A simple mistake.
The election is over. The transition has proceeded. The ceremony was beautiful. I must also admit, Obama can speak so elequently. But a presidency is more than just ceremony and oration. There are actions to be taken, and positions that need to be filled. So lets see what we have in store for us. Obama’s choice to run our treasury department is Timothy Geithner. Lets take a look at what the Secretary of Treasury does.
“The Secretary of the Treasury is the principal economic advisor to the President and plays a critical role in policy-making by bringing an economic and government financial policy perspective to issues facing the government. The Secretary is responsible for formulating and recommending domestic and international financial, economic, and tax policy, participating in the formulation of broad fiscal policies that have general significance for the economy, and managing the public debt. The Secretary oversees the activities of the Department in carrying out its major law enforcement responsibilities; in serving as the financial agent for the United States Government; and in manufacturing coins and currency.”
That sounds like a pretty important position, sounds like a lot of thought should be put into placing someone in that position. So lets look at Mr. Geithner’s recent past. It seams Geithner failed to pay a total $34,023 in taxes from 2001 to 2004. He said it was just a common mistake. Thats an awful large common mistake. He also didn’t pay Social Security taxes during that time period, AFTER signing a document his employer gave him stating he would.
He claimed the tax code was overly complex, so he didn’t know what he was supposed to pay. There are two points to ponder with this. First off, if an individual private citizen without ties as high up on the food chain were to make a mistake like this, what would happen to them. I’m willing to be most people who forget to pay the government over $30k end up in jail. Secondly, if he can’t figure out what he is supposed to pay, why in the world would we reward him with the high ranking, and incredibly complex, position of Secretary of Treasury. If he can’t keep his finances in order, how is he going to keep the countries finances in check. Just a thought, hopefully it doesn’t speak of the other issues that are going to pop up over the next few years.
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