Geithner: If Reform Passes, Government Will Never Again Bail Out Banks

April 21, 2010— -- With President Obama heading to New York City Thursday to make his case for financial reform, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he is confident that if reform is enacted the government will never again step in and rescue big banks as it did in 2008.

"You can't run a system in which private investors or their executives can take risk on the expectation the government is going to come in and protect them," Geithner told "Good Morning America's" George Stephanopoulos.

Tune in to "Good Morning America" Thursday at 7 a.m. ET to watch more of Stephanopoulos' interview with the Treasury secretary.

Geithner told Stephanopoulos that if banks expect the government to save them again it would be a "recipe for disaster."

Earlier this week, Geithner met with Republicans on Capitol Hill in hopes of gaining support for the legislation when a bipartisan bill seemed unlikely. But now both Republicans and Democrats have said an agreement may be possible, perhaps as soon as the end of the week.

The news that Goldman Sachs made $3.5 billion in quarterly profits, which was released days after the Securities and Exchange Commission announced investor fraud charges against the company, is seen as playing a role in the turn towards a bipartisan agreement.

Nine Republicans on the House Oversight Committee questioned the timing of the SEC's charges against Goldman, wondering whether it was done to increase support for financial regulation reform.