Geithner Resignation Countdown…
Who will get thrown under the bus? Dodd, Geithner, Liddy?
At AIG, Liddy is getting some politically convenient results: the WSJ says some will pay back AIG bonuses. Maybe he’ll survive?
Meanwhile, Dodd gets fingered…by himself! (and implicates Geithner in the process).
I’ve mentioned before that Dodd is already damaged goods, so making him the sacrificial lamb might be easy. But Dodd doesn’t serve at the pleasure of the President. And I doubt his colleagues will do little more than censure him. Dodd may have little chance of re-election, but odds are he likes his senate seat enough to stay in it till the bitter end.
As for Geithner, Obama has but to make a phone call and the guy is out. It all depends on how much bigger AIG-gate becomes:
Luckily, Geithner will be able to count on Obama, who stands by his associates in good times and bad and is not the sort who throws folks under the bus as soon as they become political inconveniences. …
Oh, wait.
The heat is on for Geithner on the Hill. If enough heat trickles down to John Q. Public, Obama’s “complete confidence” in Geithner will just evaporate. I guess we’ll find out after Obama’s turn on Leno Thursday night. If Obama’s approval numbers don’t get any better after that, I have the feeling that anything goes.
