Obama's long arm into Bush team

by Frank James

Here's one way for a president-elect to get around some of the limits placed on him by the Constitution which makes a president-in-waiting wait until late January to officially take office: choose as your Treasury secretary a guy already elbow-deep in the financial rescues that have become a frequent part of the global economic crisis.

By choosing Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal reserve Bank, to be his Treasury Secretary, Obama has someone who's been at the table for the Bear Stearns, Lehman, AIG and now Citigroup emergencies. According to the Associated Press:

The Citigroup rescue came after a weekend of marathon discussions led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, who is being tapped by President-elect Barack Obama as his Treasury chief also participated.

It means there'll be some continuity between presidential administrations. It also means Obama has a voice inside the meeting rooms where policy is being decided, someone who's been part of the Paulson and Bernanke financial SWAT team.

For that reason alone, Geithner could be seen as a fairly shrewd choice since it allows Obama to push policy in the ways he wants. That's especially true since Bernanke's term as Fed Chair is up in 2010 and he probably increases his chance of being reappointed if he works well with Geithner.