Geithner Unveiling New Bank Plan
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is rolling out the new bank rescue plan today, with a new op-ed piece in the Wall St. Journal explaining the workings of the Public-Private Investment Program, which involves the government partnering with private investors to purchase between $500 billion and $1 trillion in assets that are now clogging up the financial system. “Our approach shares risk with the private sector,” Geithner writes, “efficiently leverages taxpayer dollars, and deploys private-sector competition to determine market prices for currently illiquid assets.”
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama and Vice President Biden will be receiving their economic daily briefing at 11:15 a.m. ET, accompanied by a media pool spray, with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Obama will also be speaking at 12:30 p.m. ET from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, delivering remarks on clean energy and proposed investments in new technology included in his budget plan.
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden will be meeting at 3:45 p.m. ET with French Prime Minister Francois Fillon. The two could potentially discuss the recent push by French President Nicolas Sarkozy for greater international regulation of the financial markets.
Obama: “There’s Gotta Be A Little Gallows Humor”
In his interview on 60 Minutes, President Obama was asked at one point whether it was appropriate to joke about the country’s economic problems. “There’s gotta be a little gallows humor to get you through the day,” Obama explained. “You know, sometimes my team talks about the fact that if you had said to us a year ago that the least of my problems would be Iraq, which is still a pretty serious problem, I don’t think anybody would have believed it.”
Obama: “I Fundamentally Disagree With Dick Cheney”
Also during his interview on 60 Minutes, President Obama fired back at the national-security criticism coming from Dick Cheney. “I fundamentally disagree with Dick Cheney. Not surprisingly,” said Obama. “You know, I think that Vice President Cheney has been at the head of a movement whose notion is somehow that we can’t reconcile our core values, our Constitution, our belief that we don’t torture, with our national security interests. I think he’s drawing the wrong lesson from history.”
NYT: Obama Leading During War, But Not A “War President”
The New York Times points out that President Obama is balancing the needs of the economy and national security in a different manner than George W. Bush did. Obama has added a daily economic briefing, along with the national security briefing, and the economic briefing itself usually comes first in the day. “Mr. Obama, of course, leads in very different times,” the Times notes, contrasting the country’s situation after 9/11 with the economic crisis right now.
EFCA Backers Reject Corporate Alternative
The Hill reports that Democratic backers of the Employee Free Choice Act are rejecting an alternative plan being put forward by a business coalition that includes Costco, Starbucks and Whole Foods. “This proposal is unacceptable. It was written by CEOs for CEOs,” said Rep. George Miller (D-CA) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) in a statement. “It is not a serious attempt at labor law reform because it fails to fundamentally address key problems that currently prevent workers from being able to join together and bargain for a better life.”
