By Michael Callaway
January 23, 2009
Some will question if failing to pay taxes in the past should disqualify Mr. Geitner from the post of Treasury secretary. The critics will say with the IRS reporting to the Treasury secretary it would be like the fox guarding the hen house. Others have suggested if he could not figure how to do his taxes how could he do a good job as Treasury secretary?
These issues are not really valid as to the qualifications of the man for the job; they do score political points for those who want to oppose Obama. The real question that should be asked is why is our tax code so complex that even someone as smart as Timothy Geitner could get it wrong?
This is a man that went to Dartmouth College and then later went to Johns Hopkins University. He has worked for the US Treasury Department, the International Monetary Fund, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and has been the Vice Chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee. If this is a man who can make a mistake on his taxes with the help of an accountant, what hope is there for a regular person?
© 2009, Michael Callaway. All rights reserved.
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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 this 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. Click on that page, and this is what you’ll see straightaway:
“What is the Self-employment Tax?
Self-employment tax (SE tax) is a social security and Medicare tax primarily for individuals who work for themselves. It is similar to the social security and Medicare taxes withheld from the pay of most wage earners.
You figure SE tax yourself using Schedule SE (Form 1040). Social security and Medicare taxes of most wage earners are figured by their employers. Also you can deduct half of your SE tax in figuring your adjusted gross income. Wage earners cannot deduct social security and Medicare taxes.”
I think you’ll agree that this is unusually prosaic verbiage for the IRS. Nonetheless, that’s not to say someone couldn’t legitimately not know about the SE tax—once. However…
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 http://www.halfjoking.com
@Stephen G. Barone, I do not believe his failure to pay his taxes was an honest mistake. I do believe that the guy is nothing more than a CROOK, like a majority of our politicians (congressman and senators)our political system has become totally corrupt. God help us.
Come on people. This guy is a tax cheat and deserves to be prosecuted, not nominated! Please do not tell me there is nobody else that can assume this post that does not have an extensive history of attempting to screw the government and then lie about it. DO NOT ACT LIKE SHEEP OR STICK YOUR HEAD IN THE SAND AND IGNORE THIS. DEMAND SOMEONE HONEST BECAUSE IF THE IRS CALLS ON YOU FOR TAX PROBLEMS ARE YOU GOING TO REFERENCE GEITNER AND SAY HE DID IT TOO?
This man should not nominated, there are more qualified people in our Universe….GET REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fair Tax Now!
http://FairTax.org
Simpler than that. The guy is a tax cheat.
He claims to have used TurboTax; if so, it would have told him he had not paid the self-employment tax. I have to pay it every year. Well, I guess I used to “have” to pay it. Looks like now, the IRS doesn’t care. This is nauseating. Same ol’ same ol’. Fat man busy dancing while the thin man pays the band.
He should keep playing guitar for Fleetwood Mac.
How can Mr. Geitner have the nerve to even accept the Treasury job? He should do the RIGHT thing and resign immediately.
I am a very concerned citizen about the direction in which our beloved America is moving. How can our new President even continue to support this man after learning of his tax evasion? How can Mr. Geitner have the nerve to take this job? He is a disgrace. He should resign like Dashel did. At east Dashel had the manliness to step down.
Nancy R.Gardner
Its too late – Timothy Geitner has already been confirmed. It shouldn’t have happened as hes responsible for letting(alon with Paulson)Lehman bros. go down the tubes & causing a panic which led to further panic, It was unnecessary to say the least.
And he didn’t do such a great job while he was in NY State or else Mr. Madoff wouldn’t have been able to run a ponzi scheme for years.
I’m tired of getting e-mails from the Obama “team” & asking for suggestons to which no-one pays any attention
Geitner has not given us any sense of confidence that he has a handle on what is going on. The banks are doing business as if everything was normal and we had given them no bailout money at all. It is unbelievable.
Fire Him!!!
He didn’t “Get it wrong”. If he is as smart as you say he is, he got it right and did exactly what he planned to do. He worked for these people, studied the policies, and found a way to avoid them for a while. Stop being so naive to think that these people are not corrupt and acting on egocentric tendencies. You know Obama hired him so that he could help Obama cheat on his taxes. He got Geitner in there so that where Obama was actually born somehow doesn’t make it onto his W-2. Cause then he’d be kicked out.
Do you all realize that we are having jerks like geitner and BHO crammed down our throats and it just doesn’t matter whether we like it or not. Yes, we are already into a despot/dictatoring government. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN TO US….AMERICANS..
We MUST get BHO and his handlers out of that office. To save us all we MUST get him out of there.
IMF and Federal reserve? Of course Geitner will take care of his banking buddies.
Why is Obamas cabinet full of the same power structure that has been in all presidencies since FDR? Washington Outsider, hmm?
Bilderberg, Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations?
His staff is members of at least one group, most are part of all 3.
Here comes the new world order. And he has an army of uninformed zealots to clear the way for him.
Timothy Geitner should not have been appointed TReasury Secretary. I just learned that in September, when the Office of Thrift Supervision closed Washington Mutual (Nevada), that the FDIC (perhaps with the permission of the Federal government) permitted the FDIC to sell WAMU assets to Chase for 1.8 billion, sign an agreement with Chase that the receiver, FDIC, would insulate and indemnify Chase from any liability regarding the origination and handling of the loans and then the FDIC implements a procedure whereby defendants/borrowers who are in foreclosure cannot assert claims against WAMU (and Chase) for violations of Truth in Lending, etc., but have to get in line and file proofs of claim? How could America have let this happen? I don’t think one more dime should go to any bank, financial institution, the FDIC, any other lending institution without a return of Glass-Steagall and other even more stringent protections. Secr. Geitner should be more concerned with finding out where the money went then giving banks more money. The reason why we are in such a predicament is because the Federal Government and banks were asleep at the switch, or even complicit in the orgy of wasteful, non-principled lending. This country must retrench and return to an economy that is sustained by products and services, not by loose money. Secr. Geitner said that he wanted regulations, where are they? My clients are being deprived of rights by the acts of the FDIC. This is an outrage. This is probably one of the many reasons why foreclosures are proceeding, Chase has no obligation to right any of WAMU’s wrongs.
He wasn’t chosen by President Obama. He was chosen by those who own the keys to the Presidents illegal activities closet.
You are a myopic turd excusing his actions saying he didn't know what he was doing.
Question: If I was to report Geitner as a whistle blower, would I get a reward? I think that since we know he has not paid his taxes, couldn’t we get an award?