For the last two years Barrack Obama has been preaching a message of change, but is that really what we're going to get? Not two weeks in office and I'm already scratching my head about a choice by Obama. Timothy Geithner was chosen by Obama to be our nation's treasury secretary. The problem with Geithner is he has been employing an illegal immigrant, and even worse he did not pay his Social Security and Medicare taxes for four years. How can Obama's tax plan work when people of higher income such as Geithner doesn't even pay their taxes? Geithner claims he made an honest mistake, so when the IRS audited him he payed back two years, but he waited until he was in the running for the treasury secretary before he payed back the other two years. This man either made an idiotic mistake on his taxes, in which case he does not need to be our treasury secretary because he has to deal with money and things like taxes which he apparently cannot do, or he is a dishonest cheater. Either way it is not a good idea to put Geithner in charge of our money. I'm disappointed in Obama for choosing him and the senate for confirming him. Nice start to changing Washington...
Luke Strickland
POS2041
Friday 1 p.m.
3 comments:
What a coincidence! I was just now listening to Janet Partials on my way home from class and Geithner was their topic of interest! I totally agree with you that regardless if his "situation" resulted from a mistake or from the lack of moral substtance, he doesn't belong in the office in which he finds himself. Unfortunatly, I'm confident that he isn't the only individual in Washington, new comer or otherwise, that we need to be concerned about.
Deana Davis
POS1041
* The failure to pay self-employment taxes was noted during a 2006 audit by the Internal Revenue Service, in which Geithner was assessed additional taxes of $14,847 for the 2003 and 2004 tax years. Geithner failed to pay, or to admit his failure to pay, the self-employment taxes for the 2001 and 2002 tax years until after President-elect Obama expressed his intent to nominate Geithner to be Secretary of Treasury. He also deducted the cost of his children's sleep-away camp as a dependent care expense, when only day care is eligible for the deduction. Geithner subsequently paid the IRS the additional taxes owed, and was charged interest of $15,000, but was not fined for late payment. In addition, his housekeeper's work authorization lapsed during the last three months she worked for him.
*Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Geithner
Payments owed to income taxes are common and not unusual. I have no problem whatsoever for delaying a payment that resulted in an IRS audit. Maybe he was researching to make sure the IRS had all the correct information. In any case this hardly becomes a moral issue and does not take away someones ability to do their job. If a mechanic has a junky car that rarely runs good, does that mean that he is a terrible mechanic? No, maybe it means that he pays more attention to business matters than his own personal ones. It is hard for us to balance everything so carefully. The housekeepers work authorization lapsing by 3 whole months is hardly an issue at all. How many people really look at those types of details when hiring a housekeeper. I hope he paid her a good wage, though.
Mike Ubias
POS 2041
Friday 1 p.m.
I agree that the nomination of Timothy Geithner for Treasury secretary was a bad choice, but I find it hard to believe that it destroys President Obama’s argument for real change. Timothy Geithner made the same mistake that thousands of Americans make every year. I believe that he should be responsible for paying back every cent that he owed to the IRS. I could not tell you if he intended to try and escape paying everything he owed in taxes or not, but I do know that he paid everything that he owed back to the IRS before he resigned from his appointment. Obama should have been more thorough throughout his vetting process. This was one of the first mistakes that Obama and the transition team have made, but I am sure that it won’t be the last. There has never been a president that has made it through his presidency without making mistakes.
Justin Ford
CPO 2001
T R 1:05
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