Truthdig - Ear to the Ground - When They Call, Geithner Answers

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When They Call, Geithner Answers

infiniteunknown.com

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is being accused of listening too much to Wall Street and too little to the rest of the nation.

It’s unsurprising to say the least: A Freedom of Information Act request has discovered that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is in daily two-way communication with a small group of Wall Street CEOs—at Citigroup, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs—while lawmakers like Rep. Xavier Becerra are forced to leave messages for him.

The Associated Press:

Even during his most frenzied days, when Congress is demanding answers or the president himself is calling, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner makes time to talk to a select group of powerful Wall Street bankers.

They are a small cadre of businessmen who have known and worked with Geithner for years, whose multibillion-dollar companies all survived the economic crisis with help from U.S. taxpayers.

When they call, Geithner answers. He has spoken with them immediately after hanging up with President Barack Obama and before heading up to Capitol Hill, between phone calls with senators and after talking with the Federal Reserve chairman, according to a review by The Associated Press of seven months of his appointment calendars.

The calendars, obtained by the AP under the Freedom of Information Act, offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the continued influence of three companies - Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. - whose executives can reach the nation’s most powerful economic official on the phone, sometimes several times a day.

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TAGS: bailout capitalism chase citigroup corruption geithner goldman sachs jpmorgan treasury us treasury wall street

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By jack, October 9 at 5:27 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Recall, even before the nomination was sealed, the strong assertions of a
Trilateralist-controlled Team Obama - generally dismissed by most so-called
progressives as just more wacko conspiracy theory, in part because the assertions came
primarily from the author of 911 Synthetic Terror, Made in USA, in his
Obama the Post Modern Coup.

You don’t have to agree with everything Webster Tarpley says, but it looks like he
called this one spot on - probably none among those posting here drank the
Koolade - but so, so many did, and they’re starting to wake up with one hell-of-a
hangover.

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By so left i am right, October 9 at 4:58 am #

more fuel for the right wing whacko’s and the Palin presidency…

“We..arre…sooo….screwedddd.” -glider

yep

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By glider, October 8 at 9:49 pm #

What a joke! Campaign trail Obama “promised” a “transparent” administration and a cabinet without lobbyists. What we got is transparent corruption and more efficient direct links to corporate CEOs without messy lobbyist intermediates. These Corporatists are able to act so outrageously and do so right in our faces with impunity, because there is no accountability mechanism left. Transparency without accountability is what I would call a nasty spectacle. They are just flipping us the bird and laughing out loud. Corporate governance bought and paid for with barely a whimper from the bought an paid for MSM.

We..arre…sooo….screwedddd.

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By ardee, October 8 at 5:17 pm #

Is there anyone left who would be surprised at this revelation? After all, Wall Street runs the nation while the elected representatives in Congress are far less important to a busy man like Geithner….or his boss as well.

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By glider, October 8 at 4:47 pm #

The disgusting part of the whole mess is that the MSM refuses to take such outrageous abuses of power and put them before the people as is their responsibility. We have an entrenched Corporatocracy and a complicit MSM. With corruption as complex as it is in this instance if you do not have an effective watchdog media the abuses can continue even if they are so blatantly evil. You just have to feel an incredible sense of helplessness, and marvel at what these corporations have managed to accomplish.

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By Mary Ann McNeely, October 8 at 3:31 pm #

Geithner should choke to death on the olive from his third martini.

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By Louise, October 8 at 3:17 pm #

Banks pay former bank robbers to teach them how to avoid getting robbed again. So makes perfect sense Geithner would be working for the banks.

Oh wait a minute! The banks didn’t get robbed, WE DID!

So maybe someone needs to explain to Geithner, he should be taking his years of expertise and using that bank robber experience to teach US how to avoid getting robbed again!

Someone please ... explain this to Congress and the administration. I’ve heard the President has to lobby Congress to get their attention. Can Congress lobby the President? If so, get on with it guys!

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By glider, October 8 at 3:08 pm #

Not a surprise at all. What sticks in my mind along with this confirming revelation, is Geithner being driven to four letter expletives when he was receiving resistance to his plans to give his Bankster buddies at the “Federal” Reserve yet more power. That is all you need to know about where this Administrations allegiance’s lie.

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By Jon, October 8 at 2:23 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Just shows that Geithner is part of the crony network that ruined America, and is keeping in touch with those who looted the country. I bet he never takes a call from an average American. Geithner and Obama are just puppets for banking and corporate interests. Watch what they do, not what they say. Goldman Sachs is the actual government.

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