Cheat Seeking Missiles

Geithner Takes First Action - Slays TurboTax

Posted by: Laer at 09:16 am

Having cleared the Senate Finance Committee on a — vote, Timothy Geithner is just one quick step away from becoming the first Secretary of the Treasury and de facto major domo for the IRS to be an acknowledged tax cheat.

Even though he’s not even sworn in yet, he’s already made his first move as the main money man in the U.S. - and it was a disaster. From CNBC:

Here was the interaction between Geithner and Sen. Chuck Grassley:

Sen. Grassley: Did you use software to prepare your 2001 and 2002 tax returns?

Geithner: I did

Sen. Grassley: You Didn’t?

Geithner: No, I did

Sen.Grassley: Which brand did you use?

Geithner: I’ll answer that question, but I will say these are my responsibilities, not the tax software’s responsibilities, but I used TurboTax to prepare my returns.

The chamber crowd laughed out loud to Geithner’s response, but it was no laughing matter for Intuit.

Intuit shares fell 3.3 percent. Welcome to power, Geithner. Now shut up.

Hot Air expounds:

I use [Intuit's TurboTax] and pay self-employment tax and have never had a problem, but then I have an incentive to be extra careful: Unlike Geithner, I might face consequences if I make a mistake. Exit question: Should the GOP take Newt’s advice and vote against him? They can’t block him, obviously, so the gesture would be purely symbolic. Do they gain more by standing up for the taxpayer than they lose from appearing obstructionist in the midst of an economic crisis with Obama surfing a wave of Hopenchange goodwill?

Yes, of course they should. Because they’d better get used to standing up to Obama with great regularity and they have to start somewhere, and standing for not cheating on taxes is as good a place to start as any.

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