Monday, January 26, 2009

...and to the banana republic, for which it stands...

Did you hear about the one where the U.S. Senate voted almost 2 to 1 in favor of confirming a tax cheat as our new Treasury Secretary? This would be the cabinet member who runs the executive agency that includes the IRS... you know, the agency that prosecutes people who don't pay their taxes. To see how your senator voted, check here.

Believe me, if we could abolish the income tax, social security tax, medicare tax, and the IRS tomorrow, I would be the first person to volunteer to sign the order. In the meantime, if I have to follow the government's confiscatory rules, don't also the government employees whose job it is to enforce those rules? If I failed to pay $34,000 in back taxes, do you think I could be Treasury Secretary too?

Now, President Obama and Senators like Republican Orrin Hatch chalked up Timothy Geithner's failure to pay as a simple "mistake." The problem I have with that explanation is that Geithner worked for the International Monetary Fund and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Someone in those positions of power don't make "mistakes" on their tax return. If he truly did err, then wouldn't this be the ultimate proof that our tens-of-thousands-of-pages long tax code has become too complex? If the president of a Federal Reserve bank can't get it right, how the hell can I?

Of course, even after Geithner figured out that he owed these taxes (which go all the way back to 2001), he didn't balance the ledger until he was nominated by Obama. I can't believe I'm on the same side as Robert "Sheets" Byrd (D-WV), but he summed it up pretty well, saying, "Had [Geithner] not been nominated for treasury secretary, it's doubtful that he would have ever paid these taxes." The definition of character is often described as doing the right thing when no one is looking. Since Geithner didn't pay his back taxes until everyone was looking, it would seem that he was out that day when character lessons were offered.

Timothy Geithner will fit perfectly into the Obama administration.

Good Day to You, Sir

2 comments:

Don, American Idle said...

Think of how much more effective he could be if he had cheated the government out of MILLIONS of dollars. Also, don't forget the lobbyist Obama has appointed in contravention of his pledge not to.

Texas Truth said...

Another criminal democrat running things. Some things never change.