Obama Defends Geithner, Expresses Confidence in his Confirmation

Odd that one of the people behind the Citibank collapse would be chosen by the hopeNchange one.

Change……its going to be a long four years

Give me a break! How is someone who doesn’t know he has to pay taxes going to be any good for this country. Doesn’t matter if they are paid now. He should have paid them when they were due!

He will be confirmed

If Timothy Geithner made honest mistakes on his tax returns he is not qualifed to be the Secretary of the Treasury Department much less the head of the IRS. The mistakes he made should be known by any tax preparer and would be criminal for an average citizen. These mistakes are felonies and are punishable by up to 3 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. To top it off, Mr. Geithner didn’t pay the taxes until now. He was also spared the penalites a normal citizen would have been required to pay. I know people who went to prison for actually making mistakes on tax returns. Where is the equality of justice in the United States? Confirming Timothy Geithner proves there is NO change coming the Washington. It will continue to be politics as usual. Everything old is new again!

A 2007 I.R.S. notice reported that up to half of such employees incorrectly file their tax returns.
Word obviously got around that you could get away with it.

Geithner made an INNOCENT MISTAKE.????
This guy is appointed to run the IRS.!!!
you would think he would know what taxes he had to pay and when.!!!!

Issues are springing out at every turn for the soon to be president. This is sought of like the old saying I didn’t know the gun was loaded. PEBO needs to take a big breath and try to do the job right instead of (hurry hurry hurry) to save the world on day one of his administration.

Obama remains a marxist. There are three classes. The ubber rich which make the laws and get to break them. The working class that supports everyone with high taxes. And the lower class of complete idiots aka useful idiots that will sing the praise of the upper class strangling everyone else.

Geithner made an HONEST MISTAKE 4 years in a row. If I did that on my taxes I would be in jail.!!! He is NOT qualified to run the IRS

“The mistakes he made should be known by any tax preparer and would be criminal for an average citizen.”
And yet his accountant made that very mistake.

Well, as far as stories that leave out the important details goes – this one is a great example. This guy had his 2003 tax return audited by the IRS where the issue related to self employment taxes was identified- and he paid the missing taxes. At that time he would have know he didn’t pay his 01 or 02 self employment taxes – but didn’t decide to do that until the Obama camp figured out he was avoiding the payment of taxes. Maybe its just me – but someone who doesn’t feel the need to pay his taxes doesn’t sound like a good choice for Treasury secretary.

So this guy didn’t just do tax avoidance, it was tax evasion, and barry feels that this man is qualified to watch over one of the greatest amounts of taxable income in the world. I feel just great about this guy monitoring my taxes.

He knew what he was attempting to do. Impossible not to have.

I agree with both BertieW and MayBee posts. From the stories about this today on ABC, and their comments, they seem to understand what went on here. Whether you think that should disqualify him completely is another debate and for the committee to decide.

Again with the “Obama defends…”
He’s not defending. He’s saying, “This is the way it is. Now sit down, shut up, and do what I want. I’m the Boss, the One, so stop questioning my choices.”
If the man can’t understand his own finances, how can he “understand where this country is at financially”? Exactly what kind of “game plan” has he ALREADY come up with?
Ooops, I’m questioning…

If the IRS doesn’t accept his excuses why should we?

It is clear that Geithner is another of Obama’s “change” – we go from Paulson, who under Bush can’t handle the melt down and we now don’t know where any of the bailout has really gone – to Geithner who can’t handle a tax form.
He fits in with Charley Rangle D-NY who heads Ways and Means Committee in the House (they oversee Treasury and the IRS) and he has Tax troubles. Since Dems don’t seem to care if their leaders follow the laws they oversee, Geithner should be our next Treasury Secretary.

“It is an innocent mistake” Does BO know how stupid he sounds….. he might better just keep his mouth shut…. it sure is fun watching how far the left wing media will go to protect the Messiah and his minions’

Obama condones tax evasion????? The rest of us would be paying through our rear-ends….and Obama condones this b.s.??? Different strokes for different folks????? And the guy does not even pay the penalty….make sure you print every article about this if you have to ever get hauled in to the tax man…use it as evidence that you get a break too!!!

So many experts on this issue! We were employees of one of these organizations and fell into the same “trap”. Taxes were withheld and then paid accordingly. However, we were not aware that as an American employee, we had to pay such taxes since we were classified as “self-employed”! How can that be when our federal and state taxes were withheld and we were not working on our own, but for an organization?? So we got burnt, and we know that this is a very common mistake, even by the best of accountants who are not aware of this issue of working for an international organization, but are considered to be “SELF-EMPLOYED”. 99.999% OF AMERICANS ARE TOTALLY IGNORANT OF THIS EITHER, so do not cast your opinions until you know what it is all about.

This poor sick country is rotting from the core.

“Mr. Geithner fully paid his state and federal income taxes. In failing to pay his payroll taxes, he in effect kept the money the I.M.F. had contributed toward his liability. However, Mr. Geithner’s accountant told him he was exempt from self-employment taxes, according to Obama transition officials.”
That’s not true.
As you can see from readying the Senate report, there is an attached instruction booklet for IMF employees that goes into great detail on how to handle these payment.
He also received in his email instructions every quarter about how to handle his filings. The mailing says when an employees is exempt and when they have to self file.
The email has attached files with SE tax liability and states “You should use this to prepare your 2001 Form 1040 Schedule SE. The statement should be printed and attached to your tax return. ” (page 6)
Geithner had to process his own quarterly submissions for income tax, at which point he would have been confronted with the SE tax.
How can you claim that he didnt know or was confused? He was instructed how to do it several times. The IMF sends him emails from an alias called “Pension and Tax Info”- they clearly have people set up to assist on this. And these are for years when he prepared the returns himself, not the accountant.

This should be trumpeted everywhere — this guy is a liar and a cheat. He would cheerfully have scammed the government of his unpaid taxes; the only reason he paid them was b/c he was about to be appointed to this position. Worse, he presided over the Wall Street meltdown, cheerily looking away as risky loans were approved.
He should be no where NEAR our treasury dept!

“His mistake was a common one for people hired by international organizations that don’t pay the employer share of Social Security taxes. THE IRS ESTIMATED IN 2007 THAT AS MANY AS HALF THOSE EMPLOYEES HAD MADE TAX-FILING MISTAKES, and offered a group settlement to let them correct the errors. Geithner told Obama’s team and senators that an accountant had reviewed his tax returns after Geithner prepared them and didn’t discover the problem.”
Where are the Republican senators on this issue? Doesn’t seem to be all that indignant a response from them.
Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairman John Ensign, R-Nev., was among those who met with Geithner. He said he was looking to judge Geithner’s intent as he prepared the tax returns, and was satisfied that Geithner had made what Ensign called “honest mistakes.”
“Anyone who has dealt with the IRS tax code knows how complex it is,” Ensign said.
If this is truly a serious enough issue, he simply won’t get appointed.

Kansas Republican Senator Pat Roberts said he spoke with Geithner on the telephone and that he is a “good man” who “really knows his stuff.” Although Roberts said the timing of the disclosure is “troubling,” he said his “guesstimate is he’ll be approved with my vote.”

“South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham also said he’ll vote for Geithner.
“He has a great resume,” Graham said. “He has been involved with Secretary Paulson who knows the past and I think he can help fashion the future.”

“Former IRS Commissioner Mortimer Caplin, who served from 1961-1964 and founded the law firm Caplin & Drysdale, agreed that Geithner’s tax errors are forgivable.
“It sounds like an honest mistake to me,” said Caplin, 92. “It’s very understandable.”

Pefros: You have only the defense that he didnt know.
Not at all convincing since IMF repeatedly sent him emails telling him how to fill out the forms.
The “ewe it contains all kinds of complicated math and stuff” defense wont work.
And even if you delude yourself with that defense, the IRS forcefully pointed out to him that he was wrong and made him pay up. At that point he knew that *all* his tax filings were incorrect. And he intentionally choose to do nothing.
There is no way this can be spun as a crime of ignorance.

“His mistake was a common one for people hired by international organizations that don’t pay the employer share of Social Security taxes. THE IRS ESTIMATED IN 2007 THAT AS MANY AS HALF THOSE EMPLOYEES HAD MADE TAX-FILING MISTAKES, and offered a group settlement to let them correct the errors.”

“Geithner fully paid his state and federal income taxes. In failing to pay his payroll taxes, he in effect kept the money the IMF had contributed toward his liability.
“. . . as IRS documents attest, the failure to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes is common among Americans who work for international organizations, including foreign embassies.”

Just another in a long chain of events/relationships that will be swept under the rug.

If it’s such a ‘common’ error, shouldn’t it also be the most ‘checked for’ error before submitting your return?

This is proof that paying taxes is so difficult the process should be simpler.Look at all the TV commercials with former IRS agents scaring the bejeezus out of you and then saying they can help.
The system should not be that difficult that you have to agonize over it, hire help for filing, buy software every year to figure it, and then possibly hire these fearmongers in the ads to help you. Real bad system but loads of lobbyists in DC to keep it that way.
You want tax reform – move the general election to around April 16 instead of the first Tues in Nov. By Nov you forgot about all the hair pulling during filing time.

The worst case scenario of Geithner’s nomination not being approved it that Paulson would remain the Treasury Secretary during a window of time when Obama is pushing for the remaining bailout funds. After the debacle of releasing the first 350 billion dollars with bullying and no oversight, he should be the last person to be anywhere near those funds.

“Innocent mistake”?
Unpaid taxes and illegal immigrant employees (underpaid no doubt)?
This is like putting a drug addict in charge of a pharmacy.
I have lost count on the number of things Obama has backed off on (ETHICS NOW) and he has not even been inaugurated.
He won’t even have a honeymoon.
I voted for him, because of the other choice.

It is going to be fun to watch. The Democrats and voters are already mad. He is not even a President yet. It is going to be a sad day for our country.

“Mr. Geithner would never be allowed to work as an IRS employee due to his failure to properly and timely pay his taxes. Should we expect anything less from the person who will run the IRS’s parent agency, the U.S. Department of the Treasury?”
Apparently so…wonder what his big ideas and great plans are? I’m sure they’ll solve ALL our problems by Tuesday after next.
“Obama made his expectations of Congress clear, saying that this should not jeopardize his confirmation.”
His expectations? Congress will sit down, shut up, and do what he says. And they will.

He knew exactly what he was trying to do.

When I first worked as an independent, I didn’t pay taxes in the first quarter because I wasn’t yet working. After paying quarterly through the next three quarters, and sending in the rest with my return, I was fined $200 because I didn’t pay anything in that first quarter when I wasn’t working. IOW, the IRS expects you to pay an estimated payment even though you aren’t yet employeed. Now that’s an “honest mistake”, this wasn’t. I’m absolutely convinced Geithner knew exactly what he was attempting to do. He’s a smart guy in tax issues right?

“Innocent mistake”!! As someone familiar with self-employment taxes, I know that cannot be. The employer no doubt showered its employees with information. And if he didn’t do his taxes himself (which I doubt), certainly any tax preparer worth his weight in tax forms would wonder why Mr. Geitner wasn’t paying any taxes at all despite the fact he had a nice job. Not an innocent mistake.
Even better – the IRS waived penalties. Would they do that for Joe the plumber? Doubtful.

So let me get this straight. The man who would be our Treasury Secretary, arguably the most important post in the new administration, does not understand the process of paying taxes, either for himself or household help. If the average American had failed to pay taxes he or she would be looking at some very stiff penalties if not a jail term. For Obama to defend this as a “simple mistake” is ludicrous. I am a Dem but this appointment should not go through. Of course he knew he was supposed to pay taxes on that income.

Holly (9:35 AM); You hit it on the head! There is absolutely NO WAY this is an “honest mistake”. I’ve been there and your tax obligations are staring you in the face! I’m disappointed in Obama for putting forth this excuse. Either Obama is trying to disingenuously cover up or he doesn’t understand himself what is involved with being a independent employee working for an international entity which the IMF obviously is. Obama needs to do some homework on the issue before he starts with the same old political rhetoric.

barrack, you’re not talking to one of your feeble minded liberal fool.
Obama believes that operating above the law is a privilege that he and his cronies are entitle to.
Now that’s change we can believed in…… NOT.

No way does a person who doesn’t pay their taxes, deserve to be HEAD of the IRS. How insane an idea is that??! Absolutely “NO” to this guy being Treasury secretary! NO WAY!

Barry is really pretty naive to think that the media can continue to shelter his idiodic mistakes from the public. Despite their superb job at protecting him thus far, eventually he will be exposed for the incompetent, FAR-left, no real record politician that he is.

It’s OK for Obama to nominate a tax cheat to lead the IRS.
It’s OK for Obama to waste $50 million on his inauguration.
OK because he is a Democrat and because he is The One.

“Yet, when Linda Chavez made the same mistake she was railroaded out of town and denied a cabinet position. Can someone explain why?”
Because she was an right wing anti-labor nutjob.

“From Byron York today:”
Byron York + anaynous sources on a Democratic issues = bull droppings.

“over half of the country will support anything that he does.”
See if that assumption holds past April Fool’s Day. There are gonna be some VERY peeved-off “black” and poor people, for starters, most of whom are gonna be, uh, hungry.

“See if that assumption holds past April Fool’s Day. There are gonna be some VERY peeved-off “black” and poor people, for starters, most of whom are gonna be, uh, hungry.”
ROFLMAO.
Yes poor people are going to blame the new President versus blaming the Republicans, who ironically blame the poor for causing the ecomomic crisis.
Gallup Poll Daily tracking shows that 65% of Americans continue to say they are confident in Barack Obama’s ability to be a good president.
A new USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Jan. 9-11, finds 34% of Americans approving of the overall job George W. Bush is doing as president and 61% disapproving

Yes, the excuse that he did not know was a blatant LIE! He knew his taxes were not being taken out and he was being compensated “extra” to take care of that!
What a JOKE this guy is & The Obama Team in general for letting this guy even get to this point!

I am appalled that the failure to pay self-employment tax by Tim Geithner on his 2001-2004 tax returns would be explained away as an “honest mistake”, and that the Obama administration would continue to support Mr. Geithner as the nominee for Treasury Secretary. As a CPA who has worked with employees of international organizations for many years, I can assure you that the employees are briefed on their tax responsibilities, including the requirement that US citizens pay self-employment tax. Employees of international organizations receive special tax treatment as the result of international treaties, and the employees are well-informed that they are being taxed under a different tax regime as a result of working for an international organization.
Mr. Geithner did not pay the self-employment taxes for 2001 through 2004, but of even greater concern is the fact that he did not correct 2001 and 2002 when his 2003 and 2004 returns were audited in 2006. At that point, he could certainly no longer feign ignorance. In fact, he did not correct his “honest mistake” until after his nomination to serve as Treasury Secretary, thus negating any possible argument that he was “not aware” that he owed self-employment taxes for 2001 and 2002 since he had already been audited on that exact point.
For an administration that prides itself on transparency and high moral and ethical standards, I am truly disappointed that Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs has come out with an official statement of the Obama administration indicating that this “honest mistake” does not rise to the level of disqualification. To the contrary, I think that the fact that he most assuredly was aware that he owed self-employment taxes during the course of his employment with the IMF, and absolutely knew from 2006 after his audit yet failed to correct the prior year returns, is more accurately referred to as cheating on his taxes rather than making an honest mistake. His failure to correct 2001 and 2002 after the audit of 2003 and 2004 reflects an attitude of arrogance and being above the law which is not acceptable.
Regardless of his experience and ability to serve as Treasury Secretary, I firmly believe that this failure to pay self-employment taxes, even after the audit when there was no doubt of his awareness of his legal obligation to do so, should eliminate him from consideration. To allow him to continue as the nominee under these circumstances is a slap in the face to all Americans who honestly report their income and pay the tax due.

Gethner’s teevee appearances yesterday conveyed the demeanor of someone who knows that other revelations are forthcoming.
Given that Geithner’s so good at fudging government paper-work, you’d think he’d have assisted his maid with her immigration mess.
Think Geithner bothered to pay FICA taxes for the MAID? Having employers who DO arrange for such things makes a BIG difference, down the road, for the servant classes.

Geithner, Rangel, Holder — wow, you’d think there was an institutionally corrupt mindset here!!!

Well it looks like the honeymoon with Barack Obama is over. Funny how people are most qualified for a job…right up until the time they actually start doing it and making decisions…then reality sets in (and approval ratings fall very fast). But that’s a reality of your own doing if you are making poor decisions. And if this guy (Geithner) is an example of the best you can do and the type of decisions we can expect then you’ve got a really, really long 4 years in front of you. You will be judged by the decisions you make and the company you keep. People who voted for you and didn’t are keeping score. Dump this guy and find a person who truly is above reproach. That’s what vetting is for and why they should be removed from consideration before this kind of blatent behavior becomes common knowledge and hurts your presidency before you even take office. Then, maybe if they have any brains, “smart” guys will start realizing that WE THE PEOPLE mean business when we elect officials and appoint officials to positions (any/all positions) that we expect them to be obeying the laws and be of good character (yes Bill Clinton, character does matter). And those that want to see if we really mean it, or what they can get away with will likely have cabinet level positions yanked away from them and leave them to contemplate their own “mistakes” while we take up with someone who has better character and no doubt, much “smarter” in the long run. People who will cheat once will cheat again…and again. Beware…be warned!

What concerns me is not that he made a mistake, but that even after the mistake was pointed out – he did not pay what he owed until nominated for this position. Very revealing of this man’s charachter. You can be the smartest mind in the country, but if you lack charachter it will all come tumbling down. Yes, charachter does matter. How will he have the respect of those under him in the IRS?
He needs to respectfully step aside. That’s what a man of charachter would do.

Didn’t VP-Elect Joe Biden say
“It is our patriotic duty to pay taxes”?
Therefore under Biden’s definition
Geithner is not a patriot in addition
to being a tax cheat!

Obama says it was an innocent mistake? Is this the kind of “CHANGE” we can expect from the new administration? How do Obama supporter feel about this? Kind of like the Global Warming ‘truths’?

When tim geithner didn’t pay his taxes,it’s an “innocent” mistake.
When Joe the plumpmer owed back taxes, he’s a tax cheat.
Hypocrisy should be the new buzz word for the obama administration..