Conflict Of Interest Means Geithner Must Recuse Himself from Fed Audit Deliberations

When Will Tim Geithner, Who Has The "Biggest Conflict Of Interest", Recuse Himself Of Fed Audit Deliberations?
05-06-2010

Alan Grayson storms back to the stage by asking just why is Tim Geithner, who has the biggest conflict of interest when it comes to Fed matters, even be allowed to have an opinion on Fed transparency issues. In today's ABC Top Line, Grayson stated:

“When Tim Geithner says that he doesn't want to see the Fed audited, what he's really saying is he doesn't want to see Tim Geithner audited. He was the head of the New York Fed for years and years. This audit would apply to him. And the actions he took -- which he can now take in secret and, when this bill passes, will no longer be secret -- we'll be able to see and understand the decisions that he made that among other things put huge amounts of bailout money into the hands of private interests.”

“It's one of the biggest conflicts of interest I've ever seen.”

Keep in mind that this is the same Fed that when it took over Bear via ML1 said it would have no losses on the collateral it assumed, only to see its Red Roof Inn holdings be foreclosed upon last week as Zero Hedge first discussed. How the Fed's opacity is still a topic of discussion simply does not compute. And that Obama is doing all he can to prevent the Fed transparency initiatives by Paul and Grayson from passing at this point certainly means that should the Fed's dirty laundry be made public that the administration would certainly collapse in a smoldering heap of 0% approval.

Some more painful common sense from Grayson:

“The Fed doesn't want to be audited. Who does? Do you want to be audited? I don't want to be audited, but sometimes it's necessary,” he said. “When you're handing out a trillion dollars at a time -- a trillion dollars at a time, which works out to $3,000 for every man woman and child in this country -- don't we have a right to know what happened to it?”

Grayson added:

“It's central to the bill. We've had secret bailouts from the Fed to private interests now for the past two years without any exposure whatsoever. … We need to know what happened to our money, because when the Fed hands out our money, every dollar in your pocket, every dollar in your checking account, every dollar in your 401(k) becomes that much cheaper and less in value.”

In retrospect it is really much simpler: the Fed will only retain its secrecy as long as it can keep pushing the market higher, and as long as it can force the middle class to empty out their money markets and throw their money into bankrupt retailers trading at one million P/E. Once the market tumbles, it is game over. The Fed knows it, the president knows it, and Geithner certainly knows it. Which is why we expect massive resistance by the Fed and all the "liquidty providers" and "market makers" to allowing the Ponzi formerly known as the market, to reach its true fair value (absent from endless fiscal stimuli and ZIRP insanity)... somewhere in the 400-500 S&P range.