NRO’s York: Geithner ‘Can’t Explain’
From the National Review’s Byron York, who really needs to send a bill for services rendered to the Associated Press and other media outlets who are largely giving the most troubling aspects of Timothy Geithner’s tax problems (i.e., signing documents saying he would pay and pocketing partial reimbursements for taxes he said would pay and didn’t) the la-la treatment (documented here, here, here, and here):
….. according to sources close to the confirmation process, Geithner doesn’t have an answer to that most basic question (”What was he thinking?”) about his (non-compliant tax) behavior.
“His explanation was kind of, ‘I don’t know—it was stupid, obviously it was a mistake, and I don’t know why I did it,’” recalls a senator who was present during Geithner’s surprise appearance before a members-only meeting of the Senate Finance Committee last week. “What do you say to that?”
Easy answer: “Find work elsewhere.”
Read the whole thing.
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UPDATE: I join Michelle Malkin in being completely displeased and disgusted with alleged conservatives like Charles Krauthammer who want to wave the Geithner nomination through, and believe that his problem with tax compliance is a “trivial matter.”
Brickbats to Hugh Hewitt too. The unrepentant Mitt Romney excuse-maker says that “the Senate should move quickly to confirm Timothy Geithner. A president deserves his cabinet choices because he has won the election and been charged with executing the laws.” I dunno, maybe it would be nice if Obama would name people who have actually followed the laws, especially in a key arena they’re about to oversee.
Next up: A socialist who believes energy companies are evil, and that “excessive” energy consumption is immoral and dooming the planet, as energy czar. And on the state level in Ohio, a director of Faith-Based Initiatives who claims to be a Catholic but is strongly proabortion, and (I would hope, without the knowledge of the governor) doubles as a prostitution “guru” while holding that office.
The IRS should also audit/investigate anyone who makes excuses for the known tax cheat.
Comment by Scrapiron — January 19, 2009 @ 10:05 pm
#1, it might work in the other direction. It did during Clinton, who went after critics.
Comment by TBlumer — January 19, 2009 @ 10:47 pm