but so far, things aren’t working that way for the Obama administration. I’d figured the revelation that Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner had failed to pay his self-employment taxes from 2001-04 was pretty much irrelevant—it was carelessness, surely, but understandable, and besides, who was going to raise a fuss? The GOP certainly wouldn’t, since Geithner’s about the best nominee for the position that conservatives are likely to get; and as for the Senate Democrats, whether they like the nominee or not, there’s no way you can imagine them starting off Barack Obama’s first term by pinning that sort of tag on him.Unfortunately, it appears that Geithner’s carelessness was significantly greater than first reported. As John Hinderaker summarizes the matter,
IMF employees received additional compensation that was earmarked for their portion of FICA taxes. Their incomes were, as the IMF put it, “grossed up.” Thus, Geithner accepted “reimbursement” from the IMF for taxes that he didn’t pay. Not only that, he certified that he would pay the taxes.
Further, this was in the face of the fact that “the IMF took great care to explain to those employees, in detail and frequently, what their tax responsibilities were.” As such, Hinderaker concludes—rightly, I think—that this “represents a level of carelessness that is not going to be tolerated in a Treasury Secretary at this moment in history.” He adds that he expects Geithner’s nomination to be withdrawn. We’ll see.