It’s an American tradition, a birthright even.
All red-blooded American taxpayers try to beat the IRS just so they can hang on to their dignity.
Admit it. We all do it. And if we can’t, we’d sure like to.
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If you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar, you plead ignorance, say mea culpa and pay the penalty.
But here’s the issue. Tim Geithner did it, and if he’s confirmed by the Senate, he’ll become the new Sheriff of Nottingham as the nation’s chief tax collector.
Look, I like the guy. He’s as bright as they come.
He aced Dartmouth. He got a master’s degree in international economics and East Asian Studies from Johns Hopkins. He speaks Chinese and Japanese.
What a Resume
Geithner worked with Henry Kissinger. He was undersecretary of treasury in the Clinton White House, and impressed the hell out everyone as the head of the New York Fed.
Obama’s Treasury nominee is accused of failing to pay more than $30,000 in self-employment taxes while he was employed by the International Monetary Fund.
Democrats like Senate Finance Chair Max Baucus appear ready to give Geithner a pass. They seem willing to overlook Geithner’s indiscretion and are characterizing his tax hi-jinx as an innocent mistake.
Geithner may be just what the economy needs. But Obama should not look the other way, and neither should we.
The new administration can’t be entirely credible if it allows this double standard just because Geithner is talented. Our economy got in trouble because the guys in charge of the candy store looked the other way once too often.
The Right Impulse
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson – Obama’s former Commerce nominee – had the good sense to withdraw his nomination, even though it is unlikely that the pay-to-play controversy that has engulfed his state will ever reach him.
Congress is mulling the release of the remaining $350 billion in TARP funds. They’re smarting because Mr. Bush and his outgoing Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson, treated the first $350 billion like a presidential slush fund.
Everyone knows where the monies were spent, but they can’t say exactly how.
To make matters worse, there are also allegations that Geithner’s household hired a domestic whose legal status in this country had lapsed. No big deal. But you have to wonder whether Geithner withheld taxes for this person or at the very least sent out a 1099.
What Was the Real Reason?
Geithner’s confirmation hearing has been postponed until after the inauguration, presumably because of a scheduling conflict by some of the Republican members. It could also be because the Republicans are trying to decide whether to stonewall the nominee.
It doesn’t really matter.
Either way, Geithner’s got to go.
If he doesn’t withdraw, it sends the wrong message and will cause this President to start off his already daunting quest on the wrong foot.
John Cohn is a senior partner in the Globe West Financial Group[ based in West Los Angeles. He may be contacted at www.globewestfinancial.com
