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We've had some unusual Cabinet secretaries in past administrations ...but never anything quite like the present bunch. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has overseen some $5 trillion in new debt. To help pay for it, he wants the rich — the top 1% already contributes more in income taxes than does the bottom 90% — to pay more for what he calls "the privilege of being an American." Geithner, whose department oversees the IRS, should have taken his own advice: As a rich American one-percenter, he once failed to pay his own self-employment taxes, and improperly claimed his children's camp costs...

MEN OF HONOR Apparently, if you want to cheat on your wife or spurn the mother of your unborn child, cover up and easily settle your institution's criminal efforts to help Americans avoid paying their federal income taxes, or just avoid paying your own fair share, the place to be is on President Barack Obama's economic-recovery advisory board. Because that's where Robert Wolf, chief executive of UBS Group Americas, the U.S. arm of one of Switzerland's largest banks, UBS AG, sits, as do Charles E. Phillips, President of Oracle Corporation, Peter Orszag, the director of the Office of Management of...

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is warning that if GOP lawmakers continue their push to roll back portions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, it could "critically undermine" the ability to prevent damaging future crises. In a letter sent to lawmakers Tuesday, Geithner blasted a package of measures set to be considered by the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, including a pair that would repeal or trim key pieces of the Wall Street makeover. "The act provides essential reforms that should not be weakened or repealed," he wrote to committee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) and ranking member Rep. Barney Frank...

Congressional staffers owed about $10.6 million in unpaid taxes in 2010, a slight increase from the previous year and a growing slice of the roughly $1 billion owed by federal and postal workers nationwide. The figures come as Republican efforts to pass legislation allowing federal agencies to fire tax delinquent federal employees have slowed and as the White House continues to crack down on improper payments made by agencies to delinquent government contractors and federal beneficiaries. About 98,000 federal, postal and congressional employees owed $1.03 billion in unpaid taxes at the end of fiscal 2010, according to records provided by...

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pushed back on Mitt Romney's statements that women made up almost all jobs lost during the Obama presidency. "It's misleading and ridiculous," Geithner said on CBS News' "Face the Nation." "It's just a political moment." On the campaign trail, Romney attempted to turn the discussion to women and the economy, blaming President Obama for hurting women's checkbooks. At campaign events, Romney repeatedly said the president's policies are waging "the real war on women," pointing to a statistic that women make up 92.3 percent of jobs lost since Mr. Obama took office. In response to questions by...

After clearing the Senate on a 74 – 22 vote on March 14, SB 1813 is now headed for a vote in the House of Representatives, where it’s expected to encounter stiffer opposition among the GOP majority.

In May 2009, four months into the Obama presidency, retail gasoline prices averaged $2.32 per gallon. Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA) wrote Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to express concern about the impact that the Administration’s budgeted changes in tax policy would have on the oil and gas industry. Secretary Geithner clearly laid out the Administration position in his letter of response (pdf link). That was then, this is now. In just three years’ time, retail gasoline prices are up 68%. $4.00+ gasoline prices loom as a key reelection vulnerability for the President; in response, the Administration’s rhetoric has shifted to “energy...

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner advised taxpayers to “quit complaining, taxes are what you pay for the privilege of being an American.” “You know, there are places in the world where the government can take everything you have,” Geithner observed. “The fact that you get to keep anything here ought to inspire a greater appreciation for your own government’s forbearance.” The Secretary warned those he called the “one-percenters,” that “government is the only thing preventing the other 99% from murdering you and looting your property. The protection we offer ought to be worth whatever it costs. Quibbling over the price...

"That’s the kind of balance you need," said Geithner. "Why is that the case? Because if you don't try to generate more revenues through tax reform, if you don't ask, you know, the most fortunate Americans to bear a slightly larger burden of the privilege of being an American, then you have to -- the only way to achieve fiscal sustainability is through unacceptably deep cuts in benefits for middle class seniors, or unacceptably deep cuts in national security."

"That’s the kind of balance you need," said Geithner. "Why is that the case? Because if you don't try to generate more revenues through tax reform, if you don't ask, you know, the most fortunate Americans to bear a slightly larger burden of the privilege of being an American, then you have to -- the only way to achieve fiscal sustainability is through unacceptably deep cuts in benefits for middle class seniors, or unacceptably deep cuts in national security."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is considering a release from its strategic oil reserves, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Friday, acknowledging the harm that supply disruptions from Iran could have on the global economy. Rising tensions between Iran and the West .. have fueled a rise in oil prices, pushing benchmark Brent crude above $125 a barrel on Friday. "There is a case for the use of the reserve in some circumstances and we will continue to look at those and evaluate that carefully," Geithner said on CNBC television. "Obviously Iran can do a lot of damage to...

"That’s the kind of balance you need," said Geithner. "Why is that the case? Because if you don't try to generate more revenues through tax reform, if you don't ask, you know, the most fortunate Americans to bear a slightly larger burden of the privilege of being an American, then you have to -- the only way to achieve fiscal sustainability is through unacceptably deep cuts in benefits for middle class seniors, or unacceptably deep cuts in national security."

"That’s the kind of balance you need," said Geithner. "Why is that the case? Because if you don't try to generate more revenues through tax reform, if you don't ask, you know, the most fortunate Americans to bear a slightly larger burden of the privilege of being an American, then you have to -- the only way to achieve fiscal sustainability is through unacceptably deep cuts in benefits for middle class seniors, or unacceptably deep cuts in national security."

Guy Benson calls this "the political quote of the year", but it may be more like the defining moment of Obamanomics and Barack Obama's fiscal policies. Paul Ryan destroyed interim OMB chief Jeffrey Zients in testimony before Congress this week already, deconstructing White House claims to have $2 trillion in deficit reduction over the next ten years when their contribution to that effort was only $400 billion, or roughly $40 billion a year. In this five-minute clip, Ryan points out that the budget he proposed last year actually eliminated deficit spending over the long term, while the budget Obama proposed...

Geithner: Tax hikes must be part of budgetBy Peter Schroeder - 02/14/12 01:18 PM ET Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told skeptical Republican senators Tuesday that it is simply not possible to correct the nation’s fiscal problems without raising taxes. Geithner defended President Obama’s 2013 budget proposal before the Senate Finance Committee and said the plan is the only option he sees for helping the economy and addressing the deficit without hurting the middle class. "I do not see how you get there if you are unable ... to contemplate and to embrace modest increases in revenue through tax reform," Geithner...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration's corporate tax reform plan will end "dozens and dozens" of tax breaks, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday as he defended the White House's election-year call for higher taxes on the wealthy. Within days, the administration is set to unveil a blueprint for revamping the corporate tax system aimed at leveling the playing field for all companies, which pay wildly differing levels of taxes, while lowering the top corporate tax rate. Companies are clamoring for a cut in the top 35 percent corporate tax rate but disagree about how to how eliminate...

Geithner: Dodd-Frank critics are toying with another financial meltdownBy Peter Schroeder - 02/02/12 04:55 PM ET Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner swung back at critics of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law Thursday, arguing that those detractors are pushing for a repeat of the financial crisis. Both in Congress and on the campaign trail, the Obama administration's reforms have come under fire. Lawmakers are pushing several bills that would repeal portions of the law, and every major Republican candidate has vowed to kill it as one of their first acts in office. But Geithner said such a rollback would merely make the...

People have been wondering when Tim Geithner would leave Treasury almost since he started the job in the middle of a horrible financial crisis. Now, with yesterday's news that Tim Geithner will not stay on for a second term if President Obama wins in November, we know when Geithner plans to leave. And with that, speculation of who will replace him is inevitable. ____________________________________ Sheryl Sandberg The "grown up" at Facebook is said to be on the short-list. She certainly represents the best of American business right now, and given her experience at Facebook almost certainly has the temperament for...

Tim Geithner, one of President Barack Obama’s closest economic advisers, has no intention on staying on as Treasury secretary if Obama wins a second term. Geithner, who was one of the chief architects of the government’s response to the financial crisis, told Bloomberg Television he’s “pretty confident” Obama won’t ask him to stay on. “I’m confident he’ll be president. But I’m also confident he’s going to have the privilege of having another secretary of the Treasury,” Geithner said. The comments, which were confirmed by the Treasury Department, mean a second four-year term in the White House would be led by...

Geithner: I won't serve second termBy Peter Schroeder - 01/25/12 04:27 PM ET Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner does not anticipate serving a second term under President Obama. Geithner said in an interview with Bloomberg Television that he is "pretty confident" the president would not ask him to stay on if he is reelected. "I'm confident he'll be president. But I'm also confident he's going to have the privilege of having another secretary of the Treasury," he said, adding that he planned to do "something else." Geithner mulled leaving the administration this summer once a deal to raise the federal debt...