1. University of Dayton
“Spotlight” on Timothy F. Geithner.
United States Secretary of Treasury
Cheryl Y. Wood
CMM 343
Prof. Roy Flynn
October 25, 2011
Description: Working as a writer on a weekly interview program entitled
“Spotlight”, prepare twenty in-depth. Well-researched questions for the
program’s host to ask a guest

2. Cheryl Wood
CMM 343
Oct. 25, 2011
“Spotlight” on Timothy Geithner
Introduction: Cheryl Wood introduces Mr. Timothy Geithner:
“Hello I’m Cheryl Wood, today’s Spotlight is on the current and 75th United States
Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Timothy Geithner. Mr. Geithner comes to us with an
extensive background. He is an American economist, central banker, and civil servant.
His college alma maters are Dartmouth College where he earned a B.A in Government
and Asian Studies; and Johns Hopkins University where he earned a M.A.in International
Economics and East Asian Studies in 1985. He is father to one son and one daughter,
and married to his college sweetheart Carole Sonnenfeld. Mr. Geithner is known for
staying out of the spotlight, preferring to operate quietly behind the scenes to watch over
financial markets as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Welcome to
‘Spotlight’ Mr. Geithner.”
Mr. Geithner, during your first year in office you faced high visibility issues such as:
• Restructure the regulation of the nation’s financial system
• Spur recovery of the mortgage market and automobile industry
• Demand for protectionism
• President Obama’s tax changes
• Negotiations with foreign governments on approaches to worldwide financial
issues.
(1) How has this public visibility affected your life?
(This will generate personal responses from Mr. Geithner to help us warm up a
little. The high visibility would have to impact his personal life to which he will
undoubtedly mention. At this point I will mention his background and possibly
family life, depending upon his response.)
Mr. Geitner I understand you worked as an event photographer while attending
Dartmouth College because of your love for photography.
(2) During your tenure as Secretary of the Treasury, if there was one
moment you could capture on camera what would it be?
(Again, his response will generate further questions, a few laughs maybe, but will
present a good flow and lighten the load for the more serious questions.)

3. In late 2008, before your confirmation hearing, one of the Fed’s harshest critics, Sen. Jim
Bunning (R-Ky) accused you of missing “an awful lot of red flags”. Your response was
“Nobody was watching the store, so it was eventually going to happen’. I have several
questions regarding this, first:
(3) Whose position was it to “watch the store?
(4) Why weren’t they watching the store?
(5) Who’s watching the store now?
President Obama designated $75 billion for 4 million homeowners to avoid foreclosure
and unveiled The “Making Home Affordable Program” on February 17, 2009.
(6) Why did it take so long to reach the public?
The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARF) was supposed to be used to buy up the
banks’ troubled mortgage-related assets, but the Bush administration’s Treasury
Department shifted gears, using the program instead to shore up the banks by injecting
them with capital.
(7) What is the difference between TARF, HARP, and HAMP?
(There will be follow-up questions to this)
A headline reads”$568 million in Foreclosure Aid Program Goes Unspent”. HUD
began taking applications in June 2011, almost one year after the program was made
possible by Wall Street reform legislation, 6 months later than HUD first intended. The
deadline for HUD to commit the funds was Sept 30, 2011.
(8) If those designated funds are to reach the American people, why not
extend the deadline?
The Congressional Oversight Panel was created to keep watch on taxpayer bailout funds.
In an October 9, 2011 report the panel stated: the “Treasury‘s own projections would
mean that, in the best case, fewer than half of the predicted foreclosures would be
avoided”. This is great for those homeowners who reap the rewards of avoiding a
foreclosure.
(9) How many is fewer than half and what happens to all those over that
number who need assistance?
(More questions from this one)
In the midst of the 2008 financial crisis major decisions were made to “prevent a wider
financial meltdown”; affecting the future of America with companies such Bear Stearns,
AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. You have been criticized for contributing to
worsening the global financial crisis.
(10) Since your position is at the helm of making those decisions, how did
those decisions keep the economy out of a deeper downturn until now?
(11) What other policies and decisions have contributed to stabilizing our
economy?

4. A non-bank company, Lehman Brothers, was not rescued from bankruptcy, when 2 days
prior, AIG, a non-bank company was bailed out.
(12) What’s the rationale supporting those decisions?
I understand naked short-selling is “The illegal practice of short selling shares that have
not been affirmatively determined to exist”. Also stated as the investment tactic of
betting a stock will slide, which investors say they merely spotted problems at
financial institutions ahead of everyone else as an early warning system for the rest
of the market. It is reported that David Einhorn, one of the most vocal short-sellers on
Wall Street, targeted Lehman Brothers and netted himself a nice return using this method.
Just four months after he criticized the accounting methods of this 158-year
old firm, the stocks fell from $40 to $4.
(13) Would you suggest the actions and words of Mr. Einhorn directly
contributed to or are even caused the fallen stock price?
(14) Or, would you suggest his actions and words were a forecast of Lehman
Brothers’ future?
The S.E.C. briefly halted this practice when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the troubled
mortgage giants were targeted.
(15)What’s the difference in protecting them by stopping the short-sellers for
their financial survival and not halting the short-sellers for Lehman
Brothers?
Recently the Obama administration sought out new authority to seize control of troubled
institutions whose collapse or bankruptcy might jeopardize the broader financial system.
(16) What are advantages for the Treasury’s office?
(17) What long term advantages are in store for our financial system
with this new authority?
Mr. Geithner it is reported that you were one of several others who opposed President
Obama’s support of a half-billion dollar subsidized loan for Solyndra, a solar-panel
manufacturer.
(18) What details of the president publicly embracing Solyndra led to your
stand on this issue?
You have an extensive background in Asian studies and it’s reported you spent most of
your childhood in other countries being fascinated with international relationships.
(19) In what way have these experiences prepared you for your position as
Secretary of the Treasury?

5. In the 1990’s you helped manage multiple international crises, in Brazil, Mexico,
Indonesia, South Korean, and Thailand. Recently the United States has shaken hands and
made an international trade agreement with South Korea. This is the first trade
agreement since the 1994 North American Foreign Trade Agreement, NAFTA.
(20) What are your views of our future with this alliance?
(21) Do you envision President Obama shaking hands with other countries?

6. Sources:
“Banks Fear Next Move by Shorts”. New York Times.com Sept 14, 2008 Story, Louise
Retrieved Oct. 19, 2011
”$568 million in Foreclosure aid Program Goes Unspent”. USA Today, Oct 7-9, 2011
“Tinmothy F. Geithner”. The New York Times.com July 1, 2011 Retrieved Oct 19, 2011
“Who is Timothy Geithner?” Reddy, Sudeep. Wall Street Journal.com 21 Nov 2008.
Retrieved Oct 19, 2011 http://www.WSJ.com
“Timothy Franz Geithner”. 2011. Biography.com Retrieved Oct 19, 2011, 12:02
hppt://www.biography.com/people/timothu-geithner-391494
“Timothy Franz Geithner”.Wikipedia.com Retrieved Oct 19, 2011
http://en.wikipedia.og/wiki/Timohty_Geithner
“Brothers Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers”. Wikipedia.com Retrieved Oct 19, 2011
http://en.wikipedia.og/wiki/Bankruptcy of Lehman
“Federal National Mortgage Association Fannie Mae”. New York Times.com 12 Oct.
11. Retrieved Oct 19, 2011
“The Presidency of Barack Obama-THE ECONOMY”. New York Times.com 12 Oct.
11. Retrieved Oct 19, 2011
“The Presidency of Barack Obama-DOMESTIC POLICY”. New York Times.com 12
Oct. 11. Retrieved Oct 19, 2011
“Geithner to Unveil Strategy to Revive Credit Flow”. New York Times.com 31 Jan 2009
Retrieved Oct 19, 2011
“Geithner Wants New Authority for Treasury”. New York Times.com 24 Mar 2009
Retrieved Oct.19, 2011
“AN EXAMINATION OF THE EXTRAORDINARY EFFORTS BY THE FEDERAL
RESERVE BANK TO PROVIDE LIQUIDITY IN THE CURRENT FINANCIAL CREDIT”
Hearing before the Committee on Financial Services U.S. House of Representatives.
Feb 10, 2009 http://financialservices.house.gov/media/file/hearings/111/111-3.pdf
Retrieved Oct. 24, 2011
“Troubled Asset Relief Program – TARP”
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/troubled-asset-relief-program-tarp.asp#axzz1biQXUXLI
Retrieved Oct. 24, 2011
“Another Inside Man for Solyndra a the White House”. FoxNews.com Oct. 14, 2011
Retrieved Oct.19, 2011

7. Naked Shorting
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/nakedshorting.asp#axzz1bjgdYoyI
What Does Naked Shorting Mean?
The illegal practice of short selling shares that have not been affirmatively determined to
exist. Ordinarily, traders must borrow a stock, or determine that it can be borrowed, before they
sell it short. But due to various loopholes in the rules and discrepancies between paper
andelectronic trading systems, naked shorting continues to happen.
While no exact system of measurement exists, most point to the level of trades that fail to deliver
from the seller to the buyer within the mandatory three-day stock settlement period as evidence of
naked shorting. Naked shorts may represent a major portion of these failed trades.
Investopedia explains Naked Shorting
Naked shorting is illegal because it allows manipulators a chance to force stock prices down
without regard for normal stock supply/demand patterns.
In 2007, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) amended Regulation SHO to further
limit possibilities for naked shorting by removing loopholes that existed for some broker/dealers.
Regulation SHO requires lists to be published that track stocks with unusually high trends in "fail
to deliver" shares. Some analysts point to the fact that naked shorting, albeit inadvertently, may
help markets stay in balance by allowing the negative sentiment to be reflected in certain
stocks'prices