text: The New York Post reported this morning that lawmakers are discussing JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon as a potential replacement for current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. 
   
   Leaving aside concerns that appointing a Wall Street CEO to the Treasury's top position would draw heavy criticism over Wall Street's coziness with Washington, it's not clear that Dimon would be a natural fit in the Obama administration. According to the Wall Street Journal, Dimon departs from White House policy on a handful of key issues. 
   
   For one, President Obama has pushed establishment of a consumer-protection agency that would keep watch over credit card and mortgage companies, but Dimon opposes the agency on grounds that it will drive up costs. JPMorgan says recent legislation regulating credit cards could cost the bank up to $750 million a year, a burden that may be passed along to consumers. 
   
   And while the White House's position on how to handle too-big-to-fail banks is still evolving, Dimon has staunchly defended big banks' right to exist -- and to fail. In a Washington Post op-ed this month, Dimon wrote: 
   
   "...ending the era of "too big to fail" does not mean that we must somehow cap the size of financial-services firms. Scale can create value for shareholders; for consumers, who are beneficiaries of better products, delivered more quickly and at less cost; for the businesses that are our customers; and for the economy as a whole. Artificially limiting the size of an institution, regardless of the business implications, does not make sense. The goal should be a regulatory system that allows financial institutions to meet the needs of individual and institutional customers while ensuring that even the biggest bank can be allowed to fail in a way that does not put taxpayers or the broader economy at risk." 
   
   Anonymous sources told the NY Post that Dimon "would love to serve his country," but is demurring. He has no plans, he says, to leave JPMorgan for the next "six or seven years." 
   
   For now, Geithner is still contending with critics in Congress. He was attacked last week during an appearance before Congress's Joint Economic Committee. "Mr. Secretary, the public has lost all confidence in your ability to do your job," Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) told him. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Get HuffPost Business On Facebook and Twitter! ||||| With Timothy Geithner on the hot seat for his handling of the government’s financial-system bailout, the flagging dollar and persistently high unemployment, there is speculation a relief pitcher might be getting the call. 
   
   The New York Post cites unnamed sources as saying that J.P. Morgan Chase Chief James Dimon would “love to serve his country” and notes that he has been raising his profile around Washington recently, including an op-ed piece in the Washington Post last week and visits with Democratic power brokers. 
   
   This could be a classic case of the Washington rumor mill, stoked by Geithner’s testy exchange with Republicans at a Congressional hearing last week. Still, it is hard to resist the speculation about Wall Street’s “rock star” swooping in to save the White House’s economic effort. 
   
   Still, Dimon is no shoo-in. The blunt-speaking banker differs from the White House on several key issues of Obama’s financial-overhaul plan. First, Dimon, head of one of the nation’s largest credit-card issuers, opposes the creation of a consumer-protection agency that would oversee credit cards and mortgages. Dimon has said publicly on multiple occasions that such an agency would only create additional costs for banks that would eventually be passed along to consumers. President Obama has said the agency would be critical in protecting consumers from predatory mortgage brokers and excessive credit-card fees. 
   
   Second, Dimon has contradicted the White House economic team on how to deal with banks that are “too big to fail.” The J.P. Morgan chief wrote in the Washington Post that artificially capping the size of large banks would hinder banks from creating scale which could benefit shareholders and consumers alike. 
   
   Some White House economic officials are considering proposals to impose capital restrictions or even separate commercial and investment-banking activities. 
   
   Of course, as Treasury Secretary, Dimon would be entitled to advocate for a different course than Geithner. But by arguing against limits on big banks, it would expose him to criticism that he was “talking his book” or pushing a self-serving agenda. In this case, it would be “talking the book” of his former colleagues on Wall Street who will benefit from keeping large financial firms intact. 
   
   Therein lies Dimon’s biggest handicap. Dimon might have avoided the criticism heaped on the likes of Goldman Sachs Group’s Lloyd Blankfein and Bank of America’s Kenneth Lewis, but he still is a Wall Street banker. 
   
   In the current climate, the Obama administration may want to consider the danger of replacing one lightening road Treasury Secretary with another. ||||| As support for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wanes on Capitol Hill amid frustration with the Obama administration’s handling of the economy, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is emerging as a potential replacement. 
   
   Sources tell The Post that a number of policy makers have begun mentioning Dimon as a successor to Geithner, whose standing in Washington has suffered because of the country’s high unemployment rate, the weakness of the dollar, the slow pace of the recovery and the government’s mounting deficit. 
   
   Last week, Geithner faced a withering attack from some Republican members of the Joint Economic Committee, getting into a testy exchange with one congressman who at one point asked Geithner if he would step down. 
   
   Dimon, meanwhile, has achieved rock star status during the financial crisis, having navigated JPMorgan through the recession and being a go-to guy when Uncle Sam last year needed Wall Street’s help during the collapses of Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual. 
   
   Furthermore, while many bank chiefs are facing heat over outsize bonuses, Dimon has repeatedly made clear he won’t write fat checks to attract or keep talent. 
   
   People familiar with Dimon’s thinking said he “would love to serve his country,” and in recent weeks Dimon has had a noticeably higher profile in Washington, making frequent visits to government officials and earlier this month publishing an op-ed in the Washington Post that makes the case for letting large institutions that take big risks collapse rather than receive government aid. 
   
   “It is critical to the standing of the United States in the global financial economy to have a Treasury secretary who has the full support of the president and Congress; a person who has earned respect on their own as a result of hard-won battles in finance to represent this nation,” said Dick Bove, a banking industry analyst at Rochdale Securities who this week will publish a report on Dimon. “That is not Timothy Geithner. It is Jamie Dimon.” 
   
   The timing might be right for Dimon to pursue the Treasury post. He recently put into place a succession plan, and JPMorgan is currently considered one of the strongest banks in the country, even though it, too, faces a threat of sizable consumer-loan losses. 
   
   However, sources said Dimon also has tried to tamp down enthusiasm for his replacing Geithner, whom the JPMorgan boss continues to support and thinks is doing “a good job,” according to sources. 
   
   He doesn’t want to be perceived as gunning for Geithner’s job and is said to be keenly aware of the anti-Wall Street sentiment gripping the country. He has told people he plans to stay at JPMorgan for another “six or seven years,” according to one source. 
   
   A JPMorgan spokesman declined to comment. 
   
   Dimon has long been a big Democratic supporter, and his ties with Obama go back to when he ran Chicago-based Bank One. In addition, White House visitor logs show Dimon has been a repeated guest there. He also was a point man during the previous administration, rescuing Bear and WaMu. 
   
   This isn’t the first time Dimon’s name has been floated for Treasury secretary. He was considered a candidate last year and is still viewed as an executive who could be instrumental as Washington looks to overhaul the financial regulatory infrastructure. 
   
   mark.decambre@nypost.com 
   
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   Wow, this is a really amusing report from the New York Post. Apparently, some people are pushing for JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon to replace Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary. And he might want the job. This is unlikely on so many levels that I hardly know where to begin. 
   
   First, here's what the Post says: 
   
   As support for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wanes on Capitol Hill amid frustration with the Obama administration's handling of the economy, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is emerging as a potential replacement. Sources tell The Post that a number of policy makers have begun mentioning Dimon as a successor to Geithner, whose standing in Washington has suffered because of the country's high unemployment rate, the weakness of the dollar, the slow pace of the recovery and the government's mounting deficit. 
   
   For starters, Geithner isn't going anywhere. Anyone who thinks he might be is nuts. He has carried out President Obama's every wish. And the financial markets have been doing considerably better since he took the reins. While the broader economy isn't doing quite as well, the Treasury Secretary has had little control over any of that. He played virtually no role in the stimulus, the decline of the dollar or the deficit. Unless he gets tired of the job, I'd be shocked -- shocked -- to see him ousted. That would make the Obama administration look really bad. 
   
   The Post continues: 
   
   People familiar with Dimon's thinking said he "would love to serve his country," and in recent weeks Dimon has had a noticeably higher profile in Washington, making frequent visits to government officials and earlier this month publishing an op-ed in the Washington Post that makes the case for letting large institutions that take big risks collapse rather than receive government aid. 
   
   And that may be true. Indeed, I recently commented on Dimon's op-ed in the Washington Post. I noted that it was significant that he chose the Post rather than the Wall Street Journal or New York Times. He definitely has an interest in Washington, but right now, it's a vested interest as regulation threatens to altar the landscape that his firm does business in. Whether that interest goes beyond necessity seems speculation. 
   
   But it is possible that he'd be up for consideration in 2012, particularly if Obama loses. Here's one argument why he should be considered, from the Post piece: 
   
   "It is critical to the standing of the United States in the global financial economy to have a Treasury secretary who has the full support of the president and Congress; a person who has earned respect on their own as a result of hard-won battles in finance to represent this nation," said Dick Bove, a banking industry analyst at Rochdale Securities who this week will publish a report on Dimon. "That is not Timothy Geithner. It is Jamie Dimon." 
   
   I mean, not really. Or at least not anytime soon. Most in Washington will still remember the political fallout of Henry Paulson administering bank bailouts after having worked as the CEO of Goldman Sachs prior to his Treasury Secretary role. Dimon showed in that recent op-ed that he still wants to go pretty easy on banks -- and Washington doesn't. A Republican President might be a little more agreeable to someone like Dimon, but unless Republicans also take control of the Senate, confirmation will be an uphill battle. 
   
   Besides, Dimon is a Democrat. But he's not liberal enough on financial regulation to satisfy most Democrats. After all, Rep. Kanjorski's (D-PA) bank break-up amendment to the House financial regulation plan passed almost completely on party lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed. Dimon's op-ed spoke out directly against the idea, which was embraced by Democrats. 
   
   So might Dimon be considered one day? Perhaps. Could he really get it? Given the wariness in political circles of the Washington-Wall Street path being a little too well-trodden, I suspect not.
target: – A report today that JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has the inside track to replace Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary is getting mostly guffaws online, with even the conservative Wall Street Journal admitting that Dimon’s way too much an insider for the job just now. Indeed, chuckles Daniel Indiviglio, the New York Post story is “amusing” because, “for starters, Geithner isn’t going anywhere. Anyone who thinks he might be is nuts.” Politicians’ wariness of the “well-trodden” Washington-Wall Street path is likely the overriding factor, Indiviglio concludes for the Atlantic, while, Grace Kiser notes, Dimon differs with the Obama administration on a list of consumer-protection issues, siding with big banks in a way that Michael Corkery, in the Journal, says “would expose him to criticism that he was ‘talking his book’ or pushing a self-serving agenda.”