Rumor Mill: Geithner Replacement Possible?

The problem isn't just that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has shown himself to be incapable of dealing with the huge financial mess on his hands - a mess that he's been deeply involved with as a member of the NY Fed going back to 2007, but that he lacks all the support staff because the Obama Administration has yet to nominate people to all the subordinate positions.

So, for Henry Blodget to note unconfirmed rumors from within the Administration that Geithner may or should be ousted in favor of someone else, in this case, Obama's car czar Steve Rattner, must be taken with a grain of salt.

A friend reports chatter within the Obama administration that Tim Geithner was a bad choice for Treasury Secretary and that Quadrangle partner Steve Rattner (currently the car czar) was brought in partly to have a good relief pitcher on hand.

This doesn't surprise us: We think that, in this crisis, Tim Geithner is clearly the wrong man for the job. But this is also only unconfirmed chatter at this point.

The problems boil down to two interrelated problems.

First, the Obama Administration is tying both hands behind its back by not proffering nominees for consideration by the Senate for confirmation. Whether that is due to their inability to find candidates or that the candidates chosen do not meet the vetting standards in place is irrelevant. The vetting process itself is highly flawed and the President has failed to address this given that more than a thousand positions have yet to be filled at this late date throughout his Administration.

The Treasury Department is tasked with solving the current economic woes, and yet the Administration has not found the time to find candidates to fill Geithner's subordinate positions? That's a failure of focus and judgment on the part of the Administration. Shifting Rattner to Geithner's position doesn't solve the underlying inability to fill Treasury Department positions. They still need to be filled, and Obama is setting Geithner up for failure by choosing not to fill those positions in a deliberate and timely manner. How exactly can any Treasury Secretary operate when he or she lacks the staff to provide the policy positions and act as a sounding board to insure that the day-to-day operations proceed according to the Administration's own policy objectives?

The second problem is Geithner's own shortcomings, which began with his tax troubles, and extend to his inability to come up with a coherent policy to deal with the credit crisis.

Taken together, this mess shows that Obama's character and judgment remain as they have been since he first announced his intention to run for the President - seriously flawed and wanting.

UPDATE:
Politico notes that the Obama Administration has tried to make a point of not choosing lobbyists for Administration positions, and that this has hampered the nomination process. What undermines the Administration position is that they have seemingly picked and chosen when to follow their own rule and when to ignore it completely.

This is yet another example of the rule of unintended consequences. In claiming that he would clear government of lobbyist influences, he's emptied government of people needed to run those same agencies and departments. The real test should be conflicts of interest - not whether someone has been a lobbyist.