I haven't used the dumber-than-dirt blog category often, but if Bloomberg's reporting that Treasury Secretary nominee Tim Geithner wants FDIC chief Sheila Bair out is accurate, that idea is dumber than dirt. Bair has done yeo-woman work closing failed banks at little cost to the insurance fund while also pushing creative ways to keep consumers in their homes through foreclosure assistance plans that protect neighborhoods and taxpayers. In his keynote speech today at the Consumer Federation of America Financial Services Conference, House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) signaled very strong support for Bair, a Republican and Bush appointee. Chairman Frank said that the other bailout chiefs are apparently like little boys in a treehouse with a sign saying "no girls." He also said that her portfolio of responsibilities should be expanded. Barney also expressed disappointment that President-Elect Obama has not stepped up his own messaging on the economy and the problems with the bailout. Let's hope Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) agrees with Frank that Bair is a breath of fresh air as a creative, independent DC bank regulator and should stay. Both Dodd and Frank have repeatedly expressed disappointment that the bailout panjandrums (Geithner, Bernanke and Paulson) have not only failed to use any of the billions of dollars they were given to directly protect homeowners, but have also expressed seeming indifference to the way that the banks feeding at the bailout trough have failed to make loans but instead used taxpayer funds for acquisitions, dividends and lavish executive compensation. From Bloomberg: