I think the most troubling component to the absolute disaster that is Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is that the lag between his statements and his being proven spectacularly wrong is accelerating towards zero. This interview is from one week ago:

Robert Siegel (NPR): You said yesterday, overall, we’re in a better position than we were. That’s a modest statement of progress, but it’s a statement of progress. How can you tell Americans who are listening something that’s happened, something that should have affected their lives by now, that is a tribute to the nearly $300 billion that has already been committed by the U.S. government [to a banking bailout]?

Paulson: Yeah, I would say the first thing I would say to Americans, what we were dealing with was, we were dealing with a financial system, a banking system that was on the tipping point. Credit was frozen. Banks weren’t lending to each other. People were asking themselves about the viability of banks.

I believe the banking system has been stabilized. No one is asking themselves anymore, is there some major institution that might fail and that we would not be able to do anything about it. So I think that is a positive.

I think in terms of the challenges, in terms of working through this economic downturn. Let me tell you, it took a long time to build up these excesses. It’s going to take a good while to work through this period. And the first focus, as I said yesterday, should be on recovery and repair. And it’s going to take a while longer to work through it.

Siegel: But just to clarify, you’re saying no one is saying now there could be a failure of a major institution that we wouldn’t be able to deal with. There could be a failure of another major institution, though.

Paulson: I got to tell you, I think our major institutions have been stabilized. I believe that very strongly.

As if on cue, “As stock plummets, Citi on the brink”.

This time last year, Citigroup Inc. was valued at about $180 billion. As of Friday morning, its market capitalization stood at $20 billion — and its once-proud share price had shriveled to $3.75, a 16-year low.

Citigroup’s share price has dropped more than 60% this week, and analysts are starting to wonder just what the future holds for the financial-services company a Dow Jones Industrial Average component.

There are several options facing Citigroup as it tries to stem the decline.

It could sell some of its business units or even sell itself whole — both are under consideration, according a Wall Street Journal report — or it could try to buy itself time and gain market confidence by firing Vikram Pandit as chief executive.

In a worst-case scenario, a government bailout along the lines of that handed to American International Group could be used to rescue Citigroup.

Wrong about everything, all the time, now with more speed.

I honestly think Congress should remove Paulson from office. We can’t take two more months of his abject incompetence.