Geithner cashes in on Wall Street - Many more to follow

[Teamster Jeff]

>>>
Deutsche Bank was one of Geithner’s first stops, and it paid the former Treasury Secretary and New York Fed chief $200,000 for one speech in June. Two hundred thousand dollars.

But for the Germans, it’s the least they can do to thank Geithner for his service.

Back in 2008, when he was head of the New York Federal Reserve, Geithner gave AIG’s creditors a backdoor bailout by ensuring that they wouldn’t have to take losses on the credit-default swaps bets that had offloaded their CDO risk to the insurer.

Before Geithner got his hands on it, AIG had been negotiating haircuts with its Wall Street counterparties of as much as 40 percent. but when Geithner took over the once-AAA giant:

Part of a sentence in the document was crossed out. It contained a blank space that was intended to show the amount of the haircut the banks would take, according to people who saw the term sheet. After less than a week of private negotiations with the banks, the New York Fed instructed AIG to pay them par, or 100 cents on the dollar.

One of those banks was Deutsche Bank, which helped create the subprime CDO racket and was on the hook for up to $8.5 billion if AIG went under.

Thanks to Geithner, the Germans got all their money back via US taxpayers and Too Big to Fail went international. His office later tried to cover up the details of the bailout by forcing AIG not to disclose that it had paid 100 cents on the dollar to its CDS counterparties—a fact that the SEC asked the insurer to disclose.
>>>

http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/geithner_cashes_in_on_wall_str.php

[Vinnie From Indy]

1. These guys are all mobsters

In a just world they would be in prison.

[Teamster Jeff]

3. Yes. Lowlifes in three piece suits with Ivy League credentials nt

[xtraxritical]

8. Appointed by the President btw.

[Teamster Jeff]

12. The President himself hasn't made any enemies in the "Old Boys Network" mentioned down thread nt

The people that he has let down and pissed off don't pay big $$ for speaking engagements.

[colorado_ufo]

22. That one appointment did it for me.

Of all the people who could possibly have been appointed to that post, the president appointed this guy. The president is not a stupid man; therefore, there was no excuse possible. That's when I pretty much lost hope for "change."

[AnneD]

36. This about sums up how I felt....

When I read his cabinet selection, I knew we were p3wned.

I was angry because I worked OT just to donate to the campaign in addition to volunteering time. After the announcement and especially after he renominated Bernanke, I washed my hands of it. Last election cycle, I went Green. Not that it means shit, Texas still went Romney, but my message was for the DEMs.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

2. Then the Germans went after the Greeks ...

... because, well they weren't responsible financially.

Un-fucking-believable.

Democrats, Republicans - who needs them.

K&R

[truebrit71]

4. If anyone had any doubt that the game is rigged....THIS should finally put paid to that...

...they fuck us over, time and time again, and then they laugh all the way to their (too big to fail) banks...

[truedelphi]

5. This man should have beenwearing an orange jump suit, for all the illegal maneuvers he

Pulled off in Autumn of 2008. Instead, he headed up Treasury, much to the delight of AIG and Goldman Sachs, and while there, he lied to Congress, which should have seen him impeached from the position.

[Unknown Beatle]

6. They're ripping us off in broad daylight,

in front of us, for everyone to see their malfeasance, and they just don't care because they know they'll get away with their crimes.

Shameless Motherfuckers!

[byeya]

7. An ex post facto bribe? Raygun got $1 million for a speech in Japan. Agree with poster above

who said these guys are mobsters.

[limpyhobbler]

9. shocking in an everyday business-as-usual sort of way. nt

[Octafish]

10. Old Boys Network

The members don't actually have to be old or boys, just connected. Heh heh heh.

"Dear Mr. Greenspan, I think you're pretty terrific ... " -- Tim Geithner at the 2006 FOMC meeting

http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/01/19/follies-at-the-fed/

[Enrique]

11. i wonder if he knew about this possibility when he was in office

for example when he decided to blow off Obama's order to study breaking up the banks?

I wonder if Jack Lew will hear about Geithner's good fortune?

[vinny9698]

13. Of course they know

That's how the game is played. Will be played until something is done. Board of Directors give each other bonuses and set their own salaries regardless of their performance.

[Divernan]

27. Pathetic attempt to slip in an excuse/defense for Obama's appt. of Geithner

"when he decided to blow off Obama's order to study breaking up the banks"!?!?!?

Here's how it works, Enrique. The president appoints someone to his cabinet and the president can remove any cabinet member who doesn't follow orders.

Most likely scenario: "Hey Tim, I'm going to get some PR/cover by "ordering" you to "study" breaking up the banks." Wink-wink, nudge-nudge.

And of course it's yet another and classic level of political stall and delay of actually taking any action by commissioning a "study".

Also a classic move by politicians to further shake down big corporate donors by commissioning a study of some issue which would impact their profits.

[Enrique]

38. i totally agree

in hindsight, I should have put gigantic quote marks around "ordered" because i agree with everything you said.

[awoke_in_2003]

34. Hmm, how do you blow off a presidential order...

and still keep the job? Probably because the "order" was a joke at best.

[JDPriestly]

14. Corruption. And it happens with former presidents and former cabinet ministers on a regular

basis. We need a law that prohibits our former government employees regardless of their position from profiting from the decisions they make and favors they do in office.

It is downright disgusting.

This is done on credit. The government officials and even bureaucrats perform favors while in office and then collect their fees or pay offs once they leave.

It's disgusting.

Of course, even worse are those that capitalize on the inside knowledge they get as "public servants" to inside trade on the stock market while still serving in office or to make sure that bills that will provide income to their husband's or other family member's companies pass.

Why do we accept this corruption? This makes for extremely dishonest government.

No wonder they want to put us under surveillance.

They want to know what we know about their wrongdoing and deals. So they want to know what we read and with whom we communicate.

Sorry to be so suspicious and negative. But the surveillance disclosures have made me more cynical than ever about our government and the American press.

[russspeakeasy]

25. If we have one good investigative reporter, I am

at a loss for his/her name.

[JDPriestly]

33. So true. But when you consider the PRISM program and the extent of the surveillance,

it isn't any wonder.

A good reporter would not get good sources. They would be silenced from the get-go.

[Divernan]

28. Many governors go on to multiple Board of Directors appointments

And those can pay hundreds of thousands each per year, what with stock options, etc. We expect PA Gov. Corbett has lined up directorships with Big Fracking, and the special interests he's trying to privatize state services to (like operating the Turnpike and taking over the state liquor stores).

[snot]

15. K&R'd! This is so very impt., and still so little known.

& bookmarked.

[East Coast Pirate]

16. Hater.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

17. Who else is going to cash in? And cash in big time?

[Teamster Jeff]

18. Eric Holder

[AnotherMcIntosh]

19. Yes, him too.

I was thinking about another guy, a chessmaster.

He's brilliant, they tell me.

[Teamster Jeff]

20. Lol..Ya he won't have to worry about missing any meals

[awoke_in_2003]

35. The president, once out of office...

but that is nothing new for most of them.

[liberal_at_heart]

21. this is why democrats are just as crooked as republicans. Why did they never

prosecute bankers? Because they themselves are getting paid.

[another_liberal]

23. "Get a rope!"

Oh, for that Old West style justice. (sigh)

[Teamster Jeff]

24. Jail time would be fine with me nt

[Waiting For Everyman]

26. There's the sickening traitor, if anybody wants to talk treason.

One of them, at any rate.

[liberal_at_heart]

29. I agree.

[HiPointDem]

30. geithner has a pedigree; he came from an elite & connected background to begin with.

here's maternal uncle...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Moore_%28State_Department_official%29

moores = ford motor, banking & government.

geithners = real estate, banking, and government.

[Junkdrawer]

31. LIBOR

I've always thought this was The Geithner Plan to "save the banks".

[liberal_at_heart]

32. and still no arrests even after the LIBOR and ratings agency scandals.

[BlueCheese]

37. $200,000 for one speech?

There's no way that a speech can be worth that much. This is a paycheck with a flimsy cover story.

[Egalitarian Thug]

39. Gee, I'm shocked, shocked I tell you!!!

Of course the President had no clue that this kind of thing would happen, or about how anything ever works for that matter.
& R

[thesquanderer]

40. In my head, I always hear "Geithner" the way Seinfeld says "Newman" (n/t)