By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Mayor Michael Bloomberg sat down for an economic heart-to-heart at Gracie Mansion Monday after sparring over the Bush tax cuts this weekend.
Geithner made the talk show rounds Sunday morning arguing his case for why Congress should allow the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans to expire at the end of the year.
Ending the cuts on the two to three percent of families earning $250,000 or more a year would help the government start paying down the deficit, Geithner said.
Bloomberg, meanwhile, was busy warning that eliminating the cuts could stall the economic recovery.
"I don't think you want to run the risk that they are wrong," the billionaire mayor told NBC's "Meet the Press" of Geithner's logic.
Whether it's Washington, D.C., or New York City, Bloomberg and Geithner make it a point to get together when they are in the same town, said Jason Post, the mayor's spokesman.
Geithner was in Manhattan Monday to deliver a speech at New York University. Regarding their face-to-face, Bloomberg said he and Geithner had agreed to disagree.
"The subject was mentioned. We have a difference of opinion," he told reporters at a press conference at Elmhurt Hospital Center in Queens. "There's no easy answer for him, we talked about that."
Still, Bloomberg had nothing but praise for the secretary.
"I think he is one of the most competent people in government," Bloomberg said. "This country is very lucky to have him."
"That doesn't mean I think he's right on everything and that he always agrees with me," he added.
