Hope and Fail

Nominating a tax cheat to head the Treasury Department

Barack Obama's choice for Treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, didn't pay $34,000 in taxes and hired an illegal immigrant as a house keeper.

President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to replace Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, it turns out, failed to pay his taxes for a few years and hired an illegal house keeper.

From the New York Times:

Timothy F. Geithner, President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for Treasury secretary, failed to pay more than $34,000 in federal taxes over several years early this decade, and also faces questions about the employment papers of a former household employee, suddenly complicating what had seemed to be an easy confirmation process in the Senate.

Though, according to the Boston Globe, Geithner has paid the taxes back:

Two years of unpaid taxes were discovered during a 2006 audit by the Internal Revenue Service, and another two years of unpaid taxes were found during a background investigation by Obama’s transition team before Geithner was nominated in late November. If confirmed, Geithner would oversee Obama’s massive economic recovery package and lead a department that includes the IRS.

Yesterday, Geithner told members of the Senate Finance Committee in a private meeting that he has paid the IRS $43,200 in taxes and interest to account for the lapse, a Democratic official said last night. He also disclosed that he employed an immigrant housekeeper whose legal work status lapsed for the final three months she worked for him in 2005.

Lapses in tax payments happen, I guess, but this is the guy who will run the Treasury Department — the department that oversees the Internal Revenue Service.

And while lawmakers say Geithner will likely be confirmed, we mustn’t forget how the hiring of illegal immigrants as nannies derailed nominees during Bill Clinton’s administration.

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