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Tim Geithner Claims White House Asked Him to Mislead Public on Sunday Shows
Mediaite
Noah Rothman
5/12/2014
Excerpt:
In his newly released memoirs, former Treasury Sec. Timothy Geithner claims that members of President Barack Obama’s political staff asked him to mislead the public about what are and are not drivers of the national deficit. Geithner was told specifically not to say that Social Security contributes to the national deficit in an upcoming appearance on the Sunday morning talk shows, even though he believes it does, because it might inflame and anger the Democratic base.
“I remember during one Roosevelt Room prep session before I appeared on the Sunday shows, I objected when [Senior Advisor to the President for Strategy and Communications] Dan Pfeiffer wanted me to say Social Security didn’t contribute to the deficit,” Geithner wrote in a passage flagged by The Daily Mail. “It wasn’t a main driver of our future deficits, but it did contribute.”
More from the excerpts:
View the complete article, including photo, at:
http://www.mediaite.com/online/tim-g...-sunday-shows/
Mediaite
Noah Rothman
5/12/2014
Excerpt:
In his newly released memoirs, former Treasury Sec. Timothy Geithner claims that members of President Barack Obama’s political staff asked him to mislead the public about what are and are not drivers of the national deficit. Geithner was told specifically not to say that Social Security contributes to the national deficit in an upcoming appearance on the Sunday morning talk shows, even though he believes it does, because it might inflame and anger the Democratic base.
“I remember during one Roosevelt Room prep session before I appeared on the Sunday shows, I objected when [Senior Advisor to the President for Strategy and Communications] Dan Pfeiffer wanted me to say Social Security didn’t contribute to the deficit,” Geithner wrote in a passage flagged by The Daily Mail. “It wasn’t a main driver of our future deficits, but it did contribute.”
More from the excerpts:
“Pfeiffer said the line was a ‘dog whistle’ to the left, a phrase I had never heard before. He had to explain that the phrase was code to the Democratic base, signaling that we intended to protect Social Security.”
View the complete article, including photo, at:
http://www.mediaite.com/online/tim-g...-sunday-shows/