The Big Question: Will Geithner survive lawmakers' criticisms?

Some of the nation's top political commentators, legislators and intellectuals offer some insight into the biggest question burning up the blogosphere today.

Today's question:

Sec. Timothy Geithner is once again under pressure to resign. Will Geithner survive this round of criticism from members of Congress?

Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) said:

I think he will survive if he becomes more bailout skeptical and I see him moving in that direction. I don't think the whole country holds Geithner responsible for the unemployment rate. He is not the face of the whole economy and the bailout issue is just one where people are more focused on him.

Geithner's tax problems, and general appearance of compromised ineptitude, are a long term bleeding wound for the Obama Administration in terms of image. On the other hand, letting him go before the 2010 elections will be a major event, and turn a slow bleed into a shorter-lived, but more dramatic, problem. I think Geithner's safe as long as healthcare is hanging fire because the Obama Administration won't want any more bad PR than it can help, but if that passes, or clearly fails, he may be at risk.

Terence Kane, Pundits Blog contributor, said:

Secretary Geithner will survive because his bears little culpability for the weak American economy. The forces that pulled the American economy into recession occurred before Secretary Geithner assumed the role of Treasury Secretary. Representative Brady (R-TX) nonsensical suggestion that the Secretary Geithner should resign, “for the sake of our jobs” betrays the conservative appreciation for the limited ability of one person to affect the employment rate of the largest economy in the world. Secretary Geithner’s record and performance as Treasury Secretary are fair game, though unfortunately for his critics, most neutral observations have him performing capably under very difficult circumstances.

Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic Policy Research, said:

There are very important issues about how Geithner handled the bailout of the financial industry both at the New York Fed and in his current role as Treasury Secretary. It would be beneficial to have a full discussion of these issues. Of course, Geithner has to be held accountable for his performance, but it is important that his status be decided based on a clear assessment of the record, not political expediency.

John Feehery, Pundits Blog contributor, said:

I thought Geithner would be gone the last time everyone wanted his head, but he survived, chiefly because Obama didn't want to unduly upset the markets.  For the same reason, Geithner survives this time too.

John F. McManus, president of The John Birch Society, said:

In his feisty response to several congressmen questioning his performance as Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner indicated quite dramatically that he has no intention of stepping aside. As for being fired, that deed would have to come from Mr. Obama's office - a very unlikley development. Geithner is a well-connected member of the internationalist establishment, even a veteran of a key Federal Reserve post. Like his teammates in the economic section of our government, Lawrence Summers and Paul Volcker, he is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. This organization had a large role in putting Obama into power, a fact that can gauged by his submitting an article to the CFR's Foreign Affairs during the election cycle in 2008. Almost all the other presidential candidates did likewise, each of them saying in effect, "I'm wiling to play ball with you. Please help me win the office." Obama is not likely to buck the CFR.

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) said:

I believe he will survive.

Justin Raimondo, editorial director of Antiwar.com, said:

Tim Geithner represents the status quo, and, as such, he is doomed. While the left (Paul Krugman) attacks him for not being activist enough, and the neocon-right (David Brooks) praises him for his “prudence,” the economy continues to tank as the bubble is deflated and all attempts by the Federal Reserve to pump the hot air back in the balloon fail. Geithner will survive, because our President, although a man of the left, is temperamentally closer to Brooks than he is to Krugman, and in this case temperament trumps ideology.

Geithner is unpopular because he champions the “too big to fail” ideology that dominates both parties (remember, both Obama and McCain supported the bailout of the banks), If Geithner goes, you can bet that the same policies will be in place.

Geithner or no Geithner, the underlying problem will not go away: Indeed it will metastasize until we are brought to the brink of the abyss: economic meltdown. The cause of this coming catastrophe is bank credit and monetary expansion, profligate government spending, and the very “stimulus” that was supposed to save us.

Bernie Quigley, Pundits Blog contributor, said:

He will survive but he shouldn’t. At the very beginning Jim Rogers, the legendary commodities guru said bluntly, “He doesn’t know what he is doing.” Time has proved this right. We are almost at the point of no return. A year from now the economy could be in ruins.

Ronald Goldfarb, Pundits Blog contributor, said:

Definitely. He has the president's confidence, and Congress is irrelevant on this question. It has no real reason to do anything but complain, its specialty.