“I think [financial reform] is a just war. I think it’s a necessary and important thing to do. I think we have a deep obligation to get them to do this. The president has put out a sweeping package of reforms, strongest reforms we’ve contemplated as a country since the Great Depression, necessarily so because this was so damaging,” said Mr. Geithner.
“The house passed a bill very close to what the president proposed. Senator Dodd has put out a very good, strong bill. I do not think this is a Democratic or Republican thing. This is an American thing. I think you’re going to see – when this gets to the Senate floor, I think you’re going to see a lot of support for this, because I think it’s very hard for people in Washington to look their constituents in the eye and say, we’ve just had the worst financial crisis in generations, but we couldn’t find the will as a country to reform the rules of the game.”
The most memorable moment came when Ms. Maddow asked Mr. Geithner on his previous role at the New York Federal Reserve.
“That issue of how much authority you have, though, is where I get hung up, and why I’m still concerned about the Fed now, why I’m still concerned about you working at the Fed, frankly,” said Ms. Maddow.
“Really, I’m happy – you can go back over my record. I can tell you, with a lot of knowledge, of course, the stuff we were right on early, the stuff where we made a lot of difference early. But I can also tell you – and I know a lot about this – where the Fed was behind the curve and late,” replied Mr. Geithner.
WATCH: TIMOTHY GEITHNER ON RACHEL MADDOW, PART 1
WATCH: TIMOTHY GEITHNER ON RACHEL MADDOW, PART 2
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