Tim Pawlenty No Longer Unemployed

It's days like this that remind you why the president has erased Mitt Romney's polling advantage on issues of job creation and the economy. When even Tim Pawlenty is able to land a high-paying job, you know it's Morning in America.

The former governor of Minnesota is stepping down as co-chair of the Romney 2012 campaign — no worries, there's no shortage of wooden things in Mitt Romney's camp — to be the new head of The Financial Services Roundtable, a lobbying group whose members include JPMorgan Chase and Co., Citigroup Inc. and The Allstate Corporation.

This may be a little incongruous for those who remember Pawlenty for statements like this…

I went to Wall Street and told them to get their snout out of the trough. We're not going to do any more bailouts or carve outs or handouts there.

And it may be a job posting difficult to square with Pawlenty's notion that the GOP should be "the party of Sam's Club, not just the country club." In fact, he'll be a perfect fit. The banking industry loves buying financial regulators in bulk.

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Related: Proof Tim Pawlenty Is Exciting [GALLERY]

Photo by Richard Ellis/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Banks, Lobbyists, Tim Pawlenty

Tweet Untweet: Romney's Got It in the Bag

Romney tries to connect with middle class voters by reusing a paper grocery bag to move some cash across the room.

— Jocelyn Plums (@FilthyRichmond) September 10, 2012

Tags: Banks, Mitt Romney, Tweet Untweet, Twitter

Neil Barofsky's "Bailout": Tim Geithner Is Sweaty, Dismissive

Neil Barofsky, former Special Inspector General in charge of oversight of TARP, has written a juicy new book about the bailout and how it was handled–mishandled, rather, which is where the juicy parts come in.

We got an advance copy of Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street, hitting shelves July 24. So what have we learned about the little (not little) bailout that could (or couldn't)?

Neil Barofsky is kind of a dick. Barofsky's former boss, U.S. Attorney Mike Garcia, had this to say about his employee's appointment as SIGTARP: "You can be kind of a dick sometimes, and they needed someone who could be kind of a dick."

Tim Geithner is a dick. Here is a partial list of words and phrases Barofsky uses to describe Tim Geithner and/or Tim Geithner's actions: "brusque," "bizarre," "sweaty," "twitchy," "utterly dismissive." Alas, the world may never know how Neil Barofsky really feels about Tim Geithner.

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Tags: Banks, Books, Chuck Grassley, Economy, Elizabeth Warren, Indecision Book Club, Neil Barofsky, Obama Administration, TARP, Timothy Geithner

Our Endorsements: A Few of Mitt Romney's Favorite Things

* Mitt Romney lays down a sweet new track, thanks to the Gregory Brothers.

* Of course a new Obama conspiracy is causing a rift in the ranks. That's what they WANT!

* President Obama has a new plan to go back and give us hope, from our own River Clegg.

* A statement on the loss of 2 million, from McSweeney's.

* Some facts about dictators that don't make them any more lovable.

Tags: Banks, Barack Obama, Birthers, College Humor, Daily Links

Tweet Untweet: Taking Stock

If your investments add up to $17 and some pocket lint, you're still better at it than JP Morgan.

— A Guy Named Kelly (@kellysdf) May 14, 2012

Tags: Banks, Economy, JPMorgan Chase, Tweet Untweet, Twitter