Bill Greider, Timothy Geithner, and the Almost-President

Bill Greider, who made his bones with his masterful history of the Fed, is not impressed:

Public wrath will swell when people learn the particulars of the extremely generous deal-making with Wall Street. If he's not careful, Obama will be on the receiving end of the blame. He should seriously consider withdrawing his nomination of Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, to be Treasury secretary. Geithner is the badly soiled negotiator who worked out some of the most dubious deals. His easy terms protected shareholders and executives but demanded almost nothing from the failing banks for the public. Worst of all, the deals did not work. They have failed to stabilize much of anything and are still putting Wall Street preservation ahead of the national interest. Where is the evidence that we can expect a different approach if Geithner is in charge? Or even that he understands the true dimensions of this crisis? Obama had better get answers up front, or else he might wind up as history's fall guy.

It's a thought with hanging onto. What impresses me most about Geithner is how pale he appears in the shadow of Larry Summers. He seems to have worked his way up as the indispensable second man, and it looks like he may be in for more of the same.