Yes, Mr. Chairman. I think

that would certainly help give us all a chance to have an opportunity

to...

Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

And welcome, Mr. Secretary.

But Mr. Secretary,...

(Off mike.)

Would you -- should I proceed with my opening

statement or would you like me to --

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Camp and

members of the committee.

Thank you for...

Mr. Chairman, I think that what the economy

requires, what the American people demand is that...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Secretary, President Obama stood before the Congress and said

that...

I -- I appreciate that. Time is so short and I'm

almost out of it but the concern is that I...

Far more than the top 2 percent rely on those

charities for their help --

(Cross talk.)

The phase-out of the deduction, yes, but the actual

contribution to the charity which will be...

The chair recognizes Mr. Levin of the troubled city

of Detroit.

Thank you, Congressman. On the first issue, the

president's budget proposal is to treat income...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr.

Secretary, I've been examining this document and I must confess...

Mr. Secretary, I respectfully disagree with you.

But my question, again, was where is this money...

I don't think anyone's recommending we do nothing.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Secretary, as I look at you, you remind me of the dilemma of

a...

But who decides when they have enough to lend?

Keep doors open.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Secretary, the president's proposed a new mandate on every

business...

But you don't mandate it.

Well, it should be voluntary. You know, you force

people to put money into a stock market that's...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you very much, Mr. chairman.

Thank you very much Mr. Secretary for being here today.

Mr....

Mr. Secretary, can you tell us if you really know --

why does the president believe that this...

Mr. Secretary, long before these economic

difficulties, there's so many of our citizens that...

Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, Mr.

Secretary.

Mr. Secretary, compliments of...

Mr. Secretary, domestic reinsurance. I filed

legislation time and again to deny deductions for...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, thank you, Mr. Secretary.

Welcome, Mr. Secretary. I applaud the

president's effort to submit an honest budget and a fiscally

responsible...

Mr. Secretary? Mr. Secretary, if you look at what

Chairman Bernanke said just last week, 2 percent...

I beg to differ. Nowhere close.

In April, when Director Orszag brings back the fleshed-out

budget,...

Thanks --

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for being here.

Following...

The chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas, Mr.

Doggett, for three minutes.

They do, and you're absolutely right.

Let me just start by saying that we fully support the...

-- and championed by your colleagues on offshore

tax centers, and we look forward to working...

-- as part of a broader effort to address

international tax evasion and close the tax gap.

Let...

Mr. Secretary, according to today's paper, it seems

that President Obama has found one more...

Thank you. I'd like to do that.

You've made three references in this last hour and a half --...

But, do you have metrics --

Thank you.

Mr. Secretary, thank you for your

testimony. Thank you for your role in preparing this budget...

Now, what's -- how did that group fare relative to

wage earnings during, for example, the years...

I believe a statistic that I've heard -- on

average, so it's not entirely revealing but 7 percent...

Do you believe that we can sustain an economic

recovery with the stalling out of the middle...

I've looked some of those tables and I haven't

seen distribution imbalances like that until...

Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

I yield back.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Secretary, thank you for being here.

I just have three quick...

The gentlelady from Florida, Congresswoman Brown-

Waite.

Thank you very much.

It's very important to start by recognizing that what's happening

in...

Right. Congresswoman, again, we have a very

diverse financial system. There's a lot of strength...

(Off mike.)

Yes, happy to work with you and look forward to

the chance to hear your concerns and suggestions...

Thank you, Congressman. I think it's very

important, again, to look at the combined effect of...

I welcome that suggestion, and I think it's an

important way to illustrate the overall effects.

(Off mike) -- for three minutes.

(Off mike discussion.)

Mr. Reichert of --

I'm sorry. According to the list, you came before

the gavel.

I was in before the gavel also.

I'll yield to Mr. Davis for now.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

As we talk about a large mosaic, the devil's always in the

details....

Reclaiming my time, Mr. Secretary, the one thing

that I would make a comment, I think some of...

(Off mike.)

Thank you, Congressman. On the first question,

yes, we work very closely with the FDIC. Of course,...

Mr. Pascrell from New Jersey for three minutes.

Thank you, Congressman. Let me just start with

the conditions on the assistance we provide to...

First of all, what they're seeing is happening

across the country and it's a measure of the...

(Off mike.)

Congressman, you're absolutely right -- that our

future depends on remaining open and playing...

The budget -- the budget document is a

comprehensive set of proposals that relate to the budget...

What you can expect is the president and his

administration will work carefully with the Congress...

Congressman, this is why it's so important that

we move to make sure we strengthen our financial...

Completely --

Congressman, I support the president's budget, in

its full package of measures because I think...

Thank you.

The chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois, Congressman

Davis, for three...

Congressman, on your first point, I think it's

very important that people have the opportunity...

The chair recognizes Mr. Etheridge of Tennessee for

three minutes -- North Carolina.

Thank you, Congressman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And,

Secretary Geithner, it's nice to see you.

I'd like to begin...

I think -- because one of the things that I'm

getting when I'm home, and it's very frustrating,...

(Off mike.)

REP. CHARLES BOUSTANY, JR. (R-LA): Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Secretary,...

But that's the key.

We don't have a transition strategy. And natural

gas has been considered one of the key transition...

Well, what about the Gulf Coast energy jobs that

we have today? This will kill those jobs. And...

Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, before I close out, I ask unanimous consent to

include this letter...

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

And thank you, Secretary Geithner, for being with us this

afternoon.

I...

So would it be fair to say that there's sort of a

short-term strategy combined with a long-term...

All right. Thank you. I appreciate your answer,

and I yield back the balance of my time.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Mr.

Chairman, thank you.

And Mr. Secretary, thank you...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

And thank you, Mr. Secretary, for being here. I appreciate it

very...

And Florida and New York and a whole lot of

others.

In conclusion, could you -- I put a call into your

office on a totally separate subject. I know...

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr.

Secretary, one of the things that you spoke about had to do with

transparency...

Well, and to the extent that you have control over

that -- and I assume you do as an individual...

Well, let me just finish the question. Well, we're

deciding what's a appropriate and I'm asking...

Okay, I realize my time is expired. It was a

complete unwillingness to engage.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome to

the committee, Mr. Geithner, and thank you for your responses...

Thank you.

Absolutely right, these things have to go

together. Each will be less effective unless they're...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr.

Secretary, thank you for coming to the committee. I want to make...

And the omnibus.

And the current budget.

And AIG bailout over the weekend.

I understand, but with the support of the president

as was the first bailout. The first TARP...

-- back in September.

I was at a meeting where you came and did ask for

the support of the Congress for that -- that...

Well understood, Mr. Secretary, but here's -- here's

the issue. We've thrown this all at the...

Understood. But here's the concern I think that a

lot of us have is that right now under your...

Well, we're -- we're starting with about 6 (trillion

dollars) or 7 trillion (dollars) in debt...

No, built -- built up over the last 220 years.

I understand. I just want to make sure, and I'll

close with this, Mr. Secretary, that it's not...

Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for

indulging me with extended time. Thank you.

Very important question. The president is going

to be proposing to the Congress a comprehensive...

(Off mike.)

Thank you, Congressman. I think it's going to

require better reporting. There's an important...

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Understood. I just came over from Budget

Committee, so I didn't get the rules in...

-- want to say there's another viewpoint on that.

Sure.

Please do it very quickly, because I have some real

questions on Treasury I want to ask you.

Okay, but --

Agreed. Putting the AMT -- good move; good

budgeting. Suggesting we're going to have a surge...

Let's disagree on that, and let me ask you further.

In the budget -- because I've only got three...

Yeah, your line is $210 (billion) over 10 years for

international tax reform.

Yeah, yeah.

So I know deferral is repealed --

Right. But beyond repealing deferral, where are you

thinking? I'm just really actually curious.

Okay, just quickly, the TARP. Actually, I think this

is an innovative idea, combining the TARP...

But the basic structure is TALF, TARP and private

money? Is that what --

I'd like to get a more detailed briefing --

(inaudible) -- 30 minutes in the future, if you...

(Off mike.)

REP. K

ENDRICK MEEK (D-FL): Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Secretary,...

Mr. Secretary, when we passed TARP, and this is

before your tenure, when Paulson was there,...

Yes.

Okay. Well --

Yeah.

Well, we want to make sure that there's a police

officer there at the beginning versus several...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank

you, Mr. Secretary, for indulging the entire committee and...

And I appreciate that because I think all of us

are being asked by our communities, our business...

(Off mike) -- again, thank you, Mr. Secretary, for

being here. I look forward to those other...

Well, thank you. Thank you very much.

Thanks, Mr. Chairman.