Opinion: Latest Obama cabinet leak: Fed’s Timothy Geithner to head Treasury

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Boy, watching this Barack Obama cabinet-appointment-by-trial-balloon business is like manning a leaking levee in New Orleans.

The Obama campaign was famous for being relatively leak-proof, except when it was intentional, such as keeping a lid on how seriously Hillary Clinton was being considered for the vice presidency. But that tight-knit, battle-savvy group is fast learning that with all the consulting and FBI vetting and interviewing going on, it’s much harder to keep a secret.

The latest leak is Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank (on the left in photo on the right), to head the Treasury Department. Stocks rallied. So far, no reports of any illegal immigrant nannies have surfaced.

So maybe ‘that one’s’ right. (That’s Fed chairman Ben Bernanke on the right in the photo on the right.)

See new news video below.

I’m also hearing that since Hyatt’s Penny Pritzker‘s balloon got shot down over her failed bank’s subprime loan business, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is going to the Commerce Department, which would be a smaller stage than the global one he likes to wander. But it would get him back to Washington.

Our blogging pal Frank James over at the Swamp has more on the Geithner business and why it isn’t Lawrence Summers.

Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee opined that ‘Barack Obama’s cabinet is starting to resemble a Clinton reunion’ and ‘voters demanded change but so far Obama is only offering more of the same.’

What do you think?

-- Andrew Malcolm

Speaking of leaks, get automatic alerts of all new Ticket items flashed to your cellphone by registering here.