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Jack Lew, the man President Obama has chosen to help oversee the country's biggest banks, has said it plainly — he's no expert on banking. Lew said as much when the Senate was vetting him to head the White House Office of Management and Budget in 2010.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., asked Lew if he thought deregulation of Wall Street caused the financial crisis. Lew said he didn't consider himself the best person to answer that question.

"I don't consider myself an expert in some of these aspects of the financial industry," Lew said. "My experience in the financial industry has been as a manager, not as an investment adviser."

On Wednesday, Lew will again face a confirmation hearing, this time to be Treasury secretary. Members of the Senate Finance Committee are expected to question him about his knowledge of financial markets and his brief stint at Citigroup between the Clinton and Obama administrations.

Just A Manager

Insisting he was just a manager may be the way Lew will wash his hands of a messy time at Citigroup, when he was chief operating officer for one of the bank's riskiest investment units. By calling himself a "manager" at Citigroup, he can suggest he wasn't the one who made some of the financially disastrous decisions there.

And actually, for Lew's defenders now, "manager" already seems to be the go-to word. Robert Rubin, a former Treasury secretary and ex-Citigroup chairman, seized on the term during a recent phone interview. He's the one who helped Lew get a job at Citi.

"That was a job that required somebody who had managerial effectiveness, and Jack had been a very effective manager of the government and a very effective manager at NYU, and that's what they were looking for — manager," Rubin said.

To some people, the word "manager" suggests you're one of the people in charge, and they can't help but notice that Lew was at the helm of a company that suffered such massive losses — Citigroup got the biggest federal government bailout of any bank.

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said he wants to know exactly what role Lew played in those losses.

"Did he contribute to the conditions at Citi that led to the bailout?" Grassley asked.

He also pointed out that Lew received a $940,000 bonus from Citigroup shortly before the bank got bailed out.

"I think we ought to know whether or not he gave Wall Street any favors, because he has to be independent from special interest and put the taxpayers first in this new role that he's playing," Grassley said.

More On Jack Lew

The Two-Way

Obama Settles On Jack Lew, His Chief Of Staff, For Treasury

Ed Koch, the colorful three-term mayor who led New York City through its financial crisis in the '70s, has died.

George Arzt, a spokesman for the former mayor, tells NPR's Joel Rose that Koch died of congestive heart failure around 2 a.m. ET Friday. The former mayor was 88.

As Joel writes, Koch's "larger-than-life personality was well-suited to the nation's biggest city but could also get him in trouble." The Democratic mayor, says Joel:

"Was famous for asking his constituents this question: 'Hey! How'm I doing?' He insisted this was more than just shtick. He told NPR in 1981 that he really wanted to know. 'Some people have said that's a mark of insecurity. Gee, I have to be patted on the back, how'm I doing,' he said. 'I want you to think about this: Do you know people in public life who are sufficiently secure to ask people to rate them?' "

"[But] Koch's mouth finally cost him his job as mayor. His relationship with African-American voters — never great to begin with — soured for good when he suggested that Jews would be 'crazy' to vote for Jesse Jackson in 1988. The next year, Koch lost the Democratic primary to David Dinkins, who went on to be the city's first African-American mayor. Koch never ran for office again, but he never left the public eye, either.

"He did a stint behind the bench on the People's Court; he hosted a popular talk radio show; and he stayed active in politics, endorsing causes and candidates he favored, with little regard for party affiliation."

Then they return to their cells, Caesar's head bowed, Cassius subdued as the door clangs shut behind him and he surveys his spartan surroundings.

"Since I got to know art," he says, "this cell has become a prison."

Caesar Must Die

Directors: Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani

Genre: Drama

Running Time: 76 minutes

Not rated; some intense scenes

With: Cosimo Rega, Salvatore Striano, Giovanni Arcuri

(Recommended)

Everyone wants to go to a bar with Rosie Schaap. And not just because she can shake up a mean cocktail — you'd expect no less from the "Drink" columnist for The New York Times Magazine — but because a bar is the ideal setting for her insightful and endlessly funny stories. For those of us who can't make it to closing time with Rosie, however, Drinking With Men, her new collection of essays, is the next best thing. (Read NPR's review, and an excerpt from the book, here).

The "Dory Green"

2-1/2 oz. Canadian Club or Crown Royal whiskey

1/2 oz. dry vermouth

A scant teaspoon of Canadian Grade B maple syrup

2 dashes Brooklyn Hemispherical Rhubarb Bitters

Seltzer

To a mixing glass, add ice and all ingredients except seltzer. Shake like mad and pour into rocks glasses or small tumblers, leaving room for a good shpritz of seltzer to top it up.