Archive for January 13th, 2009
Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner looks on at left as President-elect Barack Obama meets with members of his economic team at his transition office in Washington. Geithner, President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to run the Treasury Department and lead the economic rescue effort disclosed to senators Tuesday that he failed to pay $34,000 in taxes from 2001 to 2004, a last-minute complication in an otherwise smooth path to confirmation
Jake Tapper has the flap and distills it down to this:
The basic issue seems to be that when Geithner worked at the International Monetary Fund from 2001 to 2003, he filed his taxes improperly, and he also for a time employed someone who didn’t have legal immigration status.
The tax issue, as I understand it, is that IMF employees receive W-2s as employees and are treated as if they were self-employed, so they do not have federal and state taxes withheld from their paychecks. As part of Geithner’s vetting, the Obama Transition Team discovered that he had not paid self-employment taxes in 2001 and 2002.
On Nov. 21, 2008, Geithner paid $25,970 in these overdue taxes plus interest — $2,364 and interest of $956 for 2001 and $16,812 and interest of $5838 for 2002 (Geithner had been notified in 2006 by the IRS that he owed self-employment taxes and interest for 2003 and 2004, after which he paid tax and interest totaling $17,230).
Which begs the question: If the IRS notified Geithner in 2006 that he owed self-employment taxes for his time at the IMF in 2003 and 2004, why did he not realize that those taxes should have applied to him in 2001 and 2002 as well?
There is another — what seems to me to be a lesser — issue with a housekeeper that the Geithners employed to clean their home from 2004-2005. She had a current Employee Authorization Document at the time she was hired, but three months before she stopped working for the family that authorization expired.
In the meantime, Senate Democrats scramble while Barack Obama supports his nominee with these talking points.
* Before becoming President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Tim Geithner worked for the International Monetary Fund from 2001-2003. He paid all of his income taxes on his IMF income, but made a common mistake on his tax returns with regard to self-employment taxes. He voluntarily corrected the mistake as soon as it was discovered.
* For tax purposes, while IMF employees receive W-2′s as employees, they are treated as if they were self-employed. This unusual payroll system commonly creates confusion among U.S. employees of the international organizations like the IMF , who typically are accustomed to having employers withhold federal and state taxes. This problem has been so common that in November 2006 (as supplemented in 2007) the IRS made a taxpayer favorable settlement offer to all U.S. employees of Embassies and International Organizations in order to bring the employees into compliance with their U.S. tax obligations. http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=167770,00.html
* As part of the vetting process conducted by the Presidential Transition Team, it was discovered that Mr. Geithner mistakenly had not paid self-employment taxes in 2001 and 2002 as an IMF employee. Mr. Geithner had initially prepared the returns himself. However, an accountant reviewed his 2001 returns as part of an amended return filed 2002, and also failed to catch the mistake on the self employment taxes.
* Upon learning of this error on November 21, 2008, Mr. Geithner immediately submitted payment for tax that would have been due in those years plus interest. For 2001 Mr. Geithner paid additional tax of $2,364 and interest of $956, for a total of $3320. For 2002 he paid additional tax of $16,812 and interest of $5838, for a total of $22,650. The total additional amount paid for the two years was $25,970. All of his taxes have now been paid in full, and at no time was there any intention on Mr. Geithner’s part to avoid taxes.
* Mr. Geithner worked for the IMF until the fall of 2003, and he also received a small amount of income from the IMF in early 2004. An accountant prepared Mr. Geithner’s 2003 and 2004 returns and advised him in writing that he was exempt self-employment taxes on his IMF income.
* In 2006, the IRS initiated a letter audit of Mr. Geithner’s taxes for 2003 and 2004 and concluded that he owed self-employment tax and interest for 2003 and 2004 with respect to his IMF employment. He paid tax and interest totaling $17,230 (of which $14,847 was tax and $2,383 was interest) for the two-year period, and the IRS waived all penalties. Also, Mr. Geithner was advised that he had no further liability for Social Security taxes on his IMF income.
* The Committee also raised an issue regarding a housekeeper that the Geithner’s employed to clean their home from 2004-2005. The Geithners verified that she had a current Employee Authorization Document at the time she was hired. Mr. Geithner was unaware that three months before she stopped working for them to have a baby, her authorization expired. Nevertheless, she continued to reside legally in the United States, she was married to a U.S. citizen, and she was granted a green card a few months later.
Harry Reid says he sees no problem with the nomination and apparently does Republican Orrin Hatch.
So, does this mean the Zoe Baird standard of rejection for political office (hiring an illegal alien to clean your house or take care of your kids) or failing to pay one’s taxes is NOW viewed as a simple mistake.
If so, will there be the same standard applied to Republican nominations by subsequent GOP Administrations?
Somehow, Flap doubts it.
Stay tuned. There may be more coming……
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Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Senator John McCain during the Presidential campaign of 2008
The Mike Huckabee FANGS are out for Sarah Palin since her re-emergence on the national stage.
There are a lot of X factors [about running in 2012]. Including his fellow evangelical Christian Sarah Palin. There’s a natural tension between the two, especially since Palin took the vice-presidential-nominee slot many predicted would go to him. Huckabee, diplomatic and biblical, says the Alaskan governor “energized†the party. I ask him if she was treated fairly by the media. “There were a lot of unfair things. Sexist things that would never have been asked of a male candidate.†He pauses. “Now I must say I did not think that either the Charlie Gibson interview or the Katie Couric interviews were unfair. In fact, if anything, Katie Couric was extraordinarily gentle, even helpful. [Palin] just…I don’t know what happened. I can’t explain it. It was not a good interview. I’m being charitable.â€
He pauses. “I think it was overpreparation. She’d been hammered by McCain’s aides, ‘Say this, don’t say that.’â€
Huckabee has met Palin a few times and talked to her backstage at the Republican National Convention.
“Did you give her any advice?â€
“I didn’t figure that she was shopping for my advice.â€
“But she sure was shopping.â€
“Yeah,†chuckles Huckabee. Then stays quiet. I set him up for an easy spike, but he holds his tongue.
Exit question: Since this is NOT the first time Huck has taken swipes at Palin, is this a preview of Ames Iowa Straw Poll in 2011?
Technorati Tags: Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee
Tags: Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin
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In an lengthy interview for the forthcoming documentary “Media Malpractice†Governor Sarah Palin, for the first time at length, takes on the media coverage of her and the 2008 campaign Alaksa Governor Sarah Palin continues her attack on the media in Esquire Magazine. Here is another of the quotes:
Palin on Bloggers and the World of Journalism
“Bored, anonymous, pathetic bloggers who lie annoy me….I’ll tell you, yesterday the Anchorage Daily News, they called again to ask — double-, triple-, quadruple-check — who is Trig’s real mom. And I said, Come on, are you kidding me? We’re gonna answer this? Do you not believe me or my doctor? And they said, No, it’s been quite cryptic the way that my son’s birth has been discussed. And I thought, Okay, more indication of continued problems in the world of journalism.”
Let the public be the judge of the Trig Trutherism out there from The Atlantic’s Andrew Sullivan and the Anchorage Daily News.
Actually, the Dish went out and interviewed eight of the leading obstetricians in the country and laid out all the facts of the case and asked the experts for their take. While none would say that this pregnancy could not have happened, and none would comment on a case they hadn’t examined personally, all of them said it was one of the strangest and unlikeliest series of events they had ever heard of and found Palin’s decision to forgo medical help for more than a day after her water broke and risk the life of her unborn child on a long airplane trip to be reckless beyond measure.
Malkin also equates the story with the Obama birth certificate affair. But we have documentary evidence of the certificate, and Palin has produced no hard evidence at all for her pregnancy. All that’s needed is some medical records of her pregnancy which, as a Down Syndrome pregnancy, would have a large pile of medical documentation easily released. There is no formal record of Trig’s birth at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, although there is a record of two other babies born on the same day.
Maybe I am crazy to even wonder. Or maybe we have witnessed one of the biggest frauds in American political history and the biggest failures among the American media in a very, very long time.
Is the absolutely absurd notion that Sarah Palin did NOT give birth to her son Trig worthy of any inquiry? Or is this tin-foil hat territory?
But, the whole discussion demeans Sarah Palin and trivializes her persona.
So, Sarah Palin is fighting back and who is to blame her? Is it whining?
Nope – not in this case.
Update:
Here is the link to her physician’s report on the birth of her son, Trig, in none other than the Anchorage Daily News. And, a link to the full e-mail exchange between Sarah Palin and the ADN.
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Sarah Palin Strikes Back: I Can See Russia/Alaska From My House
Sarah Palin Strikes Back Against The Media – Think You Have Heard the Last From Her?
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Charlie Gibson of ABC News interviews Alaska Governor and then GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin where the infamous Tina Fey quote about Russia and Alaska is derived: “I can see Russia from my house.”
Sarah Palin continues her attack on the media in Esquire Magazine. Here is one of the quotes:
Palin on Russia and Credible News Sources
“You have to let it go. Even hard news sources, credible news sources — the comment about, you can see Russia from Alaska. You can! You can see Russia from Alaska. Something like that — a factual statement that was taken out of context and mocked — what you have to do is let that go.”
But, Sarah Palin was ridiculed by Tina Fey and the crew at Saturday Night Live when they turned around the quote and portrayed Palin as an ill-prepared and unqualified candidate. Here is the skit:
Sarah Palin needs to diffuse these attacks now and improve her foreign policy chops. Does she have something to prove?
You betcha and slowly she is crawling back into the arena.
Look for more.
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Tags: Sarah Palin
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Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani interviewed today on Good Day NY
Technorati Tags: Rudy Giuliani, Caroline Kennedy, Daivd Paterson
Tags: Caroline Kennedy, Daivd Paterson, Rudy Giuliani
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Pay for Play Politics by Hillary? Say it ain’t so.
Hell, only about half a dozen documented cases:
Secretary of State appointee Hillary Rodham Clinton intervened at least six times in government issues directly affecting companies and others that later contributed to her husband’s foundation, an Associated Press review of her official correspondence found.
The overlap of names on former President Bill Clinton’s foundation donor list and business interests whose issues she championed raises new questions about potential ethics conflicts between her official actions and her husband’s fundraising. The AP obtained three of the senator’s government letters under the Freedom of Information Act.
Clinton was to begin her confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Under an agreement with President-elect Barack Obama, Bill Clinton recently released the names of donors to his foundation, a nonprofit that has raised at least $492 million — including millions from foreign governments — to fund his library in Little Rock, Ark., and charitable efforts worldwide on such issues as AIDS, poverty and climate change.
The letters and donations involve pharmaceutical companies and telecommunications and energy interests. An aide to the senator said she made no secret of her involvement in many of the issues. Bill Clinton’s foundation declined to say when it received the donations or precisely how much was contributed.
“Throughout her tenure, Senator Clinton has proven that she acts solely based on what she believes is best for the state and people she represents, without consideration to any other factor,” spokesman Philippe Reines said. “In these instances, she was doing what the people of New York elected her to do: Work hard on the issues of importance to them.”
Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Clinton Foundation both declined to answer questions about whether the senator attempted to step away from issues directly affecting donors to her husband’s charity, and whether the foundation tried to screen out money from those on whose issues the senator had intervened.
Then, there is this Pharma connection (Via Michelle Malkin)
Pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. is also a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, company spokeswoman Amy Rose said. Merck joined CGI in 2006, when dues were $15,000, and also was a member in 2007 and in 2008, when membership dues rose to $20,000. As part of its commitment to CGI, Merck sponsors public health initiatives around the world, Rose said. Merck joined CGI on its own initiative, she said.
Sen. Clinton wrote a November 2005 letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt urging approval of the human papillomavirus vaccine. Merck applied in December 2005 for approval of its HPV vaccine, Gardasil, and the vaccine was approved for use in females ages 9 to 26. Merck is still seeking approval for use in older women, Rose said.
Rose said Merck’s participation in the Clinton Global Initiative was unrelated to Sen. Clinton’s letter. Merck didn’t communicate with Clinton or her office about its HPV vaccine and was unaware of her letter before it was sent, Rose said.
Another letter involved an issue important to Barr Laboratories. Sens. Clinton and Patty Murray, D-Wash., wrote to Leavitt in August 2005 urging that “science, not politics†guide the agency and “that a decision be brought swiftly on Plan B’s application.†Leavitt’s office described the Clinton letter as pertaining to Barr’s application for Plan B, the emergency contraceptive also called the morning-after pill.
Barr Laboratories gave $10,001 to $25,000 to Clinton foundation, the charity’s donor list shows. Barr joined the Clinton Global Initiative in April 2007, spokeswoman Carol Cox said. Cox didn’t comment on Clinton’s letter.
The U.S. Senate WILL confirm Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State as it glosses over the former President’s help in Hillary’s career and to ingratiate their own pocket books, including Hillary’s campaign for President.
Exit questions:
Does anyone in the media care about this blatant “PAY TO PLAY” corruption?
Or Does it ONLY apply to the RIGHT?
Is transparency a two-way street?
Technorati Tags: Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton
Tags: Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton
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Day By Day by Chris Muir
Talk about second chances: Hillary Clinton’s U.S. Senate confirmation hearsings Secretary of State begin today on Capitol Hill.
The “KID GLOVES” are already on by syncophant Senators looking for the Clinton Cabal’s good graces.
But, Flap looks forward to Hillary in action as the undermining of Barack Obama’s Presidency begins anew.
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The Day By Day Archive
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