(CNN) - The Republican National Committee called on President Barack Obama to dismiss Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner Monday.
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus blamed Obama and Geithner for Standard & Poor's downgrade Friday, saying the administration's "failure to cut the debt" and lower spending over the years directly caused the unprecedented blow to the U.S. credit rating.
"And just four months before this embarrassing downgrade, Geithner vowed it would never happen," Priebus said in a statement Monday, citing an April interview on Fox Business Channel when Geithner repeatedly said there was no risk that the U.S. would lose its AAA rating.
"The Treasury Department is no place for such irresponsible stewardship," Priebus said.
The statement came one day after the Obama administration announced Geithner would stay put in his position.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said that the president had asked Geithner to stay and "welcomes his decision."
In June, the Treasury secretary was rumored to consider leaving his post once Congress and the White House reached a deficit-reduction deal ahead of the Aug. 2 deadline set for a potential government default. But after Obama signed the debt bill Tuesday, Geithner said he plans to keep his job at least into the fall of 2012.
Geithner has held the job since being appointed by Obama and confirmed by the Senate on Jan. 26, 2009.
- CNNMoney's Rich Barbieri contributed to this report.
This is such a ridiculous response. The RNC is completely ignoring its part in the S & P downgrade. I believe it is time to accept responsibility and move on!!!! We all have work to do!
The hiring of Geithner is likely Obama's greatest blunders. Yes, even greater than asking Biden to be his VP. Obama should admit his mistakes and press on with a real plan on salvaging our economy.
Okay, so let me see if I've got this right. The Republicans will do anything to regain the White House, including apparently, destroying the economy over a political fight they chose to never have with the previous administration when it was running two costly wars "off the books." Now that their strategy is working, they are fishing around for someone to blame. Although it may work for their base, the rest of the American people WERE watching the whole debt ceiling negotiations very carefully. President Obama giving into the demands of the Tea Party activists against the wishes of the Speaker of the House. The Speaker of the House taking credit for a "victory" over President Obama. Now with the ramifications all the economists were predicting coming to pass, attempting to blame the very people working to avoid the problem. Pretty typical Republican behavior lately.
Read the lips of the S&P – no new taxes. Cut, Cap and Balance the budget.
Tim G has to go- first- then – Congress must pass above plan NOW.
No other options, no super committee, no more wasting time.
It can be said, Mr O is worse than Jimmy Carter.
baloney...now the party of 'no' is trying to point the finger elsewhere...no way...no how...we are coming for you Republicans...can you hear us now? 2012 elections aren't soon enough in my opinion...we need a recall and referendum amendment to the constitution...something where 'we the people' can exert more control on these run-away nut cases...
some needs to take the hit... might as well be tim..
"The Treasury Department is no place for such irresponsible stewardship," Priebus said.
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Are you really sure you want to make that kind of statement, Mr. Priebus? Because it just begs the follow-up questions, how responsible are the GOP and the Tea Party caucus in their stewardship?
These people can't read. The S&P didn't downgrade because of the debt. It downgraded because of the inability of Congress to come together and solve issues, including fiscal issues. This hits both the Repubs and the Dems. When people go into "negotiations" stating that this issue or that issue is off the table and not open for discussion, that's not negotiation. Congress is not doing its job, and both parties are at fault.
Are you people NUTS? You expect the current President to erase years and years and years of over spending in just a little over two years of being in his position. What rock did the RNC crawl from under! This happen because we went to war without having the money to pay for it, gave "extensive" loop hole to the rich and famous, and NUTS like the republicans appoint the craze tea partier into office. This is why we are in the mess that we're end. I say the sooner we STOP pointing fingers and come together as one, the sooner we can get ourselves out of this crisis. Because that’s what it is going to take. Assigning blame now, is not going to do any of us any good....NO ONE!!!!!!
Fire Reince Priebus and then try him and the rest of the Republican leadership for treason. The downgrade and our pending economic disaster is 100% their fault. Republicans hate America.
Fire Speaker of the House Boehner who let the Tea Party run all over him as well as the country or is Priebus too chicken like the rest of the GOP to take control of the tea baggers. The Tea baggers new slogan is "TAKING OUR COUNTRY DOWNWARD".
The defective gene.. no matter how many times you're wrong, you're impervious to the facts. In your big tent, being stubborn is considered a virtue. Your beloved GW Bush and his VP, Darth Vadar, instituted a downward fall of our country with tax cuts and wars that have resulted in the ENTIRE deficit. But you can't remember that far back can you. You want the idiot voters to think this is all Obama's fault.. and their still remains enough painfully ignorant and stubborn voters to actually cause even futher destruction. YOUR Tea Party is responsible for this latest kick in the shins. If we didn't have two wars and an anemic revenue stream (due to lowest taxation of the uber rich since 1950) we wouldn't have a defict – you iidiots.
Politics. It always makes me laugh when I hear BOTH sides and the TP accuse the other side of playing politics. NEWSFLASH: they are politicians – this is what they do. Its just like a mortician saying its not about dead bodies. Really people. Really.
As far as Geitner is concerned – I don't like him but anything the republicans are for – I am automatically against.
Got to feel sorry for Geithner. Has no idea what he is doing, every decision he has made has been wrong and now Obama will not let him quit. Obama needs a scapegoat for the economy and guess who it is!
This files in the face of the reasons that S&P gave for the downgrade. However since facts have never played a part in Republican pronouncements, I wouldn't expect them to take responsibly for this debacle. They set out to sabotage and the have succeeded as far as they are concerned, the well being of the US Economy is STILL just collateral damage to them.
Folks, Fire all these GOP republican idiots in 2012.....they messed to this level....o.k, Iraq war, Trickle down economy, shipping jobs overseas, resulted.....o.k, Every where foreigners, illegals, Nation is under attack by GOP thugs....cheap labor....o.k, fire GOP bastards in 2012.....
Obama to RNC: Up yours!
No more distractions...the teabaggers and republicans are to blame for this downgrade.
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus blamed Obama and Geithner for Standard & Poor's downgrade Friday, saying the administration's "failure to cut the debt" and lower spending over the years directly caused
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Really– And you would also like us to believe that USA had no debt or on-going wars when Obama took office. CNN, there has to be another page to post the "incredibly stupid political remarks" Let's face it, if Obama had froze all spending and immediately stop each war, then he would still be blamed for spending too much. From 2001 to 2008, there was absolutely no budget conscience uproar, including when the taxpayers were bailing out the banks/wall street.
Now that Obama is in office, he's responsible for all the spending dating back to end of 1940's
Let me get this straight.
The RNC is calling for Geithner's ouster because he didn't have the foresight to anticipate that the radical right wing of the Republican party would be willing to drive the nation into default rather than take actions like raising taxes that the ratings agencies would see as signs we were responsible enough to keep our AAA rating.
Just for a minute can we stop the lunatic political point scoring based on idiotic reasoning or lack there of . . . please !
We do deserve the fate we are setting ourselves up for through our unwillingness to deal with reality.
The Republicans with the help of Obama caused the credit downgrade pure and simple. By letting the Debt ceiling raise go through without any additional tax revenues it showed we have no concept of sound financial practices.
VOTE THEM ALL OUT AND FIND A STRONG THIRD PARTY!
I swear that these Republicans would make Joseph Goebles SO very proud! They don't even build it around a small kernel of fact, they just make it up whole cloth!
COUNTRY TO RNC, OBAMA, CONGRESS, ET AL....YOU ARE ALL FIRED. This is not the handy work of one president or one administration or one party. Republicans and Democrats alike are responsible and it has taken decades of mismanagement to get here. If the parties aren't willing to work together for the betterment of all Americans, then our once powerful and proud nation is lost. That Congress has FAR better or more secure healthcare than the citizenry is shameful. If the retirement funds known as Social Security had been squandered by a private firm, they would (hopefully) be in prison for theft. Stop f****** around with your agendas, get to work and do your jobs. I would hope that we are fast approaching a time when MOST Americans are sick of the politics and sick of the stalemates that get us nowhere.
You tell 'em, Mr. Priebus. You and your GOP chums in Congress just don't get it, do you? Blame everybody else just like the lousy Republican members of Congress also blame everyone but themselves for our country's financial mess. But, then, what can you expect from a crummy tribe of finger-pointers who spend much of their time finding excuses NOT to raise taxes on the rich? This sure as heck ain't the Republican Party I joined decades ago. It's been hijacked by the Taliban wing of the GOP.
Geitner is an idiot. Obama is smarter than he is, but GOD will prevail.