Spotlight Fixed on Geithner, a Man Obama Fought to Keep

[alp227]

That Mr. Obama went to such lengths to keep Mr. Geithner, after not having done the same with others on his economic team who had left at midterm, underscored how much he had come to rely on Mr. Geithner.

The question for outsiders as varied as Tea Party Republicans and liberal Democrats is why Mr. Obama would be so insistent that Mr. Geithner stay. As Treasury secretary, he was the highest-ranking member of a team that underestimated the depth of the downturn, and he has managed both to anger Wall Street firms and to be a target of criticism at Occupy Wall Street rallies.

For Mr. Obama, however, Mr. Geithner has emerged as the indispensable economic adviser who has outlasted every other member of the original inner circle and whose successes easily outweigh his missteps. The two are not friends exactly — Mr. Geithner rolls his eyes at the idea of playing golf, the president’s preferred form of relaxation — but they are what David Axelrod, Mr. Obama’s political adviser, calls “kindred spirits.”

Europe’s troubles, perhaps more than anything, highlight what Mr. Obama likes about Mr. Geithner, because they help show how the effects of the financial crisis could have been worse in this country.

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/us/politics/spotlight-fixed-on-geithner-a-man-obama-fought-to-keep.html

[frazzled]

1. The most interesting part was near the end

In the summer of 2010, for example, Mr. Geithner tried to get the White House to fight to make sure the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy expired at the end of that year as scheduled — not only to reduce deficits but to be more fair.

“The most affluent 400 earners in 2007, who earned an average of more than $340 million each that year, paid only 17 percent of their income in taxes — a lower rate than many who consider themselves middle-class Americans,” Mr. Geithner said in a speech at the time, as he tried to lead the charge against Republicans’ push to extend the rates.

Yet Mr. Obama did not take up the cause, dissuaded by Democrats in Congress who were worried about how a tax fight might affect the midterm elections.

Everyone likes to scapegoat Mr. Geithner, when it's Congressional Democrats that are usually the culprit in everything.

[bhikkhu]

2. The compromise to extend the tax cuts came at a critical point -

when the GOP had just picked up 63 seats in the midterm elections and taken control of congress, and taken control of many state legislatures as well.

I don't think its unfair to say - elections have consequences, and that one backed Obama into a corner where he cut the best deal he could to extend unemployment benefits. Lets try to do better next time, and have better results!

[Proud Liberal Dem]

3. Obama would be foolhardy to get rid of anybody crucial at the moment

outside of some major scandal as there's a REAL likelihood that the Republican handcuffed Senate would never confirm a replacement for him for any of his posts before 2013 and in order to win approval, he'd have to nominate an ultra-conservative replacement that any Republican would nominate (and maybe not even due to their aversion to anything or anybody promoted by Obama). I mean, hell, until the flu became a major problem in 2009, they were holding up even Sebelius' nomination for HHS Secretary.

[MjolnirTime]

4. your vendetta is misplaced.

[babylonsister]

5. What is that supposed to mean, and welcome to DU. nt