'Poor' TARP Wife Unmasked, Tarred, and Feathered

By Will McCahill, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 22, 2009 1:34 PM CDT

(Newser) – A snooty “confessions of bailout wife” piece has the web’s gossip-mongers in a frenzy, with New York magazine leading the way in divining the anonymous author’s identity. By process of elimination, Jessica Pressler determines, the woman behind the “eye-rolling details” of foregoing birthdays at Michelin-rated restaurants for “small, chic” spots is Liz Peek, a former New York Sun columnist married to CIT Group CEO Jeffrey Peek.

“Liz, if it was you—you should have known the angry media hordes better than to go and write about troubles like these,” Hamilton Nolan sneers in Gawker over the Portfolio story. At Wonkette, Sara K Smith is no less irked over tales of sacrificing the company jet to fly commercial. “This is what it means to suffer, America,” she huffs. “Or shall we say, MAOIST CHINA?”

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

Fine things under $20 (©quinn.anya)

"We'll note up front that this piece is not nearly as offensive as it could have been; the anonowife acknowledges that hers are 'luxury problems,'" Hamilton Nolan writes in Gawker. (Creative Commons)

"Our heroine hasn't even looked at spring clothes, and opted to hold her husband's annual birthday party at a 'small, chic' restaurant instead of the usual ... Michelin joint," Jessica Pressler says. (Creative Commons)

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Suggestion: dress this lady in a Snuggie and frog-march her through the aisles of the nearest Dollar Tree before slathering her in barbecue sauce and tossing her into a pit of unemployed auto workers. - Sara K. Smith

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