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Obama's pick as treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, failed to pay taxes
January 22, 2009
THE US senate finance committee has voted for a tax evader to become Treasury secretary. He is likely to be confirmed by a vote on the senate floor soon.
Be in no doubt that is what Tim Geithner is. I'm not sure what is more amazing about this case: the virtually free pass he has been given by the media, the toothless opposition of the Republicans or the magnitude of Obama's first betrayal of his ideals.
In 2006 the Internal Revenue Service discovered that Geithner had not paid he had failed to pay taxes in 2003 and 2004 because he had incorrectly believed they were deducted at source by the IMF, where he had moved after serving the treasury in the Clinton administration. He duly paid about $17,230 in back taxes and interest.
After he was selected to lead the treasury in November, it was discovered as part of his vetting that he owed a further $25,970 for 2001 and 2002 as well. That was the point Obama should have dropped Geithner, instead he has championed him as the only man fit for this major job in dire times.
It is just possible that Geithner, as he claimed, made an honest mistake. But he has yet to provide a proper explanation of why when the IRS told him he was due for 2003 and 2004 he did not then realize that he owed taxes in the two earlier years. At his confirmation hearing, none of the senators asked the question forcefully. Geithner blamed the first mistake on the $30 Turbo Tax software programme he used to file his returns himself, and the second on his accountant
The issue is that foreigners working at the IMF don't pay taxes, but American citizens do. The IMF raises their salaries in sympathy and expects them to pay the tax themselves. It is all common knowledge among the staff, she said.
Even if we take Mr Geithner at his word that these were "careless mistakes, avoidable mistakes", does the US really want someone who could make that kind of blunder in charge of the Treasury, and the IRS?
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the transgressions, has done its job. Otherwise, there was been a scant amount criticism in the media. Rush Limbaugh has ranted, the New York Times had one indignant piece, and Jeffrey Klein in the Huffington Post accused Mr Geithner of "serial cheating".
Several commentators have pointed out that in normal circumstances his failure to pay tax would have been fatal to his appointment. The worry is that it could be normal for Obama to be given too easy a time.
Obama's pick as treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, failed to pay taxes
January 22, 2009
THE US senate finance committee has voted for a tax evader to become Treasury secretary. He is likely to be confirmed by a vote on the senate floor soon.
Be in no doubt that is what Tim Geithner is. I'm not sure what is more amazing about this case: the virtually free pass he has been given by the media, the toothless opposition of the Republicans or the magnitude of Obama's first betrayal of his ideals.
In 2006 the Internal Revenue Service discovered that Geithner had not paid he had failed to pay taxes in 2003 and 2004 because he had incorrectly believed they were deducted at source by the IMF, where he had moved after serving the treasury in the Clinton administration. He duly paid about $17,230 in back taxes and interest.
After he was selected to lead the treasury in November, it was discovered as part of his vetting that he owed a further $25,970 for 2001 and 2002 as well. That was the point Obama should have dropped Geithner, instead he has championed him as the only man fit for this major job in dire times.
It is just possible that Geithner, as he claimed, made an honest mistake. But he has yet to provide a proper explanation of why when the IRS told him he was due for 2003 and 2004 he did not then realize that he owed taxes in the two earlier years. At his confirmation hearing, none of the senators asked the question forcefully. Geithner blamed the first mistake on the $30 Turbo Tax software programme he used to file his returns himself, and the second on his accountant
The issue is that foreigners working at the IMF don't pay taxes, but American citizens do. The IMF raises their salaries in sympathy and expects them to pay the tax themselves. It is all common knowledge among the staff, she said.
Even if we take Mr Geithner at his word that these were "careless mistakes, avoidable mistakes", does the US really want someone who could make that kind of blunder in charge of the Treasury, and the IRS?
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the transgressions, has done its job. Otherwise, there was been a scant amount criticism in the media. Rush Limbaugh has ranted, the New York Times had one indignant piece, and Jeffrey Klein in the Huffington Post accused Mr Geithner of "serial cheating".
Several commentators have pointed out that in normal circumstances his failure to pay tax would have been fatal to his appointment. The worry is that it could be normal for Obama to be given too easy a time.
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