me." That's Neil Barofsky's response to being on the receiving end of an epic tantrum by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in the fall of 2009, after Barofsky dared to suggest that Geithner had perhaps not been the most transparent Treasury secretary in the entire history of the country.

Warning: Sailor talk ahoy!

"Neil, I have been the most fucking transparent secretary of the Treasury in this country's entire fucking history!" Geithner erupted, in an episode that had Barofsky wondering if Geithner was going to "throttle" him. At the time, Barofsky was the special inspector general in charge of oversight of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

It's one of the juicier episodes in Barofsky's new book, "Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street." The book recounts Barofsky's front-row view of how the Bush and Obama administrations handled the bailouts of banks, auto makers and homeowners after the financial crisis. Few players come off looking great in the book, but Geithner and his Treasury Department are cast in a particularly bad light.

Congress created Barofsky's position of special inspector general to keep tabs on how TARP money would be spent. Though a Democrat who donated to President Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, Barofsky was appointed by President George W. Bush and had a cordial relationship with then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. Barofsky hoped for even better things from the Obama administration. Instead, Geithner's treatment of Barofsky ranged from disdain to thundering rage.


more...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/19/timothy-geithner-neil-barofsky-tarp_n_1686047.html