This would be slightly less poignant if the left hadn’t just spent eight years screeching about how expert opinion carries the day in their reality-based community. It would still be exactly as disturbing:
The Obama administration’s sweeping financial regulatory reform proposals have been met by criticism from lawmakers and the financial industry, but dissent from fellow federal regulatory agency heads was too much for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to take. Last Friday, Geithner said enough is enough, using a meeting at the Treasury to throw down the gauntlet to officials from other agencies.
“We planned this meeting as a venue to deliver a tough message to regulators that we should work together to get reform done — and focus less on protecting turf,” said Treasury spokesman Andrew Williams. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Geithner directed an expletive-laden critique at the heads of the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, the SEC, and other agencies. One source familiar with the meeting said, “It was a sh*t storm.”… judging by the tone of last Friday’s meeting, Geithner left no doubt that the time for the agencies to air their views had run out. In a calculated attempt to silence the dissenters, the Treasury chief made it clear that the in-fighting had to stop.
I’m pretty sure that at least some of those groups – the SEC, for instance – are supposed to be non-partisan independent agencies insulated from politicized Executive pressure. Actually I’m pretty sure that’s true for all of them. Which would probably make this little display of intimidation unseemly at best and borderline illegal at worst. They really do think that they’re still pushing around construction yards in Chicago, don’t they.
Anyway: does anyone know if criticizing financial reform counts as the kind of “fishy” activity that we’re now supposed to snitch to the White House about? I want to make sure I’m not falling down on my civic duty.
References:
* Throw Down: Geithner Blasts Government Regulators for Criticizing Administration’s Financial Reform Measures [ABC News]
* Issa to Emanuel: Back Off! [House.gov]
* White House Blog Seeking Snitches [JWF]
Previously:
* Video: Obama Youth March In Lockstep, Chant About Inspirational Leader Who Will Guide Them Into Glorious Future
* Limited Post-Election Activities For Obama’s Creepy Worshipers and Devoted Brownshirts?
* Obama Using Full Range Of Federal And State Power To Silence Dissent, Intimidate Voters
