Check it, y'all! The Most Efficient Cabinet Selection Process in Modern History could be poised to get scandaltastic, with the nomination of Tresaury Secretary Timothy Geithner hitting a snag over some spicy housekeeper stuff! This takes me back to the days of Linda Chavez, when the then-hopeful Bush appointee's dreams of running the Department of Labor were dashed because she gave money to an illegal immigrant. It was revealed today that Geithner employed a housekeeper whose citizenship status may have, at one point, been somewhat dubious. Also, he didn't pay some taxes on time. It's a rich tableau!
The whole chapter and verse on this new controversy is found in this story at the Wall Street Journal. Here's the housekeeper stuff, briefly:
According to people familiar with the matter, Mr. Geithner employed a housekeeper whose immigration papers expired during her tenure with Mr. Geithner, currently president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The woman went on to get a green card to work legally in the country and federal immigration authorities didn't press charges against her, these people said.
So basically, he had a housekeeper who did, and then didn't have legal immigration papers, until the housekeeper did again. And no prevailing legal authority is mad at anyone. But that's not the point! For a brief time, that immigrant was stealing a job from hardworking Americans, who all dream of cleaning up after Tim Geithner, like our nation's forefathers.
Anyway, there's also some stuff about how Geithner didn't understand how to file his taxes properly, either, making what one expert called "a common mistake":
The second issue involved taxes due while Mr. Geithner worked for the International Monetary Fund between 2001 and 2004. As an employee, 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.
He apparently failed to do so, resulting in Internal Revenue Service audits his last two years at the IMF. As soon as the IRS brought the issue to his attention, he paid the taxes with interest, these people said.
All of this is sourced to "people familiar with the matter," and "these people," who are just always bringing the press the best stories, you know?
Anyway, this all might or might not be a big deal. "Obama aides" -- who might also be "people familiar with the matter" -- say they don't "believe these issues would present a problem." Senator Max Baucus apparently agrees with that assessment, but is going to air it all out with the Senate Finance Committee, anyway. I'd suggest that none of this will likely impact Geithner's nomination, but, heck, there's nothing like a partisan witch hunt to get the Obama administration to reconsider their "forward-looking" approach to not investigating the outgoing administration.