Geithner to Congress: Overhaul is Urgent

(AP)  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is pushing Congress to move quickly in overhauling the nation's badly flawed financial rules, which he says is essential for the health of the economy.

Both the House and Senate are making progress toward revamping the current regulations, but Geithner said a rapid conclusion is needed to keep the economic recovery on track.

"To ensure the vitality, the strength and the stability of our economy going forward, we must bring our system of financial regulation into the 21st century," Geithner told the Joint Economic Committee Thursday.

Both the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee are working on their own versions of sweeping overhaul plans. But the two panels are taking sharply divergent approaches in some areas.

Both proposals also face sharp opposition from major sectors in the financial industry, casting doubt on how quickly Congress will be able to reach agreement and send a finished bill to the White House.

Geithner said a key principle the administration wants to see adopted is ensuring that firms not be able to escape or avoid oversight by shopping for the most lenient regulator, a situation critics say contributed to the worst financial market crisis in seven decades.

"The fact that investment banks like Bear Stearns or Lehman Brothers or other large firms like AIG could escape meaningful consolidated federal supervision simply by virtue of their legal form should be considered unthinkable from now on," Geithner said.

Another key principle the administration wants to see approved by Congress is to make sure the financial system as a whole is more capable of absorbing shocks and coping with failures. Geithner said this will require putting a greater focus on the quality of capital that firms are allowed to hold.

Capital reserves are the cushion financial firms carry to absorb loses.

[underdogus2009]

This is it boys and girls, this ship is going down.....

[whammersley]

Another attempt of the Obama administration to take over the private sector. First the auto industry. Next the health care system and now complete control of the banks. If this isn't an attempt at socialism, I don't what else is.....Adam Smith where are you?

[scubbasteve01]

Geithner has no connection to the 8 years of Bush and Republican parties power and failure.
But has connection to some of those policies to the past. So like it or not the other side of the
donkey needs to start taking responsibility for their 8 years of FAILURE that's spilling over into the
next 2 and 1/2 years of the next presidency.
Which unfortunately for them isn't their own party. Something there obviously are happy about.
Have a nice day.

[jntlw]

Do not listen to Geithner and his hurry hurry! he works for Wall Street and he watns to pull yet another fast one onthe American taxpayer. Geithner - get out of town while you still can!

[endurorob_5]

Isn't it ironic that the guy who thinks he is capable af making decisions on how to run the economy of this nation isn't even intelligent enough to properly do his own taxes when turbo tax actually asks you questions every step of the way?

[endurorob_5]

By the way Timmy what is essential for the health of the economy is jobs. Businesses have a hard time hiring people when they are worried about higher taxes and over regulation.

[stn_sage]

Somebody 'rap this guy in the head' and shut him up!

He's like 'the town drunk'...who...in moments of consciousness...tries to give everybody else 'temperance lectures'!

Go back 'to your bottle', Geithner! You annoying Wall Street insider, you!

[endurorob_5]

It's urgent and needs to be done quickly. Isn't turbo Timmy part of tha cabal that said if the stimulus wasn't passed immediately that unemployment would go above 8%. When are the morons in congress and in this country going to realize that the reason the Obama regime want everything doen so quickly is so noone has time to see what is actually invovled?

[fedup12]

It is also called oversight of the greedy corporate elite lightning.

In other words dont sell junk stuff and dont vote to give yourself a huge bonus if you are driving your company into the dirt. Especially if your company can take the USA down with the ship.

[John_272]

Geithner should resign because of his failure to stop violations of HUD 4350 regulations and 24 CFR 5.609(a) by tax credit apartment properties across the country. By design of the Congress, IRS, and state allocating committees (California's TCAC for one), properties like those owned/monitored by ex-HUD employee Thomas Safran (Los Angeles' Rittenhouse Square, Skyline Village etc.) and Urban Futures have shown a pattern and practice of HUD non-compliance, fraud, and unlawful abuse and misuse of taxpayer monies. For years, California Governor's Office of Constituent Affairs and attorney general Jerry Brown have refused to take steps to provide equal protection to thousands of applicants to affordable housing apartments. http://www.hudincomeexclusions.wordpress.com and http://www.not-hud-compliant.spaces.live.com.