I'll believe it when I see it. The problem continues to be that sure, we can probably all agree on this talk but look who is leading the charge. Until Geithner does something to gain credibility, it's only Geithner talking, so it's meaningless. If there's a person out there besides Obama (in public) who is impressed with him during these tricky times or even has faith in him getting the job done, I have yet to hear.
Critics of the Obama administration's move last weekend to force out the chairman of General Motors Corp., Rick Wagoner, as a condition for possible additional federal loans say that strong government intervention contrasts with measures placed on the financial industry in return for billions in infusions.GM became a 98 pound weakling so they had sand kicked in their face. There are some banks out there, one in particular that immediately comes to mind, that deserve similar treatment but unfortunately, half of the economic team in Washington comes from that bank. Fat chance we will see any similar sand kicking.
Geithner denied there was a double standard and put banks on notice that they may need to change leadership teams in exchange for accepting more money in the future.
"If, in the future, banks need exceptional assistance in order to get through this, then we'll make sure that assistance comes with conditions, not just to protect the taxpayer but to make sure this is the kind of restructuring necessary for them to emerge stronger," he told "Face the Nation" on CBS. "And where that requires a change of management of the board, we'll do that."
