BREAKING NEWS: Senate committee approves Geithner

By Michael J.W. Stickings

NYT:

Timothy F. Geithner was strongly endorsed by the Senate Finance Committee as secretary of the Treasury on Thursday, virtually guaranteeing his quick confirmation by the full Senate and assuring the new president that he will have the leader he wants for his economic team.

The 18-to-5 vote came a day after Mr. Geithner endured hours of grilling over his failure to pay thousands of dollars in back taxes. That lapse caused considerable embarrassment for Mr. Geithner, even as some members of the panel said they were willing to accept his word that the failure was an honest mistake.

To put it mildly, I'm iffy on Geithner (in part because I'm iffy on the financial bailout, of which he is one of the loudest cheerleaders, in part because he was part of the problem to begin with), but I do think Obama should be able to have the Cabinet he wants and, as was the case throughout much of the transition, given some of his more questionable nominations, I'm willing to put aside my reservations and trust that he knows what he's doing.

Besides, it's not like I want the Republicans to be successful in blocking any of his nominees, especially as high-profile a nominee as Geithner.