Right Pulse

We’ve had Paul Keating, Peter Costello and Alexander Downer raising questions about the ability of Tim Geithner (Timbo) and Larry Summers (Lazza) to manage the economic downturn, based partly on their own encounters with the two men. Now US congressional Democrats are getting a taste of what Australia had to confront in the mid-1990s.

Congressional Democrats are growing increasingly nervous about the ability of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the Obama administration’s economic team (Lazza) to manage the crisis and effectively convey a coherent policy.

Even Chris Dodd, one of the main culprits behind the mortgage meltdown has had a go at Timbo:

Last night, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd added to the criticism, saying he (Timbo) weakened a provision dealing with executive pay and bonuses in last month’s stimulus legislation at the request of the Obama administration.

The Connecticut Democrat had proposed restrictions on executive compensation at companies that received money from the government’s financial-rescue fund. It was changed as the legislation was negotiated between the House and Senate.

“I did not want to make any changes to my original Senate-passed amendment but I did so at the request of administration officials,” Dodd said in an e-mailed statement.

He said there was no indication that the change was related to AIG, and he didn’t name the officials. His spokeswoman Kate Szostak said the changes were added during negotiations with the Treasury Department.