Soccer Dad

Top democrat considers cabinet picks unpatriotic

First it was Timothy Geithner:

The tax issue relates to Mr. Geithner's work for the International Monetary Fund between 2001 and 2004. As an American citizen working for the IMF, Mr. Geithner was technically considered self-employed and was required to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes for himself as both an employer and an employee.

The IMF and World Bank reimburse employees, including U.S. citizens, for their U.S. income taxes. They don't, however, make contributions toward Social Security and Medicare taxes, which individuals are expected to pay on their own.

In 2006, the IRS audited Mr. Geithner's 2003 and 2004 taxes and concluded he owed taxes and interest totaling $17,230, according to documents released by the Senate Finance Committee. The IRS waived the related penalties.

During the vetting of Mr. Geithner late last year, the Obama transition team discovered the nominee had failed to pay the same taxes for 2001 and 2002. "Upon learning of this error on Nov. 21, 2008, Mr. Geithner immediately submitted payment for tax that would have been due in those years, plus interest," a transition aide said. The sum totaled $25,970.

Then it was Tom Daschle:

Daschle supported Obama, eventually opposed the war after falling victim to Bush's lies in 2002, and has been reliably pro-choice and in favor of legislating higher taxes on high earners (despite a more flexible attitude about actually paying them), so I assume he will get a pass on this. Obviously, if he were a greedy Republican this would be disqualifying.

I suppose the generous view is that they fo-o-r-g-o-o-t. But not everyone takes such a forgiving view of these appointees. A top Democrat considers them unpatriotic.

"Anyone making over $250,000..." the host began to question, "Is going to pay more," Biden interjected. "You got it. It's time to be patriotic, Kate. It's time to jump in, it's time to be part of the deal, it's time to help get America out of the rut."

If the wealthiest among us are supposed to pay more out of a sense of patriotism, then I suppose those who fail to pay the taxes they are supposed to are unpatriotic. And those law and order types really want to see them held accountable:

"Make no mistake, tax cheaters cheat us all, and the IRS should enforce our laws to the letter"

Timothy Geithner wouldn't want to run afoul of the guy who said that, Tom Daschle.