Obama Taps Treasury's Bailout Lawyer To Lead Derivatives
Watchdog     President Obama this afternoon announced his choice
to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC.
Timothy Massad is not well-known but, if confirmed, he will
wield a lot of influence over financial markets.  NPR's Yuki
Noguchi reports on who Massad is and the challenge he faces.
YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE: Until now, Timothy Massad has been a
behind-the-scenes man. He spent a quarter of a century as a
securities lawyer, brokering deals for large firms. And more
recently, at the Treasury Department, he's been in charge of
clawing back as much money as possible from banks participating
in the Troubled Asset Relief Program, also known as TARP, or the
bailout. Speaking today at the White House, President Obama
noted how Massad managed to get a $31 billion profit for U.S.
taxpayers.  PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: For the past few years, Tim
has been charged with, let's face it, the thankless task of
winding down a program that no one ever part