Geithner mess has to be resolved now

By Paul R. La Monica, CNNMoney
2009-1-14 12:25:09

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- So much for a smooth confirmation hearing for Timothy Geithner.

President-elect Obama's nominee to replace Henry Paulson as Treasury secretary is now facing questions about his initial failure to pay some personal taxes earlier this decade, as well as concerns about the immigration status of a former housekeeper.

With this in mind, Geithner's confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, which was tentatively scheduled for Thursday, has now been put off until after Inauguration Day next week.

Since this is a column about the economy and markets and not politics, I'm not going to get into a debate about whether the revelation of Geithner's tax problems make him Zoe Baird 2.0 and if that should keep him from getting the job or not.

But as one quick aside, if the guy who would be in charge of the Internal Revenue Service appeared to have difficulties filing his taxes accurately, isn't that a sure sign as any that there needs to be major tax reform to make it easier for people to know exactly what they actually owe instead of making it a guessing game every April?

Tax rant over.

	Investment Basic Investment Overview Investment Approache Fundamentals Data Investment Stories www.fxj108.com	Geithner mess has to be resolved now By Paul R. La Monica, CNNMoney 2009-1-14 12:25:09 NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- So much for a smooth confirmation hearing for Timothy Geithner. President-elect Obama's nominee to replace Henry Paulson as Treasury secretary is now facing questions about his initial failure to pay some personal taxes earlier this decade, as well as concerns about the immigration status of a former housekeeper. With this in mind, Geithner's confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, which was tentatively scheduled for Thursday, has now been put off until after Inauguration Day next week. Since this is a column about the economy and markets and not politics, I'm not going to get into a debate about whether the revelation of Geithner's tax problems make him Zoe Baird 2.0 and if that should keep him from getting the job or not. But as one quick aside, if the guy who would be in charge of the Internal Revenue Service appeared to have difficulties filing his taxes accurately, isn't that a sure sign as any that there needs to be major tax reform to make it easier for people to know exactly what they actually owe instead of making it a guessing game every April? Tax rant over.