Is the Devil in the Details?

By Mark Riley




Of all President Barack Obama's cabinet picks, I was most nervous about Tim Geithner, his choice for Treasury Secretary. Not that I knew much about him, but the idea that he was an integral part of putting together the TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program) bailout made me wonder.

Now his plan to spend the second half of the TARP money (and a whole lot more) has others wondering as well. Geithner's plan lacked much of what both lawmakers and the public had hoped for. There were few specifics about how the plan would accomplish its goals of helping banks, unfreezing the credit markets, and slow the ever spiraling rate of home foreclosures.

We do know this. It will be a week or two before the Obama Administration, and not Treasury, unveils a $50 billion dollar plan to deal with the foreclosure crisis.



That's a week or two too long. The public ought to be able to see tangible benefits from both the bailout and stimulus plans, and right now it doesn't look like they will right away.

The other obvious question is this. Is $50 billion dollars enough to help struggling homeowners when 10,000 American families a day are falling into some stage of foreclosure?

Combine Geithner's hazy vision of the bailout with reports that he resisted the effort of presidential aides to impose tough oversight on those financial institutions receiving help, and one can't be optimistic about his tenure thus far.

Some lawmakers are calling Geithner's plan "Son of Paulson", referring to the disbursement of the first half of the bailout money. We still know little about where that money went. We do know it didn't do what Hank Paulson told us it would.

Is Tim Geithner asking the American people to throw good money after bad? More importantly, is he the right person to guide the nation's troubled financial ship of state?

You tell me. I'm not optimistic.

What Exactly is Important?

By Mark Riley



Today's blog entry is a message to struggling Americans who are wondering how they'll make ends meet, and why the travails of Alex Rodriguez seems so much more important than their livelihoods. Take heart, America. Some people do, in fact, get it.

With all the arguments over the stimulus plan, where the other half of the TARP money will go and with how much oversight, it seems easy to overlook what it feels like to have spent your life working and through no fault of your own, suddenly to be thrown out of a job.

That gnawing feeling in your gut that no medicine can cure comes and goes. You look in the eyes of your children and realize your teachings about the value of hard work are suddenly suspect.

The phone calls from bill collectors come, and you find yourself walking around the house, trying to figure out if there's something you're doing wrong.

Why haven't there been more responses to your resume? How will next month's mortgage be paid? Will you have to skimp on needed medication in order to pay your utility bill? Will all the stuff politicians argue about really make a difference?

In these times of economic crisis, it's hard to find reasons to take heart. But understand this.

Your economic survival is just as important as that of an investment banker, a hedge fund manager, and yes, even some media pundit. Those folks think they live in a different world than you. They're wrong.

You can find some comfort in the notion that we have a person in the White House who at least understands that a 15% unemployment rate in any American city is a problem for all America. He's promised transparency in the way stimulus money is spent. The nation needs to hold him to it as we believe he means it.

What is important? No, it's not A-Rod, Chris Brown, Rihanna, John Boehner or John McCain.

It's you. Tell me your story...post it here so we can learn from each other?