Obama's Treasury secretary owed $26K in taxes, but it's OK

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Uh, it seems that Democrat Barack Obama's secretary of the Treasury-designate owed something like $34,000 in back taxes when he was picked to head the nation's financial system.

Uh, it seems Timothy Geithner owed the back taxes because the would-be member of the president's new Cabinet employed a housekeeper who became an illegal immigrant while working for him. And Geithner did not pay self-employment taxes for several years until the IRS audited him.

It seems the Obama transition team discovered the back taxes while researching the nominee, unlike the federal grand jury investigation of now former would-be secretary of Commerce-designate Bill Richardson.

It seems that such legal problems have derailed would-be Cabinet members in the past -- think Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood for Bill Clinton and Linda Chavez for George W. Bush.

It seems that Obama spokesmen are calling the nonpayment of thousands of dollars in back taxes for years a minor thing. One news report described it as "a speed bump." Sam Stein over at HuffingtonPost calls it an "embarrassing public relations headache" but really a mistake "quite common in nature."

For a secretary of the Treasury? A Federal Reserve president? Somebody who, now that Bill Richardson is stuck in Santa Fe, is gonna mastermind the economic recovery?

Oh, and for someone whose department includes the Internal Revenue Service?

It seems that the Obama team's talking points focus on the words "honest mistakes."

Incoming White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says of Geithner, "He's dedicated his career to our country and served with honor, intelligence and distinction. That service should not be tarnished by honest mistakes, which, upon learning of them, he quickly addressed."

Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he understands "honest mistakes." Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, who like Reid and Obama happens to be a Democrat, also calls Geithner's tax failures "honest mistakes" and still expects his confirmation on Obama's inauguration day.

As part of Washington's new policy of government transparency, Baucus and other committee members met with Geithner behind closed doors today.

"These errors were not intentional," Baucus added. How, BTW, do you tell that after the fact?

So you're a bank president walking out of the store with a $34,000 candy bar you did not pay for. A large person with a gun points that out. So you pay the $34 Gs. And that makes it obviously unintentional and an "honest mistake"?

Remember now, Harry Reid is the fine fellow who vowed last month that no Senate appointee of Illinois' legally troubled Gov. Rod Blagojevich would ever be seated. Tomorrow, Reid will welcome Blagojevich's appointee, Roland Burris, to the U.S. Senate and to Obama's vacant seat.

Also, here's a Washington political danger alert for the new Obama transition team. The canny Reid, who's got his own reelection next year, vowed he still supports the Treasury nominee. Second danger signal: Reid added, "I do not know Mr. Geithner well."

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo credits: Washington Visitors Bureau (U.S. Treasury); Charles Dharapak / Associated Press (Timothy Geithner).

Comments

[Jeffrey Balla]

Hypocrisy!

They slam "Joe the Plumber" for not paying his taxes (about $1,200), but when an Obama pick for Treasury Secretary doesn't pay almost $30,000 in taxes, that's an "honest mistake."

Interesting.

That sounds like blind loyalty.

[American Sharecropper]

What message does this send to the reasonable American? If I were to disobey the law and refuse to pay income taxes, I would face penalties, confiscation of my private property and even the loss of my dwindling liberties. Now if I were a prominent Partisan...

With all of the corruption associated with associates of the Democrat President-Elect, an intellectually honest American has to ask herself "where was the Hope and Change"? When are we going to realize (in voting blocks large enough to matter...) that the Democrats are no more moral or ethical than the Republicans were, even less so. The partisans deserve the corrupt politicians they elect, as well as the diminishing liberties they willingly trade away. My family doesn't though and I resent both sides of this failed political paradigm.

[Jesse]

you were way to kind.

[Don]

this is very typycal of the Ivy league/ privilege set that led us to the abyss. They just don't care about money-- especially if it is not their own.

[Dave G]

Tim Geithener channels Steve Martin circa 1978:

"You.. can be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes! You can be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes! You say.. "Steve.. how can I be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes?" First.. get a million dollars. Now.. you say, "Steve.. what do I say to the tax man when he comes to my door and says, 'You.. have never paid taxes'?" Two simple words. Two simple words in the English language: "I forgot!" How many times do we let ourselves get into terrible situations because we don't say "I forgot"? Let's say you're on trial for armed robbery. You say to the judge, "I forgot armed robbery was illegal." Let's suppose he says back to you, "You have committed a foul crime. you have stolen hundreds and thousands of dollars from people at random, and you say, 'I forgot'?" Two simple words: Excuuuuuse me!!"

[Dennis D]

This is a disgrace. Does Obama research anyone? I guess not .

[Nick in Virginia]

For a normal person, this situation would probably be OK. For someone who wants to head up the Department of Treasury, and as a result be in charge of the IRS, it is ludicrous.

Geithner should just back out like Chavez did with Bush (I don't really remember if Wood and Baird backed out gracefully, or if they tried to go through their confirmation hearings and were formally rejected).

And an interesting juxtaposition of ads in the Google box while I was typing this. The first ad was a "1-second poll" asking if Michelle Obama was Sexy (NOT), and the second ad was for the "#1 Wrinkle Cream". People might think some Republican put those ads together like that!!

[F.A.R]

By the looks of it Cheech and Chong are gonna be the drug tzars then.

[orthodoc]

Let me get this straight. The nominee for Treasury, supposedly the best and the brightest financial brain of this or possibly any era, can't figure out his taxes? And only ponies up the cash when he's about to be nominated?

Good thing he's a high-minded public official. If he was an ordinary schmoe, he'd be on the way to prison.

[Julie]

Obama should find a new candidate as quickly as possible. We can't have someone in charge of the IRS that doesn't even pay his own taxes. If they don't change candidates its irrresponsible to the american people.

[NyYankeefan]

It is rather pathetic isn’t it? The Democrats torpedoed President Bush’s nominee, Bernard Kerik for Homeland Secretary based upon a so-called Nanny violation and then heaped on other bogus charges and turned the whole thing into a criminal case. The prosecutor has even been accused of suborning perjury.

According to a complaint that was filed by Michael Caruso, a DOI Investigator with an unblemished record, he was repeatedly told to lie about Kerik’s meeting with him and other officials, where Kerik was asked by them to appear. At the center is Rose Gill Hearn. She is the Commissioner of the Dept. and is a Hillary partisan. The fact of the matter is that this was a political hit job orchestrated by Hillary Clinton’s dirt merchant, Rose Gill Hearn, a lawyer and Hillary supporter and head of the N.Y. City Dept. of Investigation (DOI). According to the federal complaint filed by Michael Caruso in the Southern District (docket no. 06-5997), Gill-Hearn’s First Deputy Commissioner of DOI told Caruso to testify falsely to the Grand Jury, stating, “Remember Kerik vouched for Larry Ray at the Walker’s meeting and everything will be O.K.”

So now the Obama transition team seeks a speedy confirmation process for a cohort while an American hero is the subject of an extraordinary prosecution.

[drjohn]

He paid up the DAY BEFORE the announcement?

Are you kdding me?

So he wouldn't have paid were he not to be nominated for something?

Once more, it proves that liberal elites are better than those of us who have to follow the rules.

Linda Chavez was kept out of Bush's cabinet for hiring an undocumented worker, but when a Democrat does it, it's a "minor hiccup."

What a load of crap.

[Steve Martin]

You.. can be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes! You can be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes! You say.. "Steve.. how can I be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes?" First.. get a million dollars. Now.. you say, "Steve.. what do I say to the tax man when he comes to my door and says, 'You.. have never paid taxes'?" Two simple words. Two simple words in the English language: "I forgot!" How many times do we let ourselves get into terrible situations because we don't say "I forgot"? Let's say you're on trial for armed robbery. You say to the judge, "I forgot armed robbery was illegal." Let's suppose he says back to you, "You have committed a foul crime. you have stolen hundreds and thousands of dollars from people at random, and you say, 'I forgot'?" Two simple words: Excuuuuuse me!!"

[Tom]

I am an Obama supporter...gave hundreds to the campaign and did canvassing...and the Geithner nomination totally stinks. This is total "Chicago" chummyness. This is "change I can believe in?" This is "change is coming to Washington"?

This is total B.S.

[Crush Liberalism]

"They slam "Joe the Plumber" for not paying his taxes (about $1,200), but when an Obama pick for Treasury Secretary doesn't pay almost $30,000 in taxes, that's an "honest mistake.""

Well, that was different. Joe the Plumber, unlike Geithner the Would-Be SecTreas and Head IRS Collections Agent, had to be "vetted." I mean, we can't just have anyone asking questions of our elected leaders. These people like Joe the Plumber need to be investigated and exposed!

For those of you on the left, that was sarcasm.

[moronpolitics]

Taking advantage? Ya think? Like cheating on your bride to be 3 days before her 850 thousand dollar wedding splash, followed byt he honeymoon around the world on 170 foot Windjammer Yacht? Yes, you can "get away with it"......but forget? Her last words on her death bed with be your name and "is a f-ing b*st*rd. What we now know is that Obama is NOT a great politician, not even a very good one. He went where he was told and read the speeches they wrote for him, but his actual decisions??? OH,MY. StooooPid with a capital STOOOOOO.

[JEC]

Our soon to be Treasury Secretary didn't pay his taxes and Obama says that's okay and wants him to be over the IRS! Sounds to me like Obama is saying we don't have to pay our taxes if we don't want to.

[Kevin Kendall]

I'm all for the new Obama Admin team, like RARA! and all that. My God, we need it badly. Over the past 8 years the U.S.'s incompetent President / competent "Designated Destroyer & Worldwide Chaos Maker" for the NWO ShadowPeople has really stressed America in ALL areas to what looks like is pretty close to the complete dissolution of our sovereignty as a nation among nations. And fine, so we won't be The Big Dog anymore, which is what the NWO people need to happen with America.
Fine.
Just don't completely decimate us economically so that huge numbers of mostly innocent mothers, fathers & children wind up out on the streets in front of their homes looking at a sheriff's "Foreclosed" sign on what used to be their home's front door.
I mean, c'mon....... chaos-making for the purposes of reorganization to that extent is just plain EVIL.

BUT, as far as Geithner goes....
I can sympathize, I suppose, with the "honest mistake" problem that Geithner says he'd made.

HOWEVER....
Right now, our country cannot afford someone running the new Obama Admin's "recovery plan," which will require MASSIVE amounts of number-crunchings, educated decisions & wise speculations, who has made such a fundamental "honest" mistake with his OWN finances.

So....
I would like to see the Obama people find & select another Treasury Secretary candidate.

Geithner is, in my opinion, at this point after the latest revelations about his oversight of fundamental issues with his own finances, and the possible issue of honorability, not a viable candidate.

To have him running all or even part of the number-crunching in the recovery efforts would be dicey, and personally, would make me REAL nervous about whether he might be making fundamental mistakes with America's (i.e., OUR) finances from time to time also, were he to get the Treas Sec post.
So NO.
No to Geithner.
Get somebody else, Obama Administration.
Geithner's turned out to be just another wild card in this current age of 2-legged wild cards comin' outta the frikkin' woodwork like bugs, on a nearly weekly interval.
We (America) need stability & succinctness of knowledge in our officials' ways & means now. We've had enough of the rollercoaster & trainwreck stuff & faith in people who've made "honest" mistakes in the past, DEFINITELY.
I could overlook other, much smaller "mistakes" that Geithner could maybe have otherwise have made, but not a $30K-$40K mistake in fundamental personal accounting.
Thank you.

[Neil]

I have to hand it to Obama. He managed to generate scandals before he even took office.

Any Republicans that vote for Geithner should be tossed in the next elections.

[Stephen G. Barone]

Here’s a guy whose résumé lists the presidency of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and whose attendant credentials—we are to assume—make him competent to be the titular guardian of our national treasure. Yet, we’re to believe that he forgot about Social Security and Medicare taxes when he filled out the old 1040, which are intimately, affectionately, and collectively known as the Self Employment, or SE tax, by the 11million or so people in America who don’t earn their living working for somebody else.

The SE tax is extremely straightforward to understand, even if you’ve only graduated from Dartmouth and have an M.A. in International Economics from John Hopkins. As a matter of fact, just type “Self Employment Tax” into Google, and a handy & helpful Web page will appear at the very tippy-top of the listings, which is the kind of search engine result that tells you 11 million or so others have visited here before you.

Call me a cynic. But I think Timothy saying he just forgot about the SE tax—from 2001 to last fall—stretches the parameters of credulity. Or more prosaically, he’s full of bull. You know it. I know it. He knows it.

But since when is being notoriously feculent in spirit and morality a detriment to one’s suitability for government service? Actually, it’s a credential. The Senate has vetted Timothy Geithner, and they have found his ethical predilections to be totally reasonable by their own standards.

No surprise there.

Read more at www.halfjoking.com

[ANNA MANOCCHIO]

HOW SAD. SOMEONE WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THE TREASURY IGNORED HIS QUARTERLY TAXES AND TOOK HIS CHILDRENS CAMP AS A DEDUCTION. AND HE IS LEADING US. IF AND WHEN I AM AUDITED AND SHOULD I OWE, I AM GOING TO USE GEITHNER AS MY DEFENSE AND CLAIM DISCRIMATION.

[joe plumber]

We should all focus in on the real issue here
the legalization of Marijuana
It will only bring good
It would save us tons of money
think about it,
attitudes towards weed have changed, more people than you think are cool with the idea and actually want its legalization

[Diakka A.]

Yes I too Made honest mistakes and an original tax dept of around $8,000 wound up being around $24,000. I tried to OIC but the amount of the OIC was more than my original dept by thousands. And the monthly payment option was not realistic to my abilities either. My life has been in chaos for more than 5 years. The IRS only seem to crucify those who are not seemingly above the law. The sooner Americans force the plan of a fair tax and do away with income tax or get rid of the IRS for a better system the better off we will be. Oh and lets not forget about immigrants who come heer at our expence. I mean lets face it I am sure all those immigrants outside the SOC SEC office and at hospitals receiving care etc. are legal citizens. I still work and contribute to our way of life but don't feel like a citizen many times.