During the heady days of the presidential campaign, Joe Wurzelbacher became notable for getting Barack Obama to confess that he liked to share the wealth. The worker, better known as Joe the Plumber, from Toledo, Ohio, became the target of bottomless vitriol and scorn because he appeared to be an obstacle to Obama’s coronation.
One of the main topics of discussion, particularly among left-leaning bloggers, was that Wurzelbacher was a tax fraudster because, as ABC News revealed, he had a tax lien of $1,182 in Ohio state taxes. This fueled the argument that he was a fraud, his opinion didn’t matter. Guys, there’s nothing to see here. Move.
Fast forward to today. Timothy Geithner, President Obama’s pick to be the next Treasury Secretary, while working for the International Monetary Fund, quite clearly tried to defraud the government out of tens of thousands in payroll taxes. The IMF does not withhold such taxes, but compensates American workers who have to pay them out of pocket. Geithner accepted the compensation – which involves a lot of paperwork – but then simply pocketed the money.
His explanation for the alleged oversight fails the smell test. When the IRS caught him for mistakes in 2003 and 2004, he decided to apply the statute of limitations and not pay the thousands of dollars he also failed to pay in 2001 and 2002. That is, until he was appointed secretary-treasurer.
Obama defends Geithner, saying it was a “common mistake” and that it’s embarrassing but happens all the time. My National Review colleague Byron York reports that, at least according to the World Bank, Geithner’s “mistakes” are actually quite occasional. Indeed, it’s demanding to believe that this man didn’t know exactly what he was doing, considering that he would have to sign documents, ignore warnings and generally turn off his head to make the same “mistake” year after year. And remember, Geithner is supposed to run the IRS. So maybe sloppiness isn’t such a good defense anyway.
Most Senate Republicans seem willing to give the green lithe to his nomination because, in many words, he is “too big to fail.” Wall Street likes this guy and so does Obama. So who cares if he breaks and bends the rules? Who cares that he took the child care tax credit to send his kids to summer camp? He is the right man for this position, no one else can do it, he is the man of the moment for the financial industry.
This strikes me as both offensive hypocrisy and absurdity. Obama made a lot of Wall Street’s greed. He and his vice president talk about paying taxes as if it were a holy sacrament. They both belittled Wurzelbacher for daring to suggest that the Democratic Party didn’t care much about how a little boy could succeed.
Hell, Obama and almost the entire Democratic Party insist they speak on behalf of the little guy. However, it looks like they are fighting for the massive guys.
You might think this would be the perfect time for Republicans to stick to their principles, especially since their votes aren’t needed to confirm Geithner. They will tell you that Geithner is an irreplaceable man and, as South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham says, “Now is not the time to think in small political terms.”
Never mind that there is nothing compact about the belief that paying taxes honestly is a minimum requirement for the position of Treasury Secretary. The absurdity is that Geithner, who helped regulate Wall Street as head of the New York Fed, is now an indispensable man. He may indeed be qualified to be Treasury Secretary, but is he really the only man who can do the job? Really? Until recently, everyone was saying the same thing about Hank Paulson. How did it work out?
I thought Democrats believed the financial implosion was caused by arrogant and greedy people who thought the rules didn’t apply to them because they were so crucial. I guess that’s not what they had in mind.
