Now that S&P Has Downgraded US Credit, Tim Geithner Should Resign

The facts are this: Under Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, the United States has piled up more debt at a faster pace than at any other time in our history. Despite Geithner’s blithe promises back in April, when S&P first warned that a downgrade might be in the offing, a downgrade has now occurred. Today’s downgrade has been decades in the making, but the US government was specifically warned about it nearly four months ago, and the Obama administration failed to act.

Under Geithner’s watch, the United States has not had a national budget at all, and that includes two years when the party of his president controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. As Treasury Secretary, it was Geithner’s job to make the case that living without a national budget was reckless. The fact is, Geithner has offered no leadership at all. He should resign.

President Obama should consider resignation himself as well, or at least choose not to run for re-election. No US previous president has presided over a downgrading of US credit, through war and peace, growth and depression. Only Barack Obama has presided over the downgrading of US credit.