Rescue Plan, With Some Fine Print, Dazzles Wall Street

Mr. Geithner had a lot on the line in Monday’s announcement, despite Mr. Obama’s repeated insistence that his job was safe. The Treasury secretary’s highly publicized unveiling six weeks ago of his plan’s “framework” had been panned for lacking details, hobbling Mr. Geithner as he was trying to build credibility with the financial markets and clout in Washington.

He suffered further political harm last week for not stepping in sooner to block the taxpayer-supported American International Group’s payment of employee bonuses, and the fallout from that episode — including a House vote to impose punitive taxes on the recipients of the bonuses — threatened to scare off the same investors he needed for his plan to work.