Running And Ruining America For The Benefit Of China
By Cliff Kincaid
January 21, 2009
On CNN on January 16, Lou Dobbs, perhaps the most honest and outspoken major media commentator, told the truth about the Wall Street bailout. "Treasury Secretary Paulson basically used the money to bail out his buddies on Wall Street, and don't let anybody kid you," he said.
One day earlier, however, the Senate had voted 52-42 to give Paulson's successor another $350 billion. That successor is supposed to be another Wall Street insider, Timothy Geithner. He is just as tainted as Paulson.
As President Obama takes office, America has become an international laughingstock―a "Bailout Nation" that continues to slide further and further into debt as bailout after bailout fails to work. Yet, Obama's prescription is more of the same.
Appropriately perhaps, Geithner's problems of serial tax avoidance and employment of illegal immigrants have made him a national embarrassment. However, Obama refuses to withdraw his nomination and his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing is scheduled for Wednesday morning.
This is change? Obama, whose Wall Street connections are extremely impressive, obviously believes that his proposal for more federal spending and debt, labeled a fiscal "stimulus," depends on the willingness of the Chinese Communists to finance his policies. Geithner is the one with Chinese connections who is supposed to be able to get that done. But what will be the price?
Even some left-wing "progressives" fear that Geithner doesn't know anything more about running an economy than he does about his own personal finances, and that his policies are destined to fail.
This is a reference to the fact that before he can play around with billions of dollars and the fate of our nation as Treasury Secretary, there is the matter of Geithner being a serial tax evader. Senator Jeff Sessions has expressed concern about this.
When it became known that Geithner was reimbursed for taxes he didn't pay, he then became what ordinary people would call a tax cheat. Our media have been making all kinds of excuses for him.
If you are troubled by the prospect of a tax cheat becoming Treasury Secretary, with jurisdiction over the IRS, Jackie Calmes of the New York Times has explained in a "news" story that Geithner has earned Senate support and will probably win confirmation because of his "qualifications and international respect."
A variation of this theme has been adopted by Rahm Emanuel, Obama's chief of staff. On Sunday's "Meet the Press" TV program, he declared Geithner "the right guy for this job, which is why he has bipartisan support: Senator [Orrin] Hatch, Senator Lindsey Graham, Senator Judd Gregg. He has the right type of qualifications for this challenging moment in time." These are some of the Senate Republicans who have endorsed Geithner for the post.
Geithner's "qualifications" include working for Henry Kissinger, elder statesman of the foreign policy establishment and now an adviser to corporations doing business in China, and serving as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he played a role in the Wall Street and other bailouts. Kissinger recently made headlines on CNBC by proclaiming Obama the architect of a "New World Order" and praising Obama's appointments in the financial realm. Everybody knew that he was talking about his student, Geithner.
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