Geitner and the Administration's Fiscal Philosophy: the Perfect Match

President Obama has no intention of dumping Treasury Secretary Geitner.

Embattled Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner's job is safe and the subject of resignation has not come up in his conversations with President Obama despite calls from some in Congress for Geithner to step down, the president said in an interview to be broadcast tonight on CBS's "60 Minutes."

This is good news. Staggering, pointless deficits created by dubious bailout packages, jacked up social spending and expenditures on pork which look diminutive only because they sit in the middle of gargantuan spending bills. Pointlessly exorbitant environmental and energy programs which will serve only to choke off industry and drain wallets. This administration has already signed some irresponsible and seriously misguided - make that dangerous - fiscal policies and, alarmingly, intends to proceed with more.

Who better, then, to lead the money department than someone whose brief tenure seems to be comprised of fumbles, large and small, starting with his first major initiative described by the New York Times as only an "outline" of a bank bailout plan and now accusations that he failed to alert anyone to taxpayer funded bonuses. (After all, how many dollars can one man keep track of? Actually, if they're tax dollars, he needs to keep track of all of them. On another front, while this does not excuse any of Mr. Geitner's missteps, it would be good if someone would hire him some lieutenants. And filling staff level vacancies at Treasury might move along a little quicker if someone would REPAIR THE DAMN WEBSITE. )

Add in the initial, brusque message - our tax laws apply to almost everyone - conveyed by the appointment of a tax evader to this of all positions and Timothy Geitner has, indeed, turned out to be "uniquely qualified for this job", though perhaps not in the way that the President originally envisioned.