Five Safe-Bet Geithner Replacements

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Talk that President Obama may give Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner the boot won't seem to go away.

Geithner took two tough hits last month. First, he was hauled before Congress to answer fresh questions over poor disclosures related to AIG(AIG). Members of the House Oversight Committee took the opportunity to blast Geithner once again for failing to pay his taxes, an issue that nearly prevented him from being confirmed in the first place.

>>Here's a list of five longshot Geithner successors.

Then Obama appeared to sideline Geithner the Good Cop, seen as too cozy with big banks like Goldman Sachs(GS), Morgan Stanley(MS), Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase(JPM) and Bank of America(BAC), replacing him on the field with Bad Cop Paul Volcker. The Volcker Rule, as the President called it, would break up the big banks and keep them out of profitable but risky businesses like proprietary trading.

Less attention has been given, however, to who might replace him. That may be because the job has rarely appeared more difficult, or more difficult to fill. This slideshow features five safe-bet names to take the reins should Geithner get shown the door.