When Scott Brown won Ted Kennedy's senate seat a few weeks ago, it was a shot across the bow of President Obama from independent voters. Two days later, the president responded by announcing the "Volcker Rule" which will put more restrictions on commercial banks to get out of investing activities and focus more on lending money to their customers.
The president understands that, unless he starts winning back these independents and fast, he will face a 1994-style rebuke from voters at this fall's mid-term elections. From a financial reform perspective, he must show voters that he's not a toady to Wall Street -- and I expect he will replace secretary Geithner with Brooksley Born, the former head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission who sounded the alarm on credit default swaps long before the housing crisis swallowed the economy. Brooksley Born, former chairwoman of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission Why replace Geithner? Although it's now common to Monday morning quarterback the dark days of September 2008, questioning how government officials forced a shotgun marriage of Bear Stearns with JPMorgan Chase(JPM Quote), let Lehman Brothers go under, swooped in to rescue AIG(AIG Quote), and then forced through Bank of America's(BAC Quote) purchase of Merrill Lynch, the fact is -- at that time -- the financial world was careening out of control. I don't fault Geithner's crisis decisions (although they certainly were not all perfect). Loading Comments... 1 2 3 4 Next › Last »SHARE:
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Dow Jones S&P 500 NASDAQ 10-Year Note 10296.85 1103.31 2190.06 36.35 Oil * 75.89 UP 111.32 UP 14.13 UP 18.86 DOWN -0.19 10 Yr 3.64% SPDR Gold 109.13 1.09% 1.3% 0.87% -0.52% Data delayed 20 minutes More From TheStreet Latest Headlines Top Rated Stocks from TheStreet Ratings if (Math.floor(Math.random() * 100) < 45) { document.write("NEW: Market Data Section"); } else { document.write("Unusual Trading Volume Stocks"); } if (Math.floor(Math.random() * 100) < 45) { document.write("Stock Picks for 2010"); } else { document.write("NEW: Undergraduate Investor Blog"); } Find returns with the Dividend Calendar if (Math.floor(Math.random() * 100) < 45) { document.write("UPDATED: Top-rated ETFs from TheStreet Ratings"); } else { document.write("UPDATED: Top-rated Mutual Funds from TheStreet Ratings"); } Twitter Facebook RSS Mobile App Brokerage Partners YAHOO.util.Event.on(window,"load",function(){ setTimeout(function(){ TSCM.util.attachScript('scr_intellitxt','http://thestreet.us.intellitxt.com/intellitxt/front.asp?ipid=10685'); },1200); }); Sponsored Links var ads = [ { link:"http://www.entrepreneur.com/business-opportunities/index.html?cam=thestreet&cid=Homepagetextlink1109", text:"Be Your Own Boss and Start your Own Business Today!", trk:null }, { link:"http://clk.atdmt.com/TNY/go/175928010/direct/01/", text:"Mingle at our onboard bar. 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