Geithner: Letting Bush Tax Cuts For Upper-Earners Expire Won’t Hurt Job Growth
Appearing on This Week, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner promoted the Obama administration’s position on letting the 2001 Bush tax cuts expire for upper-income earners, while extending them for everyone else: “We think that’s the responsible thing to do because we need to make sure we can show the world that they’re willing as a country now to start to make some progress bringing down our long — our long-term deficits,” said Geithner, also adding: “Just letting those tax cuts that only go to 2 percent to 3 percent of Americans, the highest earning Americans in the country expire. I do not believe it will have a negative effect on growth.”
Geithner: No Double-Dip Recession, But ‘It’s Going To Take Some Time To Heal This’
Appearing on Meet The Press, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said he did not think the economy would dip back into recession. “I think the most likely thing is, you see an economy that gradually strengthens — over the next year or two. You see job growth start to come back again,” said Geithner. “Again, investments expanding, manufacturing get a little stronger, exports better. Those are very encouraging signs.” He also added, though, that more improvement remained to be done: “And I think most Americans understand it’s going to take some time to heal this.”
Dean: ‘There Are No Ideas In The Republican Party Right Now’ — Except For Newt Gingrich
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean spoke positively of the idea of former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) running for president. “I don’t agree with very much that Newt Gingrich wants to do, but the biggest difference is Newt has a ton of ideas to move the country forward — he did when he was speaker. There are no ideas in the Republican Party right now in the Congress. They’re the party of no,” said Dean. “They desperately need some intellectual leadership. Whatever you think of Newt Gingrich, he can supply intellectual leadership, so I hope he does run.”
Dean: Rangel Is Owed ‘Fair Process’ — But Could Also ‘Get Thrown Out Of Congress’
Also during his appearance on Fox News Sunday, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said that Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) is entitled to a “fair process” in the ethics charges against him — but there could be severe consequences. “This process has to work, and I’m proud to say the process is working,” Dean said. “He did some things that look like they ought to get him thrown out of Congress, and if it turns out that he did them, he’s going to get thrown out of Congress. And I think that’s the way the process is supposed to work.”
Bush-Appointed Civil Rights Official: ‘Evidence Is Extremely Weak’ In New Black Panthers Case
Appearing on Face The Nation, the Bush-appointed Civil Rights Commission Vice Chair Abigail Thernstrom hit back at conservative accusations against the Justice Department in the New Black Panthers voting case. “I think the evidence is extremely weak,” said Thernstrom. “If the Justice Department chooses - and I would be delighted if it did so - to send to us, for instance, somebody who is at that alleged brown bag meeting in which [Deputy Assistant Attorney General] Julie Fernandez said, ‘We don’t prosecute cases [against] blacks …’ fine. I’m an evidence girl, really. I want evidence.”
Christie: Jersey Shore Is ‘Negative For New Jersey’
Appearing on This Week, Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) gave a thumbs-down to the TV show Jersey Shore: “Negative for New Jersey, I mean, because it — what it does is it takes a bunch of New Yorkers, who are — most of the people on ‘Jersey Shore’ are New Yorkers — takes a bunch of New Yorkers, drops them at the Jersey shore, and tries to make America feel like this is New Jersey. I could tell people, they want to know what New Jersey really is? I welcome them to come to New Jersey any time.”
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
Facebook Conversations
Questions about commenting with non-Facebook accounts like Yahoo, or other concerns? Click here to read the TPM Commenting FAQ.