In the midst of debates on financial regulation and China’s currency in April, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner sat down to discuss the U.S. economy -- with comedian Jon Stewart.
Geithner and Stewart, host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” held an off-the-record meeting at Stewart’s office in New York on April 2, according to Geithner’s appointments calendar, updated through August on Treasury’s website.
Geithner didn’t stay for a television interview with Stewart although other administration officials -- most notably President Barack Obama last week -- have turned up for on-camera chats...
[Full Article]Geithner consulted with Jon Stewart on economy: US Treasury
If the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear didn't convince you that Comedy Central's Jon Stewart has made the leap from comedian to political force, perhaps this will.
According to Bloomberg news service, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner met with Stewart at the Daily Show host's New York offices in April. And according to a Treasury spokesperson, it wasn't a social visit.
“Jon Stewart is influential in America, so we took the opportunity for the two to meet and to discuss the economy,” Treasury spokesman Steve Adamske told Bloomberg's Ian Katz in an email.
The meeting was buried in Geithner's appointment calendar, which has been released by the US Treasury. It shows that Geithner met with Stewart on April 2. This despite the fact that "Stewart’s program has poked fun at Geithner, including a segment last year about the Treasury secretary’s trouble selling his New York home," Katz notes.
What is not clear is what, exactly, was the purpose of the meeting, and who said what to whom. Joe Wiesenthal at Business Insider speculates that maybe Geithner was trying to exert pressure on Stewart to be more positive on the administration's fiscal and economic policies...
[Full Article]Jon Stewart’s Older Brother, Larry Leibowitz, Is ‘COO’ Of The NYSE
The New World Order Report
Not as many people are aware of it as should be, but Jon Stewart's older brother, Larry Leibowitz, is the chief operating officer of the New York Stock Exchange
Brother of Jon Stewart, Larry Leibowitz
Mr. Leibowitz was appointed chief operating officer in the first quarter of 2010. In this capacity, he is responsible for operations management, global cash execution and global listings. He previously served as group executive vice president and head of U.S. Execution and Global Technology from 2007 until 2009. He joined NYSE Euronext in 2007, having served as managing director and chief operating officer, Americas Equities, at UBS Investment Bank. Prior to joining UBS in 2004, Mr. Leibowitz held the position of executive vice president, co-head of Schwab Capital Markets. He currently serves on the board of National Stock Exchange of India and has also served on many industry boards and committees, among them the Market Structure Committee of the former Securities Industry Association (now SIFMA).
As stated above, Leibowitz was also formerly managing director and chief operating officer at UBS, "the leading global wealth manager, a leading global investment banking and securities firm, and one of the largest global asset managers", as they describe themselves. A rather influential man, indeed.
So Larry's brother Jon calls the President of the United States, Barack Obama, "dude" on international televison when Jon catches Mr. Obama bullshitting his way through an interview ("In fairness, Larry Summers did a heck of a job...").
There's been some hubbub about this moment in various media, but the mainstream pundorks appear to be studiously avoiding the obvious: by calling Obama "dude", Stewart showed his perception of his relationship to the President of the United States. And why wouldn't the brother of one of the more influential people on Wall Street see himself as being as equal in influence, if not surpassing it, to the president?
A few days following the interview, Stewart drew more people to Washington, DC than Obama could ever hope to draw. Of course, Stewart has banking and media behind him.
What's Obama got?
