Posted on 01/15/2009 7:10:06 AM PST by jessduntno
After Tax Errors Raised, GOP Leaders Defend Treasury Nominee But Some Call Geithner's Actions Serious Missteps
By Lori Montgomery Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, January 15, 2009; Page A03
Was he cheating on his taxes or just sloppy with his finances? Lawmakers vetting the nomination of Timothy F. Geithner to serve as Treasury secretary say they may never be sure. But leading Republicans nonetheless joined Democrats in leaping to his defense yesterday, calling Geithner's tax gaffes small potatoes compared with his qualifications for saving the global economy.
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), the second-most senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which is charged with reviewing Geithner's nomination, called him "brilliant" and "honest" and said that, despite his tax errors, "I don't think we can get a better person for this position. . . . He has the kind of background that should be very helpful to us at this time."
Sen. Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah), a close associate of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), said: "If I was a traffic officer, I'd say he may have exceeded the speed limit, but he wasn't weaving out of lanes, he wasn't drunk and he wasn't endangering anybody. He may have some explaining to do, but in the end, I think he's going to be just fine."
The chorus of support from key Republicans suggests that Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, is unlikely to encounter serious turbulence on his path to the Treasury Department, where he would serve as President-elect Barack Obama's top adviser on the worldwide credit crisis and manage a $700 billion financial rescue program as well as the Internal Revenue Service.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Ummmmmmmmmmm...either way, isn't he disqualified, Compost?
This should have read “THE RINOS” within the GOP approve of a man cheating on his taxes to head the UNITED STATES Department of the Treasury.
Yeah, we should all feel warm and cozy on the inside.
The RINOs have a (proverbial, political) desire for self-destruction to rival any suicide bomber in the Middle East.
Or is the point that the RINOs are in it for their PERSONAL benefit - making sure they are “members of the club,” although second-class ones - and their constituents and the country be danmed?
I find this absolutely absurd.
Someone who is supposedly “brilliant” and tapped to be head of the Treasury (and the IRS) it stands to reason they should have a clean slate regarding something as basic as paying taxes. I guess paying taxes on time is only for the little people. He also had the penalties waived when he did pay.
I saw a clip of Lindsay Graham saying the equivalent of we shouldn’t be worrying about petty little things like that when the nation is in dire straits. I wanted to puke.
I remember the ‘rats all jumping ugly over Chavez and a house-maid 8 years ago. Their goal was to weaken the new administration by any means necessary.
It is obvious that the republican party will not fight anymore.
I can’t believe Republicans are going along with this! This is insane! They are just letting Obama get by with his corrupt appointees. Those RINOs need to be voted out of office!
HOR might be up in the air but the “aristocracy wing” of Repub moderates (If Repubs really want to be for good stewardship, accountable, limited government) needs to come to an end.
During the Bush years, I cannot remember one single nominee approved without being deeply wounded by the Dems before grudgingly giving the OK. Every hearing was seen as an opportunity to slander the nominee and the administration, and every word was trumpeted by the “concerned” MSM.
Do not Obama’s minions deserve the same harsh, insulting, sometimes even degrading treatment?
And you know what gets me? When they excoriated, diminished and demeaned a Bush appointee I felt like they were doing it to me personally, and for that I will hate them eternally.
Timothy Geithner, whose nomination as Treasury secretary has been delayed by his past failure to pay taxes, was repeatedly advised in writing by the International Monetary Fund that he would be responsible for any Social Security and Medicare taxes he owed on income he earned at the IMF between 2001 and 2004. Obama's Cabinet Questions about Mr. Geithner's initial failure to pay more than $34,000 in taxes are clouding his prospects for confirmation.
The Senate Finance Committee postponed Mr. Geithner's confirmation hearing from a tentative Friday date to next Wednesday, which means President-elect Barack Obama will take office without a Treasury secretary amid the biggest financial crisis in decades.
Current and former IMF officials said the fund provided numerous warnings to U.S. employees about payroll taxes. According to IMF documents released by the Senate Finance panel, Mr. Geithner regularly received information about his tax obligations.
Mr. Geithner didn't make any Social Security or Medicare tax payments on his income during the years he worked for the IMF, though he did pay income taxes. After the Internal Revenue Service audited him in 2006 and discovered the payroll-tax errors, Mr. Geithner corrected them for 2003 and 2004. Only after Mr. Obama picked him for Treasury secretary last fall did Mr. Geithner pay the Social Security and Medicare tax he owed for 2001 and 2002.
Mr. Obama offered a vote of confidence Wednesday that echoed a defense offered by transition officials a day earlier: Mr. Geithner made a mistake common to people who work for international institutions. "Tim Geithner, when I [nominated] him, was rightly lauded by people from both sides of the aisle...as somebody who was uniquely qualified" to handle the economy, Mr. Obama said. "Is this an embarrassment for him? Yes. He said so himself." --SNIP--
This is just so incredibly HUGH!
Seriously, with the Democrats nearly at closured Majority in the Senate, and Pelosi's crushing of the Motion to Recommit, ready to hide God knows what from an accountable recorded vote in the House, I can still say, with Republican Members of the Senate like "Candy" Graham and "Go-Along" McConnell taking up the case for average Americans, who needs Democrats?
"These are not the times to think in small political terms,'' Graham said, praising Geithner's involvement with the Bush administration in crafting the U.S. response to the global financial crisis. "We need a new secretary of Treasury that understands where this country is at financially and has a game plan to move forward. I think he is the right guy."
I cannot wait for the next GOP solicitation for donations to arrive.
The Lefties castigated “Joe the Plumber” for not paying $1,300 in back taxes...
GOP trying to remain a minority party FOREVER
That’s it, I’m lying on my taxes this year and speeding to the post office to mail them. No big deal.
Bernie Madoff for SEC Chairman! Osama bin Ladin for Homeland Security Chief! Plaxico Burress to lead OSHA!
Print off a copy of this article. If you ever consider donating another dime to the RNC in the future, pull it out and review it.
Go along to get along, past time for a third party, are maybe past time to end the republican party.
I have been on the phone this morning to the RNC and some Republican Senators...over this nomination and Eric Holder after I heard some Republicans and the love fest they have going on...I am changing my registeration to Independent and will never ever vote for a RINO again....I am so disgusted that I cannot even see straight....What good does it do vote for thease RINO’s when I cannot tell the difference between them and the Dems.,,,,,I hope others call and do the same..
...and that answers the “was he cheating or only sloppy” question. Too bad the dirty bags in the Senate, both R & D, will just let this slide.
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