Bachmann calls for firing of Treasury head Geithner
Monday, August 08, 2011 at 7:56 am
- 10 Comments
On Fox News over the weekend, Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann blamed the the nation’s falling credit rating on President Barack Obama and called on the president to fire Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner. Bachmann lays the “destruction” of the nation’s credit rating squarely at Obama’s feet, but Standards & Poors, the agency that issued the lowered credit rating blamed the move on a volatile political environment where making consensus is difficult. Bachmann voted against the consensus between Obama and congressional Republicans last week.
“This president has destroyed the credit rating of the United States through failed economic policy and his inability to control government spending by once again raising the debt ceiling,” Bachmann told Fox’s Greta Van Susteren. “We were warned by all of the credit agencies that a failure to deal with the debt would lead to this downgrade in our credit rating. But instead, this president submitted a budget that had a $1.5 trillion deficit and then he requested a $2.4 trillion blank check on top of that.”
Bachmann added, “President Obama is destroying the foundations of our economy one beam at a time. I call on the president to seek the immediate resignation of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and to submit a plan with his list of cuts that balance the budget this year, turn this economy around and put our people back to work.”
S&P, the agency that downgraded the United States’ credit rating, noted that partisan bickering played a role in its decision.
“The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed,” the agency wrote. “The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy. Despite this year’s wide-ranging debate, in our view, the differences between political parties have proven to be extraordinarily difficult to bridge, and, as we see it, the resulting agreement fell well short of the comprehensive fiscal consolidation program that some proponents had envisaged until quite recently.”
S&P also noted that it takes no position in the debate over whether spending cuts or revenue increases or both are an appropriate way to manage the nation’s debt.
But despite S&P’s assertion that lack of consensus between Democrats and Republicans led, in part, to the credit rating downgrade, Bachmann suggested that Obama was at fault and might try to blame the tea party.
“I’m very concerned that this administration tomorrow might look for anyone else to blame,” she said. “They may blame the tea party. They may blame the rating agencies or anyone else. They knew this was coming this year in January but they didn’t write a plan and they still don’t have a plan.”
Geithner released a statement Sunday that he’s staying on the job.
Here’s the full interview:
It’s not the first time Bachmann had strong words for Geithner. In 2009, at a Financial Services Committee hearing, she questioned him on whether or not there was a push to abandon the dollar as the nation’s currency.
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Comment posted August 8, 2011 @ 8:34 am
The ones who should be fired are the tea party Republicans in the Congress. If Congress had followed the past practice of raising the debt ceiling as a stand alone item (one sentence is all it takes) there would have been no issue with the credit rating. It is the tea party that is refusing to raise taxes to pay for the Bush wars and demonstrating that they don’t care what happens to the credit rating so long as they get their social agenda including the elimination of entitlements adopted into law.
Comment posted August 8, 2011 @ 9:26 am
Big Hair Bad Makeup Bachmann, channeling her god speak again. Facts just don’t matter here, we only need listen to her version of things this week and ignore her statements of the past. There is no need for counterpoint, there is only one version of America and she owns it, or so she thinks.
Jeff Wilfahrt, Rosemount, MN
Comment posted August 8, 2011 @ 9:28 am
“They may blame the tea party.” I think that’s fair. The tea party took a routine vote, to borrow money to pay for spending already authorized, and turned it into a row. Just a few weeks ago, it was unthinkable that the US would default on its debt. Now, thanks to her majesty the Queen of Diamonds and her posse in the tea party, default became not just thinkable, but likely.
Sorry, Rep. B, you and your pals own this one. Time to realize that posturing and congressional votes, just like elections, have consequences, too.
Comment posted August 8, 2011 @ 10:12 am
The fact that Bachmann is saying this is proof enough SHE along with the Tea Party is responsible for this ratings mess. A standard tactic of Republicans and the Tea Party is to scream the loudest and point fingers elsewhere when they want to draw attention away from their own miserable actions. They’ve been doing this forever and will continue to do it unless people start screaming back at them.
Comment posted August 8, 2011 @ 5:35 pm
After many years of being a liberal, I am now proud to say I’m a tea party conservative and will wear this unpopular label–rather than being emotional and unintelligent about the hard issues facing the nation. The Tea Party are the only intelligent responsible group calling for cuts which is what the rating groups wanted to see. They told the administration if they did not see at least 4T in cuts they would do this. Or don’t you people read listen to financial news?
Comment posted August 8, 2011 @ 7:00 pm
Michele Backmann is a Tea Party Pac Leader and who sided with Scott Walker against the citizens of Madison WI.
Backmann wants to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid which will destroyed the middle class and the poor, while she is taking money from Government for her Farm and 23 Foster childrens.
Backmann wants you to vote for her while she is sticking a knife in your back. NO, you don’t get my vote. The Tea Party 85 Freshman Senators and Presidental Candidates were willing to let the Debt Ceiling Default, because they put Corporative interest ahead of oridnary Americans’.
Corporations have invested millions in American Legislative Exchange Council,”ALEC”, which is supported by Republicans’.
I read they have 250 corporations, 72 Republicans, and 7 Democratics’ and increasing in membership.
There is a $50 membership Fee and the Republicans in Madison paid their Fee with Taxpayer money.
The Tea Party has their eye on Rick Perry, but we don’t need any more Tea Party Candidates or Governors..
Comment posted August 9, 2011 @ 7:05 am
Bachmann is a TRUE Nut-case…1st she says NO raising of the Debt ceiling…and now Blames Obama cause America’s rating is now AA+ ……..She’s a Friggin Nutjob Loser.
Comment posted August 9, 2011 @ 7:55 am
How does Michele Bachmann feel qualified to ask for Geitner’s firing? Wasn’t she fired from the Minnesota state senate for her inability to lead through to a tax compromise?
Comment posted August 9, 2011 @ 7:58 am
The Tea Party has selected Michele Bachmann to represent them because she IS crazy. Her craziness distracts the media from discussing her own record. When the media attacks her she turns it into an attack on conservatives.
Comment posted August 9, 2011 @ 2:31 pm
How in the world can we put people back to work when many of the jobs have been shipped overseas?
We have a population that does what? KEEPS POPULATING. Then we let in foreigners from countries that treat their women like what? BABY MAKING MACHINES and do what? BREED BREED BREED BREED
So here we are, it’s 2011 and our technology has removed thousands of jobs (internet shopping and video rentals and music downloads) and in the last decade companies have shipped jobs off to ‘slave labor’ countries without creating heavy taxes on imports.
Can anyone explain why we expect the government to make jobs when it’s the government that allows the tax cuts to the companies that ship off jobs overseas? It’s a serious dependency that we as Americans need to wake up to. How do we tell our kids “Well, you should run to Walmart and buy buy buy all that crap made in China (that you don’t need btw), but just realize that when you get out of school, you won’t have a job waiting for you so you’ll have to feed off the government or your family at a poverty level.”
The GOP and Bachmann side on BIG BUSINESS and want to keep this insanity going to create the division and the class wars. Then they throw in the brainwashing of religion and bible laws that they want to slip into government to further their sick megalomaniac control of the masses. It’s SERIOUSLY EVIL abuse of POWER and GREED.
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