Timothy Geithner: A Simple Mistake?

The election is over. The transition has proceeded. The massively expensive ceremony was beautiful. I admit, Obama can speak quite eloquently. But a presidency is more than just ceremony and oratory. There are actions to be taken, and positions that need to be filled. Today brings the hearing for Obama’s choice to run our Treasury Department: Timothy Geithner. Lets take a look at what the Secretary of Treasury does.

“The Secretary of the Treasury is the principal economic adviser to the President and plays a critical role in policy-making by bringing an economic and government financial policy perspective to issues facing the government. The Secretary is responsible for formulating and recommending domestic and international financial, economic, and tax policy, participating in the formulation of broad fiscal policies that have general significance for the economy, and managing the public debt. The Secretary oversees the activities of the Department in carrying out its major law enforcement responsibilities; in serving as the financial agent for the United States Government; and in manufacturing coins and currency.”

That sounds like a pretty important position, sounds like a lot of thought should be put into placing someone in that position. So lets look at Mr. Geithner’s recent past. Geithner failed to pay a total $34,023 in taxes from 2001 to 2004. He said to Congress this morning tha it was just a common mistake, a regrettable one that he apologized for. That’s an awful large common mistake. It’s unlikely that a regular taxpayer would receive a pass from the IRS with an apology.

Geithner told Congress that he used Turbo-Tax to do his own taxes, an admission that received chuckles from the legislators. Don’t blame Turbo-Tax, it’s a great program…if you give it all of the data! It won’t, however, know to do it’s income calculations correctly if you leave information out. Geithner also didn’t pay Social Security taxes during that time period, AFTER signing a document his employer gave him stating he would.

Geithner claimed the tax code was overly complex, so he didn’t know what he was supposed to pay. Really? Turbo-Tax is excellent at navigating the tax code, again, provided the full picture of one’s situation. It calculates Social Security and Self-Employment taxes quite well. Again, if an individual private citizen without ties as high up on the food chain were to make a mistake like this, what would happen to them? I’m willing to bet most people who forget to pay the government over $30k would end up in jail. If he can’t figure out what he is supposed to pay, and is so confused that even Turbo-Tax can’t help him, why didn’t he hire a CPA? And why in the world would we reward him with the high ranking, and incredibly complex, position of Secretary of Treasury?

If Timothy Geithner can’t keep his personal finances in order, how is he going to keep the country’s finances in check? Geithner is cut from the same cloth as Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke. Our monetary policy is in shambles and is failing. Our nation has never before faced such daunting economic challenges, and our very financial system is looking basically insolvent. Geithner is giving general answers to Congress regarding toxic assets, the TARP, and the new proposed bailouts. He’s refusing to be specific about solutions- particularly how to even value these toxic assets.

This hearing is massively important. Geithner has been integral in the mechanisms of the Fed and in the workings of our national monetary policy. At the New York Federal Reserve Bank, Geithner was directly responsible for creating the infrastructure that allowed the derivatives which have poisoned our entire financial system to blossom and grow. Sadly, anyone else who would be nominated in his place would most likely be a proponent of the same, failing ideology…and would continue the policies which are rapidly sending our country into financial ruin. It is unlikely that another nominee would be any more transparent about our economic crisis than Geithner is being. I’d bet, however, that they wouldn’t have screwed up their own taxes.

Share this Right Soup with others: