Note to Congress: You Gave Geithner a Pass

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner probably wouldn't characterize Wednesday's congressional testimony on the AIG bailout as "fun." Yet, it wasn't as grueling as it should have been. And, that's the fault of Congress.

The Secretary spent much of the House hearing defending the decision to rescue the insurance giant, saying he takes "full responsibility, and great pride" in making the tough choices in those dark days. Many agree; saving AIG was, as he describes it, "terrible" and "tragic," yet necessary.

However, lawmakers failed to get any good answers as to why Geithner felt it necessary AIG pay their counterparties (umm… Goldman Sachs) in full. That's because they largely failed to grill him on the topic. Geithner has never explained why paying the counterparties less than 100 cents on the dollar would have resulted in financial Armageddon. He's always maintained he didn't have the authority to ask the banks to take a haircut. Really? As Massachusetts congressman Stephen Lynch pointed out, "we were changing the rules and regulations every single day" in the depths of the crisis.

Then, there's the issue of the cover-up. Geithner says he was recused from the discussions about limiting payout disclosures because he had already been tapped to be the Treasury Secretary nominee. Ok, even if you believe that: Who was involved in those discussions? Why aren't they being asked to testify?

Bottom line, as Henry and Aaron discuss in the accompanying clip, these questions will be a thorn in the side of the Obama administration as long as Geithner runs the Treasury Department.