Tell Us More, Tim

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:30:24 +0000 – By Andrea TantarosRepublican Political Commentator/FOXNews.com Contributor

People have been speculating all week about how the economic spendulus bill will affect our financial markets. It certainly will, but the real tell-tale sign is what Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's plans are to dethaw our troubled credit markets, the crux of our crisis. We need action from his department to get banks to write off bad debts, creditors to pay off bad debts, and we need banks to start lending again while the aforementioned are happening. So far, no sensible solutions have emerged from Team Obama.

[caption id="attachment_7259" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (AP file photo)"][/caption]

On Tuesday, Geither's speech was supposed to bring some clarity, and we thought, a plan. But instead he told us nothing new. It was as if he showed up for the SATs without a No. 2 pencil. Not only was his anti-climactic announcement vague, he appeared more shaken and unsteady than the market in his presentation. News outlets and the Blogosphere made fun of his small stature. But frankly, I don't give a hoot if Tiny Tim is vertically challenged. I care that he's short on details.

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Aside from the spendulus being an ideologically and economically unstable solution, Obama and his administration are dropping the ball when it comes to leadership.

In fact, the more Obama talks down the economy and uses phrases like "catastrophe" the more likely it is to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more people hear their commander-in-chief predicting financial Armageddon, the more people will be afraid to spend. The tax credits in the stimulus for buying a new home or a car will prove fruitless if Obama scares the nation into thinking they can'tafford to buy a home or a car. Note to President Obama: you're the leader of the free world, not some state senator from Illinois anymore. People actually give a damn about what you say, and what you say directly affects the confidence of our country.

Until our president and his paperwork challenged Treasury Secretary give us anything but amorphous and vague platitudes when it comes to their plan for our credit markets--the center of our economic woes--our country will continue on a rapid, economic dissent. It's time for Tim to tell us more.