PrintJanuary 13, 2009
Obama's Treasury pick failed to pay taxes (updated)
Timothy Geithner, nominated as Secretary of the Treasury, failed to pay taxes. So he rushed to pay them when the transition team found out about them; and the Obama camp tried to keep the failure to pay a secret? How about that transparency we heard so much about on the campaign trail? How about those huge deficits caused , in part, by people dodging their taxes?
Thomas Lifson adds:
He also employed an undocumented worker in his household. Zoe Baird had to give up a cabinet nomination over tthis issue alone.
Lee Cary adds:
it’s just a “last-minute complication on a smooth” path. No problem.
After all, ABC News tells us that New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy J. Geithner and the President Elect are practically kin.
If you examine the life story of Geithner you may think he and Obama are brothers, separated at birth…The parallels between Geithner's story and Obama’s are uncanny. Both men are 47 years old and spent part of their youth living abroad. Both have succeeded despite unusual backgrounds. Both men have developed a cadre of powerful and well-connected people who provide advice and guidance. And both men like the occasional pickup basketball game.
Wow. Uncanny, for sure.
Just 34,000 little hiccups.
David Singh adds:
A Wall Street Journal article for tomorrow's edition presents a more detailed and disturbing factual narrative than the AP piece linked above, including:
In 2006, the IRS audited Mr. Geithner's 2003 and 2004 taxes and concluded he owed taxes and interest totaling $17,230, according to documents released by the Senate Finance Committee. The IRS waived the related penalties.
Rick Moran adds:
"He's dedicated his career to our country and served with honor, intelligence and distinction," incoming White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said"
Yeah - but he's a tax dodge.
Thomas Lifson adds:
He also employed an undocumented worker in his household. Zoe Baird had to give up a cabinet nomination over tthis issue alone.
Lee Cary adds:
it’s just a “last-minute complication on a smooth” path. No problem.
After all, ABC News tells us that New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy J. Geithner and the President Elect are practically kin.
If you examine the life story of Geithner you may think he and Obama are brothers, separated at birth…The parallels between Geithner's story and Obama’s are uncanny. Both men are 47 years old and spent part of their youth living abroad. Both have succeeded despite unusual backgrounds. Both men have developed a cadre of powerful and well-connected people who provide advice and guidance. And both men like the occasional pickup basketball game.
Wow. Uncanny, for sure.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid dismissed the events as "a few little hiccups," and said he was "not concerned at all" about the impact.
Just 34,000 little hiccups.
David Singh adds:
A Wall Street Journal article for tomorrow's edition presents a more detailed and disturbing factual narrative than the AP piece linked above, including:
In 2006, the IRS audited Mr. Geithner's 2003 and 2004 taxes and concluded he owed taxes and interest totaling $17,230, according to documents released by the Senate Finance Committee. The IRS waived the related penalties.
During the vetting of Mr. Geithner late last year, the Obama transition team discovered the nominee had similarly failed to pay the same taxes for 2001 and 2002. "Upon learning of this error on Nov. 21, 2008, Mr. Geithner immediately submitted payment for tax that would have been due in those years, plus interest," a transition aide said. The sum totaled $25,970.
The Obama team said that Mr. Geithner's taxes have been paid in full, and that he didn't intend to avoid payment, but made a mistake common for employees of international institutions. That characterization was contested by Senate Finance panel Republicans, who produced IMF documents showing that employees are repeatedly told they are responsible for paying their payroll taxes.
As to why Mr. Geithner didn't pay all his back taxes after the 2006 audit, an Obama aide said the nominee was advised by his accountant that he had no further liability. Senate Finance Committee aides said they were concerned that either Mr. Geithner or his accountant had used the IRS's statute of limitations to avoid further back-tax payments at the time of the audit.
"Some might say it was a character moment," said one Republican aide.
Other tax issues also surfaced during the vetting, including the fact that Mr. Geithner used his child's time at overnight camps in 2001, 2004 and 2005 to calculate certain dependent-care tax deductions. Sleepaway camps don't qualify.
Amended tax returns that Mr. Geithner filed recently include $4,334 in additional taxes, and $1,232 in interest for infractions, such as an early-withdrawal penalty from a retirement plan, an improper small-business deduction, a charitable-contribution deduction for ineligible items, and the expensing of utility costs that went for personal use.
After reading Lee Cary's above quotation of an ABC News article blessing us with the amazing similarities of Geithner's and Obama's lives, I will propose an applicable paraphrasing:
If you examine the life story of Geithner you may think he and Charles Rangel are brothers, separated at birth…The parallels between Geithner's story and Rangel's are uncanny. Both men are serial tax cheats...
