“Under normal circumstances, a tax cheat would not be named to head the department that oversees the Internal Revenue Service,” said The Philadelphia Inquirer in an editorial. “But these are extraordinary times.” So despite Timothy Geithner’s failure to pay tens of thousands of dollars in taxes he owed over several years, the Senate will probably confirm him as Treasury secretary.
That explains all the “showbiz” at his confirmation hearings, said Dana Milbank in The Washington Post. “Senators plan to confirm him, but they don't want to encourage tax cheats. The solution: 3 1/2 hours of ritual flagellation.”
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