Timothy Geithner failed to pay $34,000 in taxes over a three year period. His memory was jarred when he was appointed Treasury Secretary and he then coughed up most of the dough days before his appointment was announced.
President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to run the Treasury Department and lead the economic rescue effort disclosed to senators Tuesday that he failed to pay $34,000 in taxes from 2001 to 2004, a last-minute complication in an otherwise smooth path to confirmation.
Timothy Geithner paid most of the past-due taxes days before Obama announced his nomination in November, an Obama transition official said. The unpaid taxes were discovered by Obama’s transition team while investigating Geithner’s background, the official said.
…“He’s dedicated his career to our country and served with honor, intelligence and distinction,” incoming White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. “That service should not be tarnished by honest mistakes, which, upon learning of them, he quickly addressed.”
But, if you are private citizen, say …a plumber who owes back taxes, don’t expect such generous treatment.
Geithner failed to pay self-employment taxes for money he earned while working for the International Monetary Fund from 2001 to 2003, the transition official said. In 2006, the IRS notified him that he owed $14,847 in self-employment taxes and $2,383 in penalties from 2003 and 2004.
Transition officials discovered last fall that Geithner also had not paid the taxes in 2001 or 2002. He paid $25,970 in taxes and interest for those years several days before Obama announced his nomination, the transition official said.
The Obama campaign knew when they vetted Geithner that he owed tens of thousands of dollars in taxes and they proceeded with the nomination.
So, to be clear, if you are a private citizen having $1,000 in unpaid taxes disqualifies you from eligibility to ask the Lightworker a simple question. But if you are a candidate for the top Treasury job in the nation, having $34,000 in unpaid taxes is merely a minor “complication” in your inevitable confirmation as Treasury secretary.
Also blogging on this: Michelle Malkin, HotAir, Ace of Spades.
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2 Comments
January 14, 2009 at 4:45 am
Interesting article.
March 13, 2009 at 10:59 pm
[...] one for each day of his “historic” presidency. 1. A do-over on the oath of office. 2. Tim Geithner. 3. Bill Richardson. 4. Tom Daschle. 5. Eric “Nation of Cowards” Holder. 6. Leon Panetta. 7. [...]