Michale.....

Assumes (some) facts not in evidence...yet! Give it a little bit of time, my friend. It just SEEMS like Obama's been in office too long. :D

If Obama pushes the CAP/TRADE program in ANY form, he will be a one-term president.

Michale......

Brownie didn't have the first clue about what he was doing. Timmy does, and then some. That's change enough for me!

Assumes facts not in evidence..

From all appearances, the only thing "Timmy" knows how to do is royally screw up the economy...

The hysterical Left jumped all over Bush for his loyalty to Brown..

How is Obama's loyalty to Timmy any different?

@CW

I see your points. And it IS in keeping with Obama's folksy approach to leadership. On a visceral level, it just rubs me the wrong way.

"I did not say I approve. I said I understand."
-Commander Spock, STAR TREK, A Taste Of Armageddon

Mainly, it's the hypocrisy of the Left that bugs me... Present company excepted, of course. :D

As for "Timmy" (It's easier than having to Cut N Paste his last name all the time.. :D) I don't think he will last. Obama will bow to political pressure to can him, just as Bush had to do with Rumsfield or Brown. While it's easy to say that Rumsfield and Brown were incompetent there doesn't appear to be any competence coming from Timmy... He has CAUSED more of the economic problems than he has fixed...

He'll be gone by summer. 1000 quatloos....

Michale.....

Another bigger story everyone seems to be missing is that Wall Street execs getting obscene "bonuses" is nothing new. But -- for the first time in a long time a Wall Street firm has a majority of "share holders" who care about corporate assets being converted into personal wealth.

As I've said before, the bulk of our businesses are not primarily about business, as in goods and services. They are about marketing, as in increasing the perceived value of shares -- aka Ponzi scheme.

Addressing that, so American business once again becomes, not just stable but genuinely productive, will require not just re-regulation, but a cultural shift.

Its no accident that the financial sector is our largest economic sector. That with the economic collapse hundreds of billions were "lost." -- Those billions simply never really existed, just paper profits in an entirely artificial economy.

- Lew

--- And congratulations to Mrs. Weigant. Welcome!

I hope I'm not the only one around here who thinks Geithner knows what the heck he's doing. And, besides...who in their right mind would want the job after Geithner is forced to resign? Seriously!

I'm betting Geithner stays until the bitter end, for what it's worth.

I don't agree. I think it's just a sign of the times, no matter what the party affiliation.

Rudy Giuliani went on Saturday Night Live the first (live) show they held after 9/11. He cracked a joke or two. Lorne Michaels asked him "Is it OK for us to be funny?" (since nobody really knew how to properly react or behave at that point).

Mayor Giuliani, with good comedic timing, answered "Why start now?"

The crowd loved it. I thought it was a classy thing for him to do, at the time, and would have said so if I had been blogging back then. Of course, I didn't support him for president or anything, but I lost no respect for him by his appearance.

The first sitting president to appear on any comedy show (it was a taped message, not live, from the White House) was Gerald Ford on SNL, in something like 1976. Just for the record.

But the Tonight Show is nothing more than a vehicle, a medium. If Obama wants to use it to talk to the American people, fine with me. If Bush had done so, I admit I would have yelled at the screen -- but for what he said, not for his being there in the first place.

I was actually astounded that the story became "Obama made a gaffe" as I didn't even notice it when he said it, nor did Jay, and nor did the audience. Not to say it wasn't a mistake to say it, but still, the entire thing just showed me (again) that the media was out of touch. Anyone who watched Leno would have talked about other things the next day around the watercooler, I bet. Even the people who hate him, I bet they would have focused on different aspects of Obama's appearance. And his supporters seemed to think he did great. So, once again, the media went into a frenzy and missed the "big picture" story, which was that Americans are probably OK with a president going on Leno or Letterman once in a while.

OsborneInk -

You may be right. I'm not so sure this holds for individual departments (as opposed to "the government" as a whole). But I (blush) didn't have time to look it up, so I just assumed they'd have to pay for it for the sake of writing the article. It wasn't really qualified to be a "talking point" in the first place, so the whole point was kind of a reach for this format, I fully admit.

Michale -

Yeah, well, presidents always say "I fully support him" right up until they announce "his resignation" usually "to spend more time with his family." Bush was memorable indeed with the Brownie line, but really, they all do this (see: Bush talking about Rumsfeld right before the axe fell, for instance).

But the larger point is an interesting one that I have been thinking about: do you think Geithner will survive as SecTres? Or will he be forced to walk the plank at some point? It's really an open question to me right now. I've even thought about running a contest, but that would be kind of mean-spirited at this point. I'm still willing to give them a little more time before I do something like that.

What do others think, though? What are the chances Geithner will still be in his job this time next year? I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts....

-CW

Brownie didn't have the first clue about what he was doing. Timmy does, and then some. That's change enough for me!

And, good on Obama! I wouldn't accept that resignation, either. In fact, Treasury Secretary Geithner has become my new favourite person in the Obama/BIDEN administration.

President Bush, regarding Michael Brown:
"You're doing a heckuva job, Brownie"
-2003

Once again, I have to ask...

Where is the change???

Michale.....

TP #6 would be at virtually NO cost. Stations using PUBLIC airwaves are required to broadcast a certain number of PSAs, including "digital transition" ads. So the gov't will not have to pay for the airtime, and the Recovery.org logo can splash on every TV screen.

You know me, CW... I **NEVER** nit pick.. :D

But the ink being spilled is not over a Presidential CANDIDATE appearing on a comedy show... The point is that we have a SITTING President appearing on a comedy show in the midst of three wars and the worst economic crisis in almost a century..

THAT does deserve some ink being spilled in my HUMBLE opinion.. :D

Imagine the outcry from the hysterical Left had Bush did Leno in Nov of 2001... It would have been deafening and rightly so...

I'll get to your TPs later today. I am at the shop and it's kinda busy...

Michale.....

...Stan