Tough Sledding for the Obama Team

It looks like President Obama got two bionic tongues for the price of one as his greatest liability, VP Joe Biden, and his wife were both able to disconnect their mouths from their brains on the day before and day after the Obama inauguration. First came Jill Biden the day before Obama was sworn in as President when she was on Oprah and said Joe had been offered his choice of vice president or secretary of state, a slap in the face to Hillary Clinton who was not offered vice president and was given secretary of state. She got the job because Joe didn't want it? Try as they might to cover up the release of inside information it didn't work.

The day after the swearing in Joe was at a White House news conference when Obama told him to give the oath of office to the new staff and Biden quipped I don't have as good a memory as the Chief Justice. Of course this was a cheap insult tossed at the Chief Justice when he flubbed the lines during the Obama oath the day earlier. The president could be seen frowning and shaking his head at the cheap shot by his vp.

Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner has had a rather tough time in hearings when he denied knowing his housekeeper was an illegal alien, he said he didn't know he was supposed to pay $34,000 more in taxes and then he caused an international uproar when he said China was manipulating their currency. The first was dumb, the second was dumber and the third was the kind of thing you never say in front of the media but to the representatives of China first.

How is it he didn't know he owed taxes for four years when his employer sent him numerous reminders every year. He was an independent contractor to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Even Joe the plumber, also an independent contractor, knows he has to pay social security and federal taxes and Joe is not going to be the next Secretary of Treasury. Since Timothy was audited by IRS and they required he only pay for the last two years because the first two years were beyond the statute of limitations, he only paid the last two years. It was only after he was nominated for Treasurer that he decided to clean up the earlier mess.

However, if he never filed a return, which he clearly didn't because he said he didn't realize he was supposed to pay taxes, and IRS had to audit him, then there is no three year statute of limitations. The three year statute only applies when the return is filed and is found to be inaccurate or fraudulent. There is a ten year statute and he should have paid interest and penalties on the entire four year amount. I think he was given kid glove treatment by IRS because he was the Federal Reserve President in NYC. Do you think IRS would let you get by without paying nearly $100,000 in taxes over four years, and then say you just owed $34,000? Fat chance. He should have said he didn't pay for the first two years because he was trying to beat the government out of their money. It would have been honest.